September grind: wins at Seymour and Columbus East headline a hard month

September asked a lot of this group. Eight matchdays in 26 days, five of them on the road, plus three nights of hosting the JV Invitational. The month ended with a 1–0 varsity win at Columbus East and a 3–1 JV win at East Central — and with the Highlanders about to open the postseason at Seymour.

The varsity’s best night came on September 15 at Seymour, a 3–0 shutout on the same ground where Sectional 15 will be played. A week later the Highlanders went to Columbus East and won 1–0, the kind of tight, disciplined result a tournament run is built on. Around those wins the month was unforgiving: a 3–2 loss to Jasper at home, a 1–1 draw at Evansville Harrison, and road defeats at Bloomington South (1–3), Castle (0–7) and East Central (1–3), plus a 1–4 home loss to New Albany. The varsity heads into October at 4-6-3.

The JV had the stronger month at 6-4-4 overall: a 5–1 win at Evansville Harrison, back-to-back wins at New Albany (3–1) and East Central (3–1), and draws at Seymour and Castle. In between, the JV played three matches in four nights at the program’s own JV Invitational — a 1–2 loss to Oldham 1, then 1–1 draws with Trinity 2 and St. Xavier — in a tournament that ended with an all-Trinity final under the lights at the Sportsplex.

Two matches remain before the bracket: Jennings County comes to Floyds Knobs tonight, Monday, September 28, for a 7:00 PM varsity makeup of the postponed September 3 match, and DuPont Manual visits Wednesday, September 30 — JV at 6:00, varsity at 7:30. Then it’s Seymour, and a clean slate.