Bradyn Riley, left, wraps up New Albany’s Klay Kaiser during the game earlier this season against the Bulldogs on the road.
Greg Jones | For The Tribune
Friday marks the beginning of the IHSAA Football Postseason for the Owls, who host East Central (6-3) at Bulleit Stadium in Seymour. The Owls ended their regular season with a 4-5 overall record and are looking to shock the whole State of Indiana on Friday night.
East Central moved up to Class 5A after winning back-to back Class 4A State Championships.
But this is not an a historically unknown opponent for the Owls. Seymour has had plenty of matchups with the Trojans but has not squared off since 2016.
Seymour head coach Tyson Moore spoke about the matchup with their upcoming sectional opponent.
“It’s an opportunity against a really good football team, they’re the two-time defending state champions in Class 4A football,” Moore said. “They have a lot of great talent across the board, even though they have lost some of their key players from last season. They are still a well coached team and they do a lot of things well.”
The Trojans bolster a powerful rushing attack; led by sophomore Ryan Minges, who has carried the ball 152 times for 993 yards and ranks third in Class 5A in yards on the ground.
Seymour’s defense has been solid throughout the totality of the season. The Owls have complied 86 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, 6 interceptions, and recovered three fumbles during the year, while also allowing just 21.1 points per game.
Coach Moore said tackling will be the biggest key for the Owls on Friday.
“The biggest thing will be tackling. We cannot let their experienced running back get through tackles and our linebackers must play hard downhill and fill their gaps and not get out of containment,” Moore said. “It comes down to tackling and that is the biggest thing when you’re playing a really good offense with a good running back. If you do not tackle him, he will do what he wants to do all night long.”
East Central has defeated Lawrenceburg, Franklin County, Batesville, South Dearborn, Connersville, and Greensburg this season. They are coming off a 17-7 loss to Indianapolis Roncalli in the final regular season game.
Seymour comes off a 42-6 loss to Bloomington South. Coach Moore thinks that game was good for preparation of the Trojans in their upcoming matchup.
“I think that game with Bloomington South was a good one to use as preparation for East Central, because of how similar they are offensively and defensively,” Moore said. “It gives us a chance of what to expect coming into the game and for us to have success we will need to play our best football. I say that each week, but now with the postseason, we are trying to extend our season one week at a time and these seniors are guaranteed one more game and anything after that is what they work for. It will take all of us executing and being on the same page if we want to pull out a win.”
On offense, quarterback Mikey Wright has compiled 15 touchdowns this season (8 passing, 7 rushing). Jaylan Johnson leads the team in receiving with 39 receptions for 549 yards and 5 touchdowns. Other wideout Logan Shelly also has over 30 catches with 32 of them for 241 yards and 2 scores.
After a bye week, the team is in its on-field preparations this week. Coach Moore was asked about some advantages of getting multiple weeks to prepare as opposed to one like normal.
“The last few weeks have been a big opportunity for us to heal as a team,” Moore said. “We’ve had some guys with bumps and bruises, and it has been big to recover from that. One of the good things about the bye week is that it gives us two weeks to prepare for our opponent. It allows us to prepare for them a little more and understand what we are going to see both offensively and defensively from East Central.”
The coach touched on some of the bigger challenges in facing the Trojans. The unfamiliarity of East Central could be an adjustment for the team.
“It’s a new opponent for us since we’ve never played these guys,” Moore said. “I know Seymour used to play them often in the sectional and then they weren’t in the sectional and now they are back. I think the new opponent can sometimes throw us for a loop because we’re so used to playing the same people every year and now you throw something new at us.”
Postseason is always a good reminder that nothing matters up until this point. It’s a whole new season once the playoffs begin and everyone is looking to extend their season.
“People are going to talk about how they are the two-time defending state champion, but we have to throw that out because it’s a new year,” Moore said. “We cannot look at what they’ve done in the past and let that dictate what they are going to do on Friday night. We got to focus on this year and focus on what we do best, if we can do that, we give ourselves a chance to be successful.”
In 11 all-time postseason meetings, East Central posts a 9-2 record against Seymour with their last matchup being a 44-point win over the Owls in 2016.
Seymour defeated the Trojans in 1999 with an opening sectional round 24-14 win and in 1997 where they defeated East Central 24-22 for the sectional title.
It was also announced that the game will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased digitally through this link: https://public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=98557