Seymour easily handles Vikings

Two quarterback system effective again in Friday night’s win rusty@theheraldnewspapers.com The ride home for Virginia’s Powell Valley Vikings had to be a tough one. The trip up interstate 81 must have seemed like an eternity after the visiting Powell Valley, Va. squad suffered a 38-7 loss at the hands of the Seymour Eagles. A decision to go back and forth between the pocket passer Duncan Smith and the shifty Todd Ogle at quarterback eventually paid off, but it was the Eagles’ defense that made a statement early and often. The tenacious Seymour defense allowed the visitors just 30 yards rushing in the game. It marks the second time in as many weeks the Eagles have taken away the opponent’s ability to run the ball with any success. After allowing Heritage to pile up a load of yards on the ground in a season-opening setback, Seymour has won its past two contests behind its stout run defense. The first two Viking drives resulted in negative 10 yards of total offense. Powell Valley did manage some success through the air, accumulating 170 yards with its passing game, including a 60-yard touchdown pass that delivered the sum of the Vikings’ offensive production. Seymour sophomore defensive end Brandon Dockery proved to be too much for the Vikings offensive line to handle. He sacked the speedy Vikings quarterback on the first drive of the game and stayed in his face for the remainder of the contest. The first Seymour score came on a 22-yard field goal from the foot of Carlos Lopez with 8:14 left in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the rotating quarterback system fully in place and growing more productive. Seymour head coach Gary Householder spoke on the options of having two talented players at quarterback provides. “After the first quarter we decided to rotate Duncan and Todd,” said Householder. “It keeps us from getting into bad formations. They are both very good quarterbacks. They’re different from each other, and any team would like to have either one of them. We’re very fortunate to have both of them here at Seymour.” Pressure was lifted off the shoulders of the quarterbacks thanks to a staggering total of 269 rushing yards for the Eagles. The quicksilver-like Ogle finished with 109 rushing yards on just 10 attampts. Ogle narrowly escaped huge losses in the backfield several times during the game, many times turning the potential loss into a big gain. Whether it was Ogle buying a little extra time with his legs, or the precise throws of Smith, the Eagles slowly got their offense on track. The only mishap of the evening for the Eagles defense was the a 60-yard touchdown bomb to Powell Valley receiver Terrell Turner with just over four minutes to go in the half. The running back committee of Chase Turner, Matt Lynam, and Chase Parrott worked for 69 yards rushing in the first half on 17 carries. As Ogle scampered around on a second down and 22 play, Seth Stoffle got open across the middle of the field and put the Eagles back on top for good just before the half. Seymour held a 10-7 advantage as the teams departed the playing field at halftime. The second half featured a complete Seymour Eagles’ effort. “On both sides of the ball, that’s about as good as we can play,” said Householder. The defense only allowed one Powell Valley trip inside the red zone in the second half, and helped keep the offense on the field for most of the game’s balance. Householder took the opportunity to heap praise upon his veteran defensive staff. “Coach Jim Moore had a great plan for this game,” said the Seymour coach. “We were getting pressure (on the Powell Valley quarterback) and we tried to change it up and give them a lot of looks. (Moore) has just done a great job with this 3-5 defense. I think we confused them a little bit on several occasions.” Seymour has an off week coming up, which falls right on time for the banged up Eagles according to Householder “We need this off week to try and get well,” he explained. “Chase Turner and Tyler Gamble are both trying to heal up from some injuries. We’re going to try to get healthy and be ready for Rutledge in two weeks.”