Mahomet-Seymour football season comes to an end with first-round loss to Troy Triad
By FRED KRONER
Jon Adkins sent an email to the officials who worked Mahomet-Seymour’s first-round IHSA Class 5A playoff home game on Friday (Oct. 27) at Frank Dutton Field.
The message was delivered after his Bulldogs suffered a heart-breaking 20-19 loss to Troy Triad. It came following a game where M-S was denied a fourth-quarter touchdown when an official – who had the play directly in front of him – ruled that Trey Peters did not get a foot on the ground before going out of bounds in the back of the end zone.
The third-down call was on a play from the 5-yard line with the Bulldogs clinging to a 19-14 lead and 6 minutes left in the contest.
Before reaching out to the officials, Adkins studied the replay, using slow-motion and stop-action to view the play frame by frame.”
“No question,” Adkins said, “his toe drags on the ground before the knee goes down.”
As he crafted his email, Adkins was careful with his wording. He wanted to make sure he was not misunderstood.
His words would come as a surprise to those who used social media platforms to express their displeasure with the call.
“I wanted them to know that there was no way that call lost us the game,” Adkins said. “That’s a very good crew and they officiated a very good game.
“They didn’t give up a 95-yard TD drive. We didn’t stop them.”
That was on the Bulldogs and came immediately after M-S turned the ball over on downs one play after the end zone call went against them.
Triad, which had managed two touchdowns in the first 3 ½ quarters, was tasked with driving nearly the length of the field against a defensive unit that has been a season-long strength for the Bulldogs.
“I had all the confidence in our defense to get the job done,” Adkins said. “Defensively, we were very good this year. This was probably the one time (they weren’t).”
Triad scored the go-ahead points with 2 minutes and 11 seconds left.
To the Bulldogs’ surprise, they then tried an onsides kick.
“That was shocking to me,” Adkins said. “We got the ball on our 40.”
A first-down pass to Luke Johnson moved the ball into Triad territory. A penalty tacked on another 15 yards.
“We were at their 30,” Adkins said.
A quarterback sack made the challenge tougher and hopes for a storybook ending were soon stifled.
“I feel bad for our kids that we’re not playing (in the second round),” Adkins said. “I felt the better team didn’t win.”
The bigger issue, the M-S coach said, is what can be done to address controversial plays in the future.”
“This (call) would have been reviewed in college or the NFL,” Adkins said. “Maybe it’s something the (high school) Coaches Association could bring up.
“Everyone has HuddlSideline (an end zone camera that provides instant replay opportunities). I don’t know of many who are not using it. Do we allow officials to come and review it?”
Though frustrated by the outcome, Adkins said there were numerous highlights.
Triad’s first possession came to a quick end on an interception by Brock VanDeveer.
Shortly thereafter, Luke Johnson raced 45 yards for the game’s first TD. Sophomore placekicker Jackson Davis converted the extra-point kick and the Bulldogs owned a 7-0 lead 3 minutes and 6 seconds into the rain-soaked playoff contest.
The run was part of Johnson’s season-high 150-yard rushing performance. The senior was called upon for 33 carries.
“If you ever remember a kid for his last game on his home field, this is what you would want to remember,” Adkins said. “In conditions where it was easy to lose your footing, Luke got the tough, hard yards.”
A second TD by Johnson – on a 1-yard run – came with 3:07 left in the first half and extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 13-0.
The snap on the Bulldogs’ second point-after attempt was mishandled and Davis never got the chance to kick the ball.
That play was front and center in Adkins’ mind when he kept his offensive unit on the field for the fourth-down play following what was ruled an incompletion on Peters’ near-catch at the back of the end zone.
Some second-guessers wondered why he didn’t summon the field goal unit.
“I didn’t even think about it,” Adkins said. “I wasn’t going to put a sophomore kicker in to kick his first field goal in that type of game when the previous snap was botched.”
Even with 24 hours to reflect, Adkins was steadfast in the decision.
“I wouldn’t do it any differently,” he said. “We can always second-guess things, but that’s one thing I didn’t and never will.
“You make the tough decisions and hope they come out favorably. In this case, it wasn’t. I’m proud of how the kids played.
“Statistically, we had them in every facet of the game, except the scoreboard.”
M-S held an edge in total yards (263-181) as well as time of possession.
The Bulldogs (7-3) led for all by 4 minutes and 42 seconds in the game. Triad (also 7-3) scored the go-ahead TD with 2:11 remaining.
