NEW MARKET — Southmont stifled Seeger 13-0 on Friday night for its first shutout win since 2019 and 18th win in 19 all-time meetings against their old Wabash River Conference rival.
With many young faces on the field for the Mounties in the first half, Southmont (3-0) took the lead on an 11-yard touchdown run by sophomore Trip Ward with 8:26 left in the first half and never looked back.
“We had a great first half,” Southmont coach Desson Hannum said. “I thought we really came out and played with a lot of energy. I thought our defense played really well that first half. I’m proud of those guys that played that first half, I thought they were tremendous. It wasn’t the prettiest tonight, but a win is a win.”
Ward’s touchdown capped a 10-play 80-yard drive, but Southmont’s other two first half drives didn’t produce positive yards. All while Seeger moved the ball up and down the field, but couldn’t crack the Mounties’ red-zone defense. The Patriots (1-2) turned the ball over on downs at the Southmont 20 that led to the Mounties’ first touchdown. Southmont sophomore Kyler McCandless intercepted a pass that stopped another Seeger drive in Mountie territory just before half.
“That’s the most important thing, keeping them out of the end-zone,” Hannum said.
The second half was much of the same. Statistically, Seeger dominated the game. The Patriots out-gained the Mounties 243-166 – including 182 yards through the air compared to just one completion for 37 yards by Southmont quarterback Nick Scott. But it was a big one, the junior found Seth Tolliver down the side-line on third and long that kept a fourth quarter drive alive that ended in with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Scott to EJ Brewer to put the game on ice. The 11-play 70-yard drive was set up by a Brady Boller interception that stopped a 15-play Seeger drive dead in its tracks.
“Nick threw a great ball and Seth made a great move to get past him,” Hannum said.
Peyton Chinn led all rushers for Seeger with 47 yards on 17 carries, while Noah Stephen completed 12-of-14 passes for 147 yards. Southmont used its speed on the outside defensively to negate the big play and offensively to pick up yards in big chunks when needed.
“I thought we had good speed on the perimeter and good skill guys,” Hannum added. “I think we can continue to get better up front. We did take advantage of our speed.”
Wyatt Woodall led the Mounties with 41 yards on 11 carries, all in the second half, while freshman Dylan Howell carried it nine times for 20 yards. Southmont gained 129 yards on the ground on 36 carries.
