AURORA

Both the weather, and the Seymour High School football team, rained on South Dearborn’s parade.

The Owls used a lone touchdown and an impenetrable defense to post a 7-0 season-opening win at a muddy South Dearborn High School on Friday night.

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It was a ground-and-pound offense for Seymour High School, as they controlled field positioning and the clock.

Seymour senior Nathan O’Mara carried the ball 33 times in the game, of 42 offensive snaps, finishing with 146 yards and the lone touchdown.

“(O’Mara) is going to put his head down and go,” Seymour coach Mike Kelly said. “He did a good job of doing that tonight for us.”

Neither team could get the edge in the opening quarter.

The Knights attempted an onside kick to open the game, but failed, and the Owls started on the home team’s 48-yard line. Seymour High School ran the ball with O’Mara on each of their first five plays before attempting a pass.

On a 4th-and-6, on the Knights’ 18, the Owls picked up four yards, but turned the ball over on downs.

The Knights picked up a good chunk of yardage on their opening drive, as three straight passes from quarterback Adam Dixon resulted in 58 yards. The streak was highlighted by a 38-yard bomb down the left sideline to Ethan Getz.

A pair of penalties derailed the Knights’ momentum, as the team went on to turn the ball over on downs.

The Owls’ next drive was six plays before they punted to the Knights’ 5.

Three plays later, the teams stayed deadlocked at 0-0 to end the first quarter.

Following a punt by the Knights, the Owls used four plays to get on the scoreboard.

After SHS QB Brendan Smith launched an 41-yard pass to Breyton Johnson, O’Mara broke a tackle and found open field to score a 24-yard touchdown with 8:26 left in second quarter. Caleb Elliott’s kick was good, as the Owls went up 7-0.

With 5:53 left in the opening half, the sky opened up and torrential rain came down.

Two lightning delays pushed the game back an hour, with the teams retaking the field at 8:35 p.m.

After a 10-minute warm up, the teams resumed play. There was no break for halftime.

Each squad had one more possession before shortened intermission, as the Owls held the lead.

The Knights drove 37 yards before a hit from Justice Perry knocked the ball loose and Jacob Rotert recovered the ball.

Both teams punted on their next possessions before the Owls’ offense got moving.

O’Mara rushed the ball seven straight times, for 36 yards, to put the Owls on the Knights’ 39. Smith was intercepted on the next play, sodthe Knights took the ball into the fourth quarter.

The teams traded punts twice before the Knights got the ball with 3:03 left in the game.

Dixon threw passes of 25-, 17-, and 9- to get to the Owls’ 16 with 42 seconds left in the game.

On the next play, Perry popped a pass up into the air and caught it to for the game-sealing interception.

Smith finished 2-for-6 with 87 yards and an interception through the air. Dixon went 13-for-24 with 164 yards and an interception. The Knights rushed for 121 yards on 32 carries.

Kelly said he was impressed with his punter, Elliott, and defense on the night.

“I thought (the secondary) did a good job of staying in position with the coverage,” Kelly said. “They did a good job of sneaking when they needed to sneak. I thought the defense played really, really well. This was a good football team with a lot of athletes. They are doing a good job of building a program.”

Seymour will host Jeffersonville on Friday at Bulleit Stadium.

“I’m excited to see what we can do at home,” Kelly said. “I’m excited to see the place packed, and see the fans come out and support us.”