Polbito, Carmichael help Owls top Panthers for homecoming win

Brandon Polbito said he definitely did not want to lose homecoming.

The Seymour senior running back-cornerback took matters into his own hand Friday night as he scored Seymour's first three touchdowns, and intercepted two passes, to lead the Owls to a 33-6 win over Jennings County.

"I felt really good. I did not want to lose my homecoming my senior year," Polbito said after raising his season touchdown total to nine.

Both of Polbito's interceptions came in the first half. "I should have had three. I dropped one," he said.
The first  part of the opening quarter was filled with penalties on both teams before Jennings County scored with 18.3 seconds left in the first quarter on a 31-yard run by Dyvon Bass.

The Owls finally lit up their side of the scoreboard when Polbito scored on a 3-yard run with 37.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

"That touchdown before halftime was big for us. It was nice to at least get even," Richey said. "Offensively we did a better job the second half. We were able to run the ball a little bit in  the second half, still not like we want to run it."

Polbito said his first touchdown was a key. "We started our confidence right there."

Polbito said Richey's halftime speech was important. "I think the coach got the offense pumped up, and on the first drive  in the third quarter the linemen started picking it up, and then they got confidence and they knew they could do it."

Seymour's defense forced a punt by the Panthers on their first possession of the third period. Seymour took over on its own 49 and drove six plays for the touchdown with Polbito scoring on an 11-yard run.

The Owls forced the Panthers to punt on their first six possessions of the second half.  Seymour  took over on their own 40 late in the third period following JC's third punt of the period and drove 60 yards in seven plays. Polbito scored on a 7-yard run at 10:05 of the fourth period.

The Panthers were forced to punt from the goal line on their next possession. Jacob Carmichael returned the punt 19 yards to the JC 25 and two plays later Chad Moore teamed up with Kevin Ude on a 27-yard pass play for a touchdown with 8:11 remaining.

Jennings County punted to Carmichael with 4:04 remaining, and the SHS junior ran up the middle, cut to his right and raced 51 yards for a touchdown.

"We called a RIP which is a right return," he said. "I caught it but he kicked it to the left side so I went up the middle and cut back out right. They blocked well for me. If felt to get 27 points ahead."

Carmichael also had two receptions for 69 yards "I've always been a slot receiver," he said. "They put me in whenever they needed me at slot. I ran a 48 wheel-double and I went out there and caught it. On the first one I ran a corner route and Chad (Moore) had to hurry and he threw it up and I made the catch."

Richey said, "I thought Carmichael gave us a really good jump start. He really doesn't understand all that's going on, but he does know how to run fast in a straight line. Once we teach him what to do with the rest of it he's going to be okay. He had two big catches."

Richey said he was glad to see the defense come through and hold the Panthers to 98 yards total offense. "The defense has taken a lot of heat the last two weeks, and I'm glad they stepped up and made big plays. We figured (the Panthers) were going to line up foot-to-foot and try to run over us. We knew we had to control gaps. We hadn't done that very well the past two weeks and that was a focus in practice to make sure we got back to some basics."

"We didn't throw the ball very well tonight. We're still battling Chad's feet. As long as he's beat up we're going to struggle a little bit when they put on pressure. They didn't get a lot of pressure, but it always  seemed like we let one guy come up  the field."

Moore completed seven of 16 passes for 137 yards.

"We need to get everything put together, and maybe the second half tonight was getting us back to where we need to be after the first four weeks," Richey said. "I don't know why we went to sleep for two weeks, but we sure did. The whole game defensively, and the second half offensively we kind or woke up. It's good to win."

The Owls are 3-2 in the Hoosier Hills and 3-4 overall and will travel to New Albany next Friday. Jennings is 0-5 and 0-7.

Box Score

Seymour 0 6 7 20-33
Jennings 6 0 0 0-6

First period
J-D. Bass 31 run (kick failed) :18

Second period
S-Polbito  3 run (kick failed) :37

Third period
S-Polbito 11 run (Caplinger kick) 6:17

Fourth period
S-Polbito 17 run (Caplinger kick) 10:05
S-Ude 27 pass from Moore (Caplinger kick) 8:11
S-Carmichael 51 punt return (kick failed) 4:04

Team statistics S J
First downs 16 6
Rushes-yds 38-182 27-55
Passes C-A-I 7-16-3 6-15-2
Yardage 137 43
Total offense 319 98 
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Punts 4-23.5 8-32.7
Penalties 9-90 3-35

Individual
Rushing: SHS Polbito 20-112, Manning 10-32, Fisher 5-18, Moore 2-19, Toppe 1-1: JC: D. Bass 7-46, McDaniel 1-7, I. Bass 10-7, Baldwin 1-7, Stearns  1 (-2), Collingsworth 7 (-10).

Passing: SHS: Moore 7-15-137-2-3; JC Collingsworth 6-15-43-0-2

Receiving: SHS Polbito 2-29, Prange 1-4, Carmichael 2-69, Ude 2-35; JC: Stevens 2-13, McDaniel 1-15, Hicks 2-12, Olson 1-3.