The Seneca Indians accomplished the goals they set forth for their district championship match up against Aurora, which, according to the Indian's coaching staff, didn't differ from its goals all season long, run the football and run it well. That is a pretty manageable goal when you have the likes of Braxton Graham and Payton Rawlins on your side. Riding their strengths, Seneca was able to cruise to the district title as the number two seed, defeating fifth seeded Aurora 45-15.
The Indians showed Aurora its game plan early, as they scored on their first offensive possession, a four-play drive that took less than two minutes and ended with a 6-yard scamper by Graham to put Seneca up 7-0.
Aurora then managed to move the football meticulously down the field but were unable to punch the scoring ticket, stalling on the Seneca two yard line.
Seneca did the same thing, as they spent the remaining five minutes of the first quarter moving the ball down to Aurora's goal line but failed to put points on the board.
That would be the last time the Indians would stall, however, as they scored on a 3-yard run up the middle by Graham at the 9:40 mark of the second quarter to take a 15-0 lead. Aurora defensive back Cody Evans was injured on the play, as he collided with Graham in the end zone. Evans remained down on the field for nearly 15 minutes before an ambulance took him to an area hospital. Post game reports from houndawgsports.com are saying Evans broke a vertabrae in his neck in three places but is expected to make a full recovery.
Aurora's senior standout running back William Blankenship got the Houn' Dawgs on the scoreboard before the halftime break, as he barreled his way into the end zone from one yard out to make it 15-7.Seneca a 22-7 halftime advantage.
Seneca started the second half the same way they started the first, scoring on their first possession with just four offensive plays. Graham scored his second touchdown of the game just one minute into the third quarter on a 23-yard scamper down the left side, refusing to go down. The 2-point conversion made it 30-7, Seneca.
Blankenship showed the Houn' Dawgs had no intention of giving up, scoring just two minutes later on a 29-yard run to pay dirt himself. The 2-point conversion narrowed Seneca's lead to 15, 30-15 with 8:30 left on the third quarter clock.
"We knew they (Aurora) wasn't going to give up," said Graham after the game, "so we told ourselves we had to keep trying to put points on the board."
And Graham, who finished the night with 222 yards rushing on 29 carries, did just that, as he scored two consecutive touchdowns on runs of 34 yards and 56 yards to give the Indians the commanding 45-15 lead and the final score.
"The guys up front did a great job opening holes to run through," said Graham. "They do that and that makes my job easy." Graham finished the night with 4 touchdowns, giving him 31 on the season.
Rawlins finished the evening throwing for 140 yards, completing 10 of his 13 passing attempts, He also ran for 45 yards and two touchdowns.
"If you try to stop us one way, we can adjust and try to beat you another way," said Rawlins, who ended the season with 24 touchdowns of his own.
Aurora's Blankenship amassed 181 yards on the ground, carrying the ball 27 times.
Seneca will now travel to Eldon Saturday, Nov. 16, for a state quarterfinal matchup.
