By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The wheels on the Seymour offense went round, and round, and round . . . all through Bedford North Lawrence. Dashing downhill and unstoppable, with explosive plays doing most of the runaway damage, the Owls left tire tracks and road rash in their wake.
Nick Wheeler was the sparkplug, scoring three touchdowns. Jaylan Johnson was the fuel, making big plays on both sides of the ball. Seymour’s defense was the engine muscle, posting its first shutout in 27 games. And the Stars? Like the tired hitchhiker on a lonely road, forlorn as a car whizzed past with a contrail of dust and despair, they were left far behind.
Wheeler’s hat trick and three big-play touchdowns of 54-plus yards powered the Owls to a 49-0 blowout win, spoiling BNL’s Homecoming festivities on Friday night. Seymour posted its first Hoosier Hills Conference victory of the season and recorded its biggest win in the series since a 59-0 triumph in 1989.
For the Stars, limited to 84 total yards and few highlights while Seymour triggered the running clock, nothing worked. BNL fell to 0-5 for the first time since 2003, and the road team won for the sixth straight time in his ancient series. Seymour also totally silenced the BNL offense for the first time since 2002.
“Not a lot went well for us,” BNL coach Derrick Barker said. “We didn’t coach real well, didn’t play real well. Once it started rolling, it was downhill and we couldn’t get it corrected. We couldn’t get the momentum going.”
The Owls (2-3, 1-3 in the league) set the tone with Wheeler’s 58-yard touchdown jaunt, the first play after BNL’s first punt. He turned the corner on the left side, hurdled over a tackler on the edge, and escaped. On the next series, Seymour quarterback Mikey Wright connected with Treysean Hawkins for 38 yards, setting up Wheeler’s second score from the four.
Before the Homecoming queen could don her glittering crown, BNL was in trouble. And it got worse.
Wright started the second quarter with a 9-yard keeper for a 20-0 lead, then hit Johnson for a 78-yard touchdown pass late in the half. In the second half, BNL’s only promising drive ended with a Lucas Ira fumble at the Seymour 38. After Mitchell Mellencamp’s punt pinned the Stars deep in their own territory, two penalties led to a Seymour safety when BNL running back Brody Horton couldn’t elude defenders in the end zone.
On the ensuing series after the BNL free kick, Wheeler wheeled in from 12 yards, setting off the running clock with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Seymour added two more scores (Hawkins from 9 yards midway through the fast-moving fourth quarter and backup quarterback Max Coates from 54 with less than two minutes left).
“It was going to come down to trench warfare for us,” Seymour coach Tyson Moore said. “We’ve struggled up front and been inconsistent, where one side has played well and the other hasn’t. So the biggest challenge was putting two sides together and dominating the football game. We had dudes being dudes.”
Wright hit 11 of 16 passes for 168 yards, and Johnson snagged six for 106 yards. The Owls had four sacks, with linebacker Bradyn Riley leading that charge.
“Our defensive line played in BNL’s backfield all night,” Moore said. “That was it, that was good football. That’s big for our defense. That’s a lot of hard work, and having the zero on the board is huge.”
Seymour’s last shutout was a win over Madison in 2021.
BNL searched for answers with Ira taking over at quarterback in the second quarter, but there was no spark. Jaden Gilbert caught six passes for 47 yards. The Stars managed only five rushing yards. They fixed the punting problems with Ira as the kicker with a new snapper, but unfortunately they worked on that six times.
“We couldn’t put a drive together,” Barker said. “That’s been the story of the year, we can’t put it together for more than a couple of plays.”
BNL will visit Jennings County next week. The Panthers (0-5) suffered a 51-0 loss at Madison.
Seymour 14 12 9 14 – 49
Bedford NL 0 0 0 0 – 0
First quarter
S – Nick Wheeler, 58 run (Adrian Medina kick), 8:11; S – Wheeler, 4 run (Medina kick), 5:26
Second quarter
S – Mikey Wright, 9 run (kick failed), 11:53; S – Jaylan Johnson, 78 pass from Wright (pass failed), 4:04
Third quarter
S – Safety, tackle BNL runner in end zone, 7:37; S – Wheeler, 12 run (Medina kick), 3:53
Fourth quarter
S – Traysean Hawkins, 9 run (Medina kick), 6:54; S – Max Coates, 54 run (Medina kick), 1:25
Team statistics
Seymour – First downs 6 (2 by run, 4 by pass); Rushing 27-194; Passing 12-17-0-184; Total yards 378; Fumbles 2 (lost 0); Penalties 6-65
BNL – First downs 6 (1 by run, 4 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 18-5; Passing 10-24-0-79; Total yards 84; Fumbles 1 (lost 1); Penalties 6-34
Individual statistics
Rushing – (S) Wright 6-4, Wheeler 7-84, Hawkins 12-50, Coates 3-56; (BNL) Kirby 1_9-4), Horton 7-3, Ira 4 (-13), Gilbert 2-19, Engleking 2-(-9), Allender 1-9
Passing – (S) Wright 11-16-0-168, Coates 1-1-0-16; (BNL) Kirby 4-8-0-21, Ira 5-14-0-57, Allender 1-2-0-1
Receiving – (S) Johnson 5-106, Shelly 2-8, Millikan 1-7, Hawkins 1-38, Mellencamp 1-2, Rocket 1-7, Jackson 1-16; (BNL) Short 1-8, Gilbert 6-47, Axsom 2-23, Conner 1-1
