Olney plays for pride in season finale Friday
OLNEY— The Olney High School Football team will play for pride and its first win Friday night against Seymour.
The Cubs enter their final game of the season after being eliminated from playoff contention following their 44-7 loss to Alvord last Friday.
“We had too many bad things on first and second down,” Olney coach Mark Young said. “We would look up and it’s second-and-20. Those things are hard to overcome when you’re going up against a good team. That happens when you’re young and inexperienced.”
The Cubs jumped out to an early lead on a 54-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Parker Mayers to junior receiver John Montgomery, who had played quarterback for most of the season until Mayers stepped in after Montgomery suffered an undisclosed illness for much of the week.
“When we do what we’re supposed to do, then good things happen,” Young said. “We’re a pretty good team when we’re healthy. Montgomery was sick for two days. He did a good job. He played quarterback at the beginning of the year, before he got a concussion, then we put him back with John and we’re looking for one of those guys to step up next year. [Mayers] is a good runner. He’s strong and a threat to the defense.”
The Cubs held the lead through the first quarter, but a rash of miscues eventually allowed Alvord to take the lead in the second quarter and run away with it from there on a four touchdown, 86-yard rushing performance by senior running back Crese Redman.
With the loss, the Cubs were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after both Windthorst and Seymour picked up district wins last Friday.
What’s next
The Cubs will look to play for a bit of pride Friday night against the 5-3 Seymour Panthers. Young said the Panthers do not bring anything into Friday’s game that the Cubs have not seen before.
“We’re playing for pride. We don’t like them and they don’t like us,” Young said. “They are a spread team that likes to spread you out, run a few read plays and some crossing routes. They’re running from a shotgun the whole time. They have a couple of good running backs and their left flanker is pretty good.’
On defense, the Panthers run from a 3-3 stack, which is a welcome change for the Cubs after struggling against Alvord’s 6-2 defense last Friday.
“We’ve seen it all year long,” Young said. “They get to the ball really fast so we’re going to have to do a good job blocking.”
Along with Friday being the season finale, it may also be the final football game for many of the seniors.
“It’s kind of sad, knowing that you’re not going to be doing this next year, but kind of exciting,” senior receiver Brent McCorkle said. “... I’m making sure I go full-speed every play. I’m making sure I don’t leave anything on that field. You don’t want that regret the rest of your life so I’m going to make sure I put it all out there.”