Executing in all three phases of the game, the Seymour football team was able to pull out its first win of the season on Friday.

The Owls edged Floyd Central 36-35 for a Hoosier Hills Conference win at Bulleit Stadium.

In addition to being the Owls’ first win of 2016, it was their first win on the new turf field and a homecoming victory.

Shattuck said the Owls had to work hard for 48 minutes to get the win.

“Give credit to Floyd: what an opponent,” he said. “They’re a really good team. This win means so much more because they are a very good football team. They are very physical and they play defense.

“So for us to play like we did, and to squeeze it out is just a testament to our kids and the fight that we’ve got.”

The Owls had 285 passing yards, and another 133 on the ground for a total of 418 yards and 19 first downs.

Alan Perry completed 19 of 30 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for three scores while gaining 52 yards rushing.

After Floyd Central scored with 8:51 remaining in the game to take a 35-28 lead, the Owls came up with their best drive of the night. They drove 80 yards in 15 plays, and Perry was 7-for-8 passing for 62 yards, including the final yard to Zach Carpenter for the TD with 2:30 remaining.

Perry then hit Tyler Bullard for the 2-point conversion that put the Owls on top for good.

“We made improvement (offensively) last week and that was such a huge game,” Shattuck said. “You look at it as a 26-point loss but that game proved that we can play. That was a huge difference from the first couple weeks, offensively.

“We went out and got this one and we earned it offensively, defensively, special teams.”

After the Highlanders scored on their first possession of the game for a 6-6 tie, Seymour’s Nick James blocked Cole Hussung’s extra point kick.

The Highlanders held a 16-6 lead late in the first period when they held the Owls and forced a punt.

FC’s punt returner fumbled the ball and Kevin Corrales recovered for the Owls for Seymour’s first turnover of the season.

Eight plays later Perry scored on a 2-yard run that close Floyd Central’s lead to 16-12.

After the Highlanders drove 83 yards to score their third TD of game, the Owls came right back to drive 75 yards in seven plays to score with 1:49 left in the half.

The big plays in the drive were 40- and 23-yard passes from Perry to Jackson Morris.

Shattuck said by the Owls scoring late in the second period, then taking the lead in the third period, changed the momentum.

Morris had a huge night offensively as he caught 11 passes for 156 yards.

He caught an 8-yard pass from Perry for Seymour’s first TD, and had either key pass receptions or picked up yardage on the ground that kept drives alive on Seymour’s final four TDs.

“Mostly I ran bubbles tonight, and a few were drags across the field where I was usually open,” Morris said. “On the bubbles it’s just two steps back. It’s like a toss out to the edge. On the drags I go up the field first and then across the field about 10-12 yards.”

Morris said he views the win as a confidence booster.

“It feels great, we have a pretty tough conference,” he said. “We beat a really good team in our conference after losing two (HHC games) straight. We didn’t shut down, we came out here and played our game. We knew if we did that we would be fine.”

Shattuck thought the two teams stacked-up well against one another.

“The game was crazy back-and-forth, but we made plays when we needed to, and made a couple 2-point conversions there,” Shattuck said. “That was a very even game. If we played them 10 times, I think we’d win five and they’d win five and I mean that whole-heartedly. It’s about time things broke our way.”

The Owls are 1-2 in the HHC and 1-3 overall and will travel to Bedford North Lawrence Friday night.