CINCINNATI — Wyoming High School is back in the Division IV state finals after losing in the semifinals the past three years.
They’re hoping to repeat the form that won them the trophy in 2018.
What You Need To Know
- Wyoming tied a school record from 1962 with 10 shutouts during the season
- Defensive coordinator Chad Seymour has been coaching at Wyoming for 10 years
- Seymour has also spent 25 years as a history teacher at Kings Junior High School
A big part of their success this season comes from the defensive line. The team tied a school record with 10 shutouts.
"Coming into the year, I didn’t say we were going to have 10 shutouts in a season but they just started putting things together," said Chad Seymour, the team's defensive coordinator. Every weekday in the fall, he teaches History at Kings Junior High School, where he has worked for 25 years, before making the trek to Wyoming to coach football.
The players and Seymour's boss will tell you that he's a big reason for the success.
“Our defensive coordinator Chad Seymour does a tremendous job with getting those kids ready to play their best each and every week,” said head coach Aaron Hancock.
“I love Coach Seymour and defense wins the games,” said CJ Hester, the team's star running back. He knows that it's because of defense, he's had the opportunity to rush for more than 3,000 yards this season.
“It’s a blessing for offense," Hester said. "They’re (the defensive line) gonna get the stop, we’re gonna get the ball and try to score.”
Coach Seymour’s the kinda guy who’s not about to take any credit.
“It’s really about the players," Seymour said. "They’ve really worked hard and put in the time. Week in and week out, they continue to get better, improve and we kinda call it the grind and stuff, and every day, they’re trying to get better.”
Seymour said the secret to success is keeping it simple.
“You can’t throw a thousand things at ‘em and pick it all up," Seymour said. "We have six or seven things we really believe in and that’s what we stick with the whole time."
“It’s a simple formula but it’s hard to be consistent with it each and every week,” Hancock said.
Hancock said Seymour's been great at keeping the kids on track. Meanwhile, Seymour admits he still gets nervous before a big game like the state finals.
"As a player, you can determine a lot of the outcome of the game but as a coach, you think you do, and you try to put your kids in the best positions but sometimes, they gotta go out and make plays," Seymour said. "I’m probably more nervous as a coach than a player because I can’t go out and do anything about it.”
After all the drills and practice, Coach Seymour said his boys are ready.
They'll need to be, as Wyoming and Saturday's foe Glenville are both undefeated coming into the Division IV title game (available on Spectrum 1 at 7:30 p.m.).