For The Tribune
Seymour’s football team ran into a two-headed monster Friday night, and the result wasn’t pleasant.
Going by the names Jacob Garrett and Noah Jones, the tandem led a determined Silver Creek squad to a narrow 32-28 victory against Seymour, prolonging the home team’s season-opening difficulties by another year.
Seymour, which last opened a season with a win more than a decade ago in 2001, used a 22-point second quarter to take an early 10-point lead against the Dragons. But Garrett and Jones proved to be too much to overcome.
The two running backs combined for 250 yards and four touchdowns on 41 carries. Adding a reception for each, Garrett and Jones handled the ball on 43 of Silver Creek’s 65 plays. In the second half, the duo got the ball on 70 percent of the Dragons’ snaps.
“It’s no secret, we’re not very big up front, and they took advantage,” Seymour head coach Josh Shattuck said.
The final nail in the Owls’ coffin came when Garrett intercepted a pass thrown by Seymour quarterback Alan Perry with just 1:01 left in the contest.
“We left a ton of plays on the field,” Shattuck said. “We felt like we should have scored on every possession. We just didn’t make plays when we needed to. We’ve got to play better when the lights come on.”
In the second quarter, the Owls started executing and took a 22-12 lead into halftime.
Jackson Morris got Seymour rolling when he ran a reverse 47 yards for a touchdown with 11:08 left in the first half.
The Owls followed up with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard Perry-to-Evan Frische touchdown reception.
After a Christopher Knight interception, Seymour scored a third touchdown when Perry hit Jordan Henry on a 27-yard scoring pass as the first-half buzzer sounded.
“That was a play we drew up and worked on over the summer,” Shattuck said. “We got a good throw and a good catch. Our players executed.”
Silver Creek regained command in the third quarter, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 25-22 advantage.
Seymour responded, however, when Perry connected with Luke Dover on a 44-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, restoring the Owls’ lead at 28-25.
Not surprising, Silver Creek turned to Garrett and Jones for help.
The two Dragon backs got the ball on 11 of the Dragons’ next 13 plays.
Jones capped the drive with a six-yard TD run, giving Silver Creek a 32-28 lead it never relinquished.
Jones finished with 137 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 27 attempts. Garrett added 113 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
For Seymour, Perry threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns on 17-for-26 passing. Dover was Perry’s favorite target, finishing with 82 yards on four catches.
On the ground, Zach Carpenter led with 62 yards on 16 carries. Morris ended with 55 yards on just three attempts.
Defensively, the Owls were paced by Knight, who had a game-high 12 tackles to go with his interception. Nik Richert also enjoyed a productive night, recording a tackle for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.
Austin Engelking recovered a fumble, while Henry had a tackle for loss and three pass break-ups.
Before Friday’s game, the Owls hosted a special guest in former Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr.
The stepfather of Seymour defensive coordinator Ryan McCartney, Carr spoke to the team about the characteristics of good teams.
“He was great,” Shattuck said. “He said that good teams are made of good people and good teammates. When our kids heard he coached Tom Brady and Charles Woodson, their ears really perked up.”