Charo, Loyd ignite Seymour's early charge in win over Archer City

SEYMOUR — Big plays were in abundance for Seymour on Friday night in a critical District 7-2A Division II matchup against Archer City.

David Charo was at the center of the Panthers’ 21-point first quarter, returning an interception 66 yards for a touchdown and hauling in a 52-yard TD catch.

And when the Panthers were needing to put away Archer City late, it was Charo taking the fourth-down snap from the wildcat and slicing through the Wildcats for a 41-yard touchdown run that sealed Seymour’s 46-28 victory.

“David Charo being David Charo,” Seymour coach Dan Loyd said after the Panthers improved to 5-1. “Get the ball in his hands and he does magic with it. My hat’s off to these seniors putting in the time in the weight room this summer, doing extra work and everything of that nature. It’s wonderful for them to have this evening.”

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There are now two unbeaten teams in 7-2A, and while there’s still a lot of football to be played before Seymour travels to Windthorst on Oct. 27, the Panthers took another step forward by ending a three-game losing streak to the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1).

Speaking of steps forward, the progression of junior Brayden Loyd has a lot to do with the Panthers’ fast start. Loyd threw for 240 yards and five touchdowns, often sidestepping pressure and looking off his first read.

That’s what happened on Charo’s TD reception and on Seymour’s first score, a 37-yard strike to Brason Zeissel. Loyd also threw a gorgeous deep fade to Isaac Willden for a 26-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

“He’s just really taken the reins,” Archer City coach Bradan Ritchey said. “He’s gained a lot of confidence because he’s getting himself in a rhythm. And he’s a good leader for that team. He does a great job.”

But ask both Loyds about No. 15’s improvement, and they’ll immediately turn the conversation to Seymour’s senior-laden blockers.

“I could not give enough credit to my o-line,” Brayden Loyd said. “They sacrifice every day and they give their heart and soul. I couldn’t love them any more, I treat them like my brothers.”

The Panthers built a 34-7 lead late in the second quarter, but just when it looked like Archer City was going to get blown out, RItchey’s squad showed some gumption.

Kole Stovall hauled in a 39-yard touchdown on the final play of the first half to pull Archer City within 20. Even though Seymour scored on Layton McAdams’ 56-yard catch and run on the first snap of the third quarter, the Wildcats scored the next two touchdowns.

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Landon Smith, who finished with 402 passing yards and two touchdowns, took what Seymour’s defense gave him underneath and marched the Wildcats inside the red zone five times in the second half.

While two possessions ended with touchdowns, one drive stalled at the 7-yard line and another ended with Garrett Smart’s fourth-down sack. Archer City also had the ball on the 5-yard line late in the third quarter, but Smith was slung around and threw the ball 35 yards behind the line of scrimmage, resulting in a lost fumble.

“We have a really good team ready to bust out, but we’re playing Archer City every week,” Ritchey said. “We’ve got to get out of our own way. I told the kids you can take away the catastrophic first half, you can take away with pick-six, but at the end of the day, we lost by three touchdowns. And we had three trips into the 10-yard line with no touchdowns.”

There was a lot of talent on the field at Fair Park Stadium. Archer City’s Chance Warren hauled in 13 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, while teammate Kole Stovall had a 9-130-1 receiving line.

But Seymour had a seasoned quarterback in Loyd, a gamebreaker in Charo and an opportunistic defense that forced three turnovers.

“We’re hot right now, we’re having a good time. We’ve got to keep our composure though because they can come back,” Brayden Loyd said. “I’m just happy to come out with a victory. That was two great teams just going at it.”

Seymour 46, Archer City 28

Archer City 0 14 7 7 –28

Seymour 21 13 6 6 –46

FIRST QUARTER

S – Brason Zeissel 37 pass from Brayden Loyd (Hagen ANderson kick), 7:21

S – David Charo 66 interception return (Anderson kick), 3:38

S – Charo 52 pass from Loyd (Anderson kick), 0:53

SECOND QUARTER

AC – Landon Smith 3 run (Noah Cornell kick), 10:13

S – Layton McAdams 9 pass from Loyd (Anderson kick), 5:33

S – Isaac Willden 26 pass from Loyd (pass failed), 2:51

AC – Kole Stovall 39 pass from Smith (Cornell kick), 0:00

THIRD QUARTER

S – McAdams 56 pass from Loyd (pass failed), 11:50

AC – Kline Mayo 3 run (Cornell kick), 7:34

FOURTH QUARTER

AC – Chance Warren 19 pass from Smith (Cornell kick), 5:51

S – David Charo 41 run (pass failed), 3:29

TEAM STATS

First downs: (AC) 29; (S) 13

Rushing: (AC) 30-58; (S) 22-105

Passing: (AC) 35-49-2–402; (S) 16-25-0–240

Punts: (AC) 2-24; (S) 2-16

Fumbles: (AC) 2-1; (S) 0-0

Penalties: (AC) 6-51; (S) 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: (AC) Laine Hall 17-49, Kline Mayo 5-39, Landon Smith 8-(30); (S) David Charo 1-41, Slade Thompson 5-31, Avery Parrish 3-20, Brayden Loyd 12-10, Layton McAdams 1-3.

PASSING: (AC) Smith 35-49-2—402; (S) Loyd 16-24-0—240; Hagan Anderson 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING: (AC) Chance Warren 13-180, Kole Stovall 9-130, Isaac Dieguez 5-55, Layken Cagle 5-28, Mayo 1-7, Hall 2-2; (S) Charo 6-83, McAdams 2-65, Brason Zeissel 2-36, Isaac Wilden 1-26, Parrish 2-13, Thompson 2-12, Anderson 1-5.

RECORDS: Archer City 2-2, 0-1; Seymour 5-1, 2-0.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Archer City Wildcats at Seymour Panthers high school football score