SENECA, MO – Dominant, a word that summarizes the 2023 Seneca Indians as they enter their first playoff game.

After an undefeated regular season and earning a first round bye, Seneca will welcome Cassville to town on Friday night. For quarterback Gavyn Hoover, the 9-0 record is indicative of consistent hard work and focus.

“I’m just so proud of us as a team right now, and how far we’ve come,” said Hoover.

“Since coach Hilburn has been here, we’ve just kept improving, and it would be awesome to pull off a perfect season. We can’t do it, however, without working hard and staying focused.”

Hoover and running back Jackson Marrs have cultivated a prolific offense that resulted in outscoring opponents 409-99. With four shutout victories, one of which was against upcoming opponent Cassville in week three, the Indians are heavy favorites coming into Friday.

Marrs said, however, this season wasn’t supposed to be about going 9-0 and blowing out teams.

“There’s no greater feeling, but it was never our goal to blow out teams,” said Marrs.

“We just wanted to come out, trust our coaches and the process, and dominate on the field.”

Head coach Cody Hilburn echoed Marrs’ statement, but also added his group deserves every bit of where they are now.

“We talk a lot about deserving victories and doing things the right way,” said Hilburn.

“You don’t show up on Friday and it just magically happens. There’s a huge process that goes into it and our kids show up every day working extremely hard. They deserve to be where they’re at right now, and I’m super proud of every one of them.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.