Columbus East’s Nate Anderson breaks up a pass in the end zone during the sectional opener against Seymour Friday at Columbus East.
Greg Jones | For The Republic
Columbus East’s football sectional opener against Seymour Friday night went a lot like the teams’ regular-season meeting.
The Olympians couldn’t match what Seymour put up offensively, thus ending their season with a 39-20 loss at Stafford Field. The Owls move on to the sectional final to take on Class 5A No. 3 Bloomington South on Friday.
Seymour had defeated East 41-26 on Sept. 1.
This time, the Olympians (3-7) got a spark early when Keaton Lawson intercepted a pass from Owls quarterback Bret Perry. East cashed in on the turnover when Jared Brooks caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Kyson Villarreal for a 7-0 lead after the Skylar Bailey extra point was good.
Seymour (6-4) quickly responded when Perry found Kyle Hileman for the critical third-down conversion. On the next play, Perry passed to Jack Pennington, who outran the East defense for a 51-yard score. However, the extra point attempt was blocked to keep the Olympians ahead 7-6 late in the first quarter.
On the next Owls possession, Perry found Pennington again for another big play. Pennington dodged a couple of tackles and went all the way to the end zone for a 63-yard score for a 12-7 lead with 9:42 left in the second quarter after the two-point conversion was no good.
Seymour added a couple more touchdowns to extend the lead. The first came from a Jaylan Johnson 2-yard run, and then Cam Wheeler had an 18-yard reception to make 26-7 at the half.
East got on the scoreboard early to start the second half. The Olympians drove down the field, and Villarreal capped off the drive with a 1-yard run to make it 26-13 after the two-point conversion failed.
The Owls responded a couple of possessions later when they drove down the field, and Johnson scored the touchdown with a 4-yard run to grow the lead back to 32-13.
The Olympians got the points back on the ensuing possession when Villarreal found Brooks for a 54-yard score to make it 32-20 with 8:05 left in the fourth. Seymour added another score with 1:37 left on a Nick Wheeler 3-yard run.
