By Curtis Trotter

Seymour football fans were treated to almost four quarters of play Friday night at the 2009 county Jamboree hosted by Sevier County High School in a scorching crowd that seemed like they couldn't wait for the pig-skin season to arrive.
All four county high school football teams, Sevier County, Seymour, Gatlinburg-Pittman, and Pigeon Forge suited up at Burchfield Stadium to watch limited action in just one quarter of play that seemed like an appetizer for the hungry and starving high school football faithful.
In the zero quarter of play, the scoreboard read the same as it did when it started. 0 to 0.
The young Eagles certainly looked much brighter in there performance than host Sevier County did overall though.
SCHS took its first possession absolutely nowhere on a quick three and out to try and get things started. It was then that Seymour's signal caller Corbin Ogle barked out a play call that worked on their first possession and found a wide open WR Jon Lavin for a 24 yard gain.Ogle pressed on and found Chris Grimo for a first down from a third and long situation.
Seymour then went to the running game with the help of Kevin Taylor for 14 yards that placed the young Eagles at the Smoky Bear 16 yard line. The Bears would hold the Eagles away from the end zone and finally take repossession. The Bears did manage to move the ball down field temporarily but that all come to a close when Seymour's Tanner Cox found a gift in the form of a much needed interception in his hands.
After two three and outs from both squads, the Eagles did once again find themselves in better position to dent the scoreboard. But with no kicker on hand, the young Eagles settled to ground it out with just seconds left on the board to make it a 0 to 0 tie.
In the JV game the scoring was a little more plentiful and the scoreboard was more kind to the Eagles in a 14-7 12 minute victory over Gatlinburg-Pittman.
GP's offense looked stellar on its opening drive when QB Ryan Myers found TE Cody Green for a 60 yard hook-up. GP stalled and so did the Eagles after the ball went over on downs. But GP wouldn't be denied on its next drive when Myers connected to Brandon Stewart from 30 yards out to make it 7-0 GP.
Seymour answered quickly behind RBs Corey Todd and Taylor Overton as well as Colton Flynn who found pay dirt to tie the score at 7-7.
Overton would later do the same with just 44 seconds remaining to make it final Seymour 14 GP 7.
Third quarter of action saw Seymour's larger flock of Eagles take on a more dominate defensive unit from GP that resulted in the same score as the freshman Eagles. 0 to 0.
In this quick short lived old rivalry, it seemed as if the two squads would just be swapping the pigskin all night. But Seymour did find some promise late in the quarter with its running game with Blake Overton. RB Chase Ketron also had a few tricks up his jersey sleeve on a reverse play that took the Eagles down to the GP 1-yard line.
But as fate would have it, a holding call placed the ball back to the GP 45 yard line. The Eagles did cross over into GP territory twice more but would fail to convert making it a final of 0 to 0.
Even though the Eagles didn't have a lot to show for the outing on the scoreboard, First year head coach Jim Moore was proud. "We tried to stay as vanilla as possible tonight knowing that Danial Boone's coaching staff was up in the stands. Blake (Overton) is a quick back that ran well tonight. We have several quick backs that we can rotate in and out though. I thought our defense played well keeping them off the board. They have been playing well all summer though throughout the four scrimmages we have had." Moore said.
As far as early season injuries, the Eagles only loss thus far is standout SR Keegan Newport that was to help anchor the team. Even though it is an early huge loss for Moore, he's still optimistic. "He goes back this Wednesday to the doctor to be re-evaluated. We're hopeful though Moore concluded.
Overton thinks that withe addition of Newport and some good coverage they'll be fine. "Beside the loss of Keegan, I think our backs will be more productive this year if we can get some good blocks down field. If Chase and I can get Keegan back, then I think this team can make some stuff happen. We are pretty healthy overall thus far and are very excited about the 2009 season." Overton concluded.
Seymour will host the Daniel Boone Trailblazers Friday night for its home opener. The Trailblazers went 5-5 last season under 5th year head coach Jeremy Jenkins. Fans may want to get there early as most opening campaigns are usually packed. Kick-off is set for 7:30.

 

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