Owls preparing for first-round sectional game with Reitz

Jacob Corne’s role as an outside linebacker for the Seymour football team sounds simple.

“Making hits, sacking the quarterback, making him fumble,” the senior said.

But that’s not all there is to it.

During the final minute of last week’s game at Madison, Seymour had a 12-7 lead. The Cubs had the ball on fourth-and-2, but their run for first down was cut off by three Owls defenders, including Corne.

Moments like that can go either way, and the game quickly goes to another level. It takes dealing with the pressure and making the big stop to seal the win for the team, and that’s exactly what Corne and the rest of the Owls’ defense did.

“That was huge,” Corne said. “Probably the biggest play I’ve ever made in my life. I stayed out there to make sure they didn’t forward the ball anymore, make sure they stayed and we got the ball back. I didn’t want to celebrate yet. It was a big play, and (the Owls winning) four in a row really helps going into sectional.”

Corne has been making the big hits for the Owls throughout his career. He’s always been a linebacker, including his days at Immanuel Lutheran School in Seymour. He was an outside linebacker his freshman year, switched to inside linebacker the next two years and returned to the outside this year.

Corne worked at tight end during the summer and in the first game of the season, but the coaches decided he was better suited at linebacker.

“We were taking a senior kid who’s played linebacker for three years, and now we’re going to make him a tight end,” coach Jeff Richey said. “But the upside for him is he didn’t complain. He stepped right in and volunteered to do it.

“In the second week of practice, we felt we were a little weak at the outside linebacker spot, and we needed to think about how to make that stronger after the (Columbus) North game. We moved him over, and he’s really taken to that spot and has had a couple of really nice football games.”

Richey said Corne is where he is today because of his work ethic.

“He’s a weight-room rat,” Richey said. “He’s in the weight room all the time and he lifts, and he’s probably our third or fourth strongest kid. He’s fun to be around, a great kid to be around, and one that you know is going to do the right things.”

To be successful at Friday’s sectional game at Evansville Reitz, Corne said, the Owls have to work on group tackling and use their speed.

“Getting on that quarterback, he’s pretty fast, and shut down their run game and pass game,” Corne said of the keys to victory this week. “I’d like to see us go down there playing in that nice stadium and get the upset.”

Sectional game at Evansville Reitz

The Owls have a tall task this week, playing Class 4A No. 4 Evansville Reitz (9-0) in the first round of Sectional 16.

The Panthers have outscored their opponents 354-70 this fall, including two shutouts, and six of the nine teams they played were Evansville schools.

“They play good competition in Evansville, and they do a lot of things and create problems for us because they’re going to be extremely quick,” Richey said. “We’ve had trouble with quick people early in the year. Hopefully, we’ve gotten better at that and we keep them in front of us and we contain a little bit. I think the defense will take that challenge, and I hope they do.”

The Owls also have to focus on the Panthers’ defense.

“They are not great big people, but they are quick and they do fly to the ball,” Richey said. “Our biggest concern right now is making sure we get their defensive ends blocked because their defensive ends come up the field in a hurry.”

If you could find a weakness in this undefeated, ranked team, Richey said, it would be their pass coverage.

“They don’t cover the pass very well, and they don’t play many people in Evansville that throw the ball as much or the way that we do,” he said, “so I think we can create some problems for them in that way. With this team, we’re going to have to be able to run the football a little bit to be successful, but we’re going to have to throw the ball.”

He said the Owls can’t make mistakes, such as holding calls or false starts, like they have in recent weeks.

“We need to make sure we clean our game up,” he said.

Last week at Madison

The Owls closed the regular season on a four-game win streak after defeating Madison 12-7.

Richey felt the muddy, wet conditions of the field had something to do with how the game unfolded.

“We did enough things well to win, but I didn’t think we played very well offensively in the second half,” he said. “Defense played well, and they’ve done that a couple of times here at the end. The last four games, we’ve given up 41 points and (after the first five games of the season) we were giving up an average of 43, so that’s a little bit more like we expect from those guys. They’ve risen to the occasion several times here in the last three or four weeks to win ball games for us.”

Special awards

Coaches’ awards for Madison game: Andrew Drinnon, offense; Maxx Fisher, defense; Logan Hill, specialist; Derrick Arthur, blocker; Josh Joray, big hit.

Probable starters

Seymour offense
QB-Chris McIntire (170)
RB-Stephen Manning (235)
RB-Alex Barnett (147)
FB-Currey Milroy (212)
WR-Kevin Ude (205)
WR-Andrew Drinnon (160)
T-Aaron Brown (255)
C-Logan Eppley (224)
G-Ethan Wahl (210)
G-David Bloom (280)
G-Andrew Brock (255)
Seymour defense
E-Austin Acton (185)
E-Brady Cockerham (212)
LB-Jacob Corne (210)
LB-Maxx Fisher (201)
LB-Greg Eaglen (180)
LB-Tannor Giles (190)
S-Jacob Carmichael (165)
S-Josh Joray (185)
T-Jordan Cook  (290)
CB-Robbie Cole (155)
CB-Eric Rhodes (160)

Seymour at Evansville Reitz

Kickoff: 7 p.m. EDT (Seymour time) Friday, 6 p.m. CDT
Radio: WXKU 92.7 FM
Records: Seymour 4-5, Evansville Reitz 9-0
Previous meeting: None
Coaches: Jeff Richey, 27-35 in sixth year at Seymour; Tony Lewis, 18-2 in second year at Reitz, and 65-23 overall