M-S started the same group of offensive linemen for the first nine games, but needed one change for Week 10. Kolton Metcalf-Poulos suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the regular-season finale at Quincy. He was replaced by Brayden Lamb.
Luke Dyer, who had not completed less than 54 percent of his passes in his first nine varsity starts at quarterback, connected on 8 of 17 attempts for 79 yards. The Bulldogs tried just one first-half pass as the rain and wind forced them into their Diesel Package throughout the opening 24 minutes.
Gavin Hammerschmidt had three receptions for 29 yards. Johnson had two catches for 28 yards. Raymond Long, Braden Pagel and Trey Peters each snared one pass.
“They (Triad) had to play in the same weather conditions and got the job done,” Adkins said. “We didn’t. It was a cold, wet rain on a grass field. It was not favorable conditions. That (completion percentage) was due in large part to the elements.
“I truly believe had we played in Saturday’s conditions, the home side of the scoreboard would have had a lot more points on it.”
Less than 3 minutes into the third period, the visitors forged a 14-13 lead, one that lasted only until the end of the next M-S possession.
VanDeveer scored on a 2-yard run with 6:41 left in the third quarter, creating the 19-14 M-S lead that held until the game’s final 2 ½ minutes.
VanDeveer finished with 39 yards rushing on eight carries.
The defensive leaders were Noah Frank (season-high eight tackles), Tyler Majeres (seven tackles), Jack Gallier (six tackles), Donovan Lewis (six tackles), Ethan Esker (four tackles), VanDeveer (three tackles) and Jayvon Irwin (two tackles).
For the season, VanDeveer had the most stops (60), followed by Irwin (46), Majeres (45), Gallier (42), Lewis (38), Colby Crowley (37), Henry Wagner (34), Esker (32) and Frank (30).
The playoff game marked the final appearance for 13 seniors in an M-S uniform.
“I’ll miss the seniors,” Adkins said. “I enjoyed every single moment we had. This was one of my favorite groups to be around.”
The seniors – besides Luke Johnson – were Lukas Alstetter, Evan Anderson, Trevor Coit, Colby Crowley, Gage Decker, Jack Gallier, DeAndre Hughey, Jayvon Irwin, Ryken Kirby, Donovan Lewis, Tyler Majeres and Braden Pagel.
“When we rewind to the start of the year, I don’t believe anybody outside of our lockerroom, and some parents, believed in us,” Adkins said. “This senior class as freshmen was not successful (finishing 0-6).
“These kids used that as motivation and worked hard to prove people wrong. I’m glad they got to experience success (including a third consecutive unbeaten record in Apollo Conference play).
“People may say we were overachivers, but if you ask the kids, they will say, ‘I told you so,’ and ‘thanks for giving us the motivation.’”
M-S finished the varsity season with an overall record of 7-3. The junior varsity squad was 7-0 and the freshmen finished 5-3.
“The future looks bright,” Adkins said. “We lose two kids from the (starting) offense (Johnson and Pagel) and six from the defense (Anderson, Crowley, Gallier, Irwin, Lewis and Majeres).
“I’m incredibly proud of this group.”
Lewis finished the year with seven interceptions, which – according to available records – is the fifth-best one-season total in school history. The all-time record is 11 (held by Tom Kenney in 2014).
Dyer completed 63 percent of his passes for the year (153 of 243) and threw for 2,077 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He ranks fourth on the school’s all-time list for TD passes in a season and is the sixth quarterback in the past 11 years to throw for at least 2,000 yards in a season. He joins Wyatt Bohm (twice), Bodie Reeder (once) and Joe Keney (twice)
Dyer’s favorite targets were Peters (37 catches for 640 yards and 9 TDs), Pagel (40 catches for 465 yards and 7 TDs), Raymond Long (24 catches for 414 yards and 5 TDs), Gavin Hammerschmidt (25 catches for 275 yards and 1 TD) and Johnson (25 catches for 251 yards and 2 TDs).
Johnson was the rushing leader, gaining 774 yards on 165 attempts, an average of 4.7 yards per carry. Johnson rushed for 11 TDs. Other top ground-gainers were Cade Ashby with 256 yards on 61 attempts and 5 TDs, as well as VanDeveer with 160 yards on 25 carries and 8 TDs.
In his three-year varsity career, Johnson rushed for 2,442 yards and scored 31 TDs rushing. He averaged 5.8 yards per carry in his prep career. Johnson also had an additional 534 yards on 41 pass receptions.
