Eagles win another passing league title

The Seymour Eagles won their fourth Air Attack Passing League Tournament in five years last week with a 24-22 championship game win over the Fulton Falcons, completing a 6-0 run in the pre-season passing league. The Seymour team first had to defeat tournament host Webb Monday evening at 6pm after Friday’s game between the two squads was halted because of rain. Seymour didn’t miss a beat after taking the weekend off, outscoring the Spartans 21-7 in the remaining 12-minutes of the game which was carried over from Friday night. “They called it off and rescheduled it because they didn’t want to mess their field up and I don’t blame them,” said Eagle coach Gary Householder. “That’s probably the right thing to do, you don’t want to damage your field before the season even starts. We came out Monday ready to play and ran our offense well. We have some ability on this team and it was encouraging to see the kids come out and execute our passing game as effectively as they did.” Seymour had a 21-14 lead late in the fourth quarter against the Falcons in the championship game, which was played immediately following the rescheduled game against Webb. Fulton senior quarterback Jack Whetsel led the Falcons down the field and into the end zone on a touchdown pass to Ronnie Collins to make the score 21-20. The Falcons elected to go for the lead by going for the two-point conversion. Whetsel took a short drop and hit Antonio Minor on a quick slant to give his team a 22-21 lead with just over a minute left in the contest. Whetsel saw extensive action as the Falcon starter last season, leading the team to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. The senior looks to have grown an inch or two and added some muscle to his frame since last season. On-lookers at the passing league were impressed with his arm strength and his overall decision making with the football. The Seymour quarterback was impressive too. First year starter Kris O’Barr proved capable of throwing the football to virtually every spot on the field during the passing league. The lanky right-hander displayed an ability to throw the short quick slants, the over-the-middle crossing passes (possibly his most effective), which demand precision and are adept at breaking high school defenses down in a hurry. And last but not least, the sideline streaks, otherwise known as bombs. After Fulton forced Seymour to turn the ball over on downs and the Eagles returned the favor, O’Barr got the ball back into his hands with 89-yards between him and the possible go-ahead-score and only .27 seconds left on the game clock. O’Barr showed deceptive arm strength by hitting one of his two or three go-to receivers, Nathan Disney, in stride down the left sideline. Disney caught the pass with a clear field in front of him but was tracked down by a speedy Falcon defensive back at the Fulton 11-yard line. “I think that he has gained some velocity on his throws since last season,” commented Householder. “I really never thought about it, but it could be attributed to him being a competitive tennis player during the spring. The swinging motion on his over-hand serve may very well have helped his ability to get the ball up and out better.” Householder signaled for his final timeout, had a brief conversation with O’Barr and sent him back out onto the field. But, not with a short slant or a crossing pattern play call to put the team into the end zone. O’Barr, who also serves as the team punter and field goal kicker, calmly walked back out, paced off several steps behind his holder, and drilled a 26-yard game winning field goal to give his team another passing league championship. The Eagles will start Fall practice this week in full-pads with the opening game against Sevier County on August 24.