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A little more than midway through the season, the Seneca Indians can now be sure of one thing offensively.
They have balance.
The Indians used that balance to beat Big 8 Conference rival Carl Junction, 27-7 on Friday night.
Junior running back Marty Mailes ran for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Payton Rawlins threw for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns.
After a scoreless first quarter, Seneca got a breakthrough. Rawlins found Chance Smith open up the far sideline and hit him for a 50-yard gain. Smith was knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Mailes punched it in on the next play to give Seneca a 7-0 lead after the extra point.
Then, with less than 30 seconds to go before halftime, Rawlins went deep again. This time, he found Jalen Skaggs for 50 yards and a touchdown. The Indians led 14-0 at the half.
As well as Seneca played offensively in the first half, their defense played even better. The Bulldogs were not only held scoreless, but the Indians held them to just three first downs in the first two quarters.
“We challenged the kids to keep up their intensity,” Seneca coach Dan Scheible said of his halftime talk with the team. “We told them that we wanted to score on the first possession of the third quarter to keep the pressure on (Carl Junction).”
Once again, Rawlins answered the call. After a long drive, the sophomore connected with Skaggs again for an 11-yard touchdown pass, giving Seneca a 21-0 lead.
Carl Junction scored before the end of the third quarter to make it 21-7.
In the fourth quarter, Mailes scored his second touchdown of the night. The extra point failed and the score was 27-7.
With the win, Seneca is now 3-3 on the season.
“Of course we want to be better (than .500) right now,” Scheible said. “But, we haven’t played poorly all year. I feel like each game there are positives and negatives. For example, Friday night, I felt our kicking game was a major plus.”
In the victory, Seneca compiled more than 400 yards of total offense. When Scheible arrived at Seneca, he talked about the Indians being a running football team under his watch. With the emergence of Rawlins as an efficient passer, that plan has changed a little.
“(Rawlins) has made tremendous progress since I first arrived in Seneca,” Scheible said of his sophomore signal caller. “He is doing a great job throwing the ball for us and it’s a real plus to be able to utilize his ability to stretch the defense.”
Next week, Seneca will travel to Aurora for a matchup with the Houn’ Dawgs. Aurora defeated Monett, 35-7 on Friday.
A little more than midway through the season, the Seneca Indians can now be sure of one thing offensively.
They have balance.
The Indians used that balance to beat Big 8 Conference rival Carl Junction, 27-7 on Friday night.
Junior running back Marty Mailes ran for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Payton Rawlins threw for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns.
After a scoreless first quarter, Seneca got a breakthrough. Rawlins found Chance Smith open up the far sideline and hit him for a 50-yard gain. Smith was knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Mailes punched it in on the next play to give Seneca a 7-0 lead after the extra point.
Then, with less than 30 seconds to go before halftime, Rawlins went deep again. This time, he found Jalen Skaggs for 50 yards and a touchdown. The Indians led 14-0 at the half.
As well as Seneca played offensively in the first half, their defense played even better. The Bulldogs were not only held scoreless, but the Indians held them to just three first downs in the first two quarters.
“We challenged the kids to keep up their intensity,” Seneca coach Dan Scheible said of his halftime talk with the team. “We told them that we wanted to score on the first possession of the third quarter to keep the pressure on (Carl Junction).”
Once again, Rawlins answered the call. After a long drive, the sophomore connected with Skaggs again for an 11-yard touchdown pass, giving Seneca a 21-0 lead.
Carl Junction scored before the end of the third quarter to make it 21-7.
In the fourth quarter, Mailes scored his second touchdown of the night. The extra point failed and the score was 27-7.
With the win, Seneca is now 3-3 on the season.
“Of course we want to be better (than .500) right now,” Scheible said. “But, we haven’t played poorly all year. I feel like each game there are positives and negatives. For example, Friday night, I felt our kicking game was a major plus.”
In the victory, Seneca compiled more than 400 yards of total offense. When Scheible arrived at Seneca, he talked about the Indians being a running football team under his watch. With the emergence of Rawlins as an efficient passer, that plan has changed a little.
“(Rawlins) has made tremendous progress since I first arrived in Seneca,” Scheible said of his sophomore signal caller. “He is doing a great job throwing the ball for us and it’s a real plus to be able to utilize his ability to stretch the defense.”
Next week, Seneca will travel to Aurora for a matchup with the Houn’ Dawgs. Aurora defeated Monett, 35-7 on Friday.
