By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Seneca’s slow start in the Class 3 state championship led to a 48-34 loss to the Central (Park Hills) Rebels Friday at Faurot Field. The Rebels’ 18-point lead in the first quarter proved the Indians’ second half comeback would not be enough.
“Not a whole lot went right for us in that first half,” said Seneca head coach Cody Hilburn, noting a bad snap and holding penalties as part of the team’s challenges. “My takeaway – and it’s been like this with these guys all year – is how resilient they are. I said at halftime I was confident we were going to win the football game because I knew what these guys have done the entire year, and the last three years in our program, that they weren’t going to go away. That’s not who we are, that’s not our identity, and just like I thought, we had a chance there at the end…I felt like we just ran out of time. I thought we got all the momentum in the world and we just ran out of time there at the end.”
Midway through the second quarter, the Indians put together a drive led by running back Jackson Marrs, quarterback Gavyn Hoover, and wide receiver Ethan Altic to put Seneca on the board, 26-6.
The Indians came hot out of the gate to open the second half, scoring on their first possession, punctuated by a 28-yard pass from Hoover to a wide-open Morgan Vaughn and a 30-yard Marrs rush. Seneca quickly scored again thanks in part to Marrs’ 36 yards on the ground and a two-point conversion. A Central touchdown reply didn’t faze them. For the third time in the third, the Indians put up points; a 53-yard Ethan Altic pass completed to Blake Skelton sealed the deal. The quarter closed with Seneca trailing 42-28.
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“Schematically, we didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments,” said Coach Hilburn. “What we saw is that we were kind of hurting ourselves…offensively, we looked at it, and it was us. We were getting in the way of ourselves. We wanted it to be a physical football game, and that’s what I told them, we’re going to go out and run the football and see how physical we can be in the second half.”
Seneca’s physicality continued in the fourth as Kaden Clouse forced a fumble and recovered, ending Central’s opening bid at Seneca’s 27-yard line. The Indians took advantage of the error and a facemask penalty against the Rebels and marched another one in to trail by 8, 42-34.
With just over five minutes left in the game, the Indians were on the move again and fourth and one at Central’s 30-yard line. Central forced a fumble and followed it with another touchdown, effectively ending the game and Seneca’s bid for a state title (13-1).
Senior captain Jackson Marrs said he was grateful for his team. “Oh man, I love them,” he said. “I’m so proud of my boys, win or lose. This has been a heck of a ride. Coming from PeeWee, we were winning Super Bowls, and we’ve always been by each other’s side, on and off the field. It’s been awesome.”
Coach Hilburn, a Seneca native, returned to the program three years ago when his current senior captains, Ethan Altic, Morgan Vaughn, Jackson Marrs, Gavyn Hoover, and Brian Bigbee were sophomores.
“When I got to Seneca these guys never questioned any change I made,” said Hilburn. “They were all in from the time I got there. They never said, ‘Why are we doing this differently?’ It was, ‘What do you want us to do?’ Our motto at Seneca is to get 1% better every day, and from the time I got to Seneca day one to now, that’s what these guys have done.”
“These guys brought (Seneca) back, I didn’t do that for sure,” he added. “I’m just happy to be a part of it. These guys, my assistant coaches, and the community, that’s how it is supposed to look. The effort they played with today and the resiliency to come back, and to see our community up there, there couldn’t have been anyone left in the town. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s who Seneca is.”
