Needing only a first down to secure the win, Owensboro Catholic quarterback Brady Atwell took off on a designed run and, like a man possessed, bulldozed his way through the Owensboro defense, toed the sideline, and dragged a defender with him as he rolled into the end zone. It was the exclamation point on yet another thriller between the Aces and Red Devils, with this one ending 43-31 in favor of OCHS.
“They were telling me to get down, but at the end of the day, we were playing Owensboro High School,” Atwell said. “I’m going to try to score as many points as I can. If I have the opportunity to score, I’m going to. I knew I was getting in the end zone, and no one was stopping me.”
It took Owensboro Catholic just 44 seconds to take a 7-0 lead to start the game. After connecting with Cam Woodward on a 52-yard catch and run, Atwell picked up a bad snap, rolled out, and found Dereon Crowe for a 19-yard touchdown.
The Aces’ defense forced a quick three-and-out and the offense got back to work. Facing a fourth-and-6 around midfield, Dremail Carothers executed a fake punt and found an open receiver for a 14-yard gain. A couple of plays later, with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter, Atwell threw his second touchdown of the game, this one to Waryn Eblehar from 8 yards out.
On the ensuing play, Crowe picked off Owensboro quarterback Trevor DeLacey at midfield. Atwell immediately took advantage and started marching deep into Red Devil territory, but, with a chance to put an early stranglehold on the game, the his pass was picked off by Omarion Green.
Green had a lot of open space in front of him but was brought down by Atwell on Owensboro Catholic’s 13-yard line. Then with 17.2 seconds remaining in the quarter, Green punched it in from 1 yard out to cut the deficit to seven.
Less than 40 seconds later, the Aces fumbled and Owensboro recovered on their own 33. Facing a fourth-and-6 from midfield, DeLacey found Cayden Ray to extend the drive. A few plays later DeLacey avoided a sack, rolled to his right, and found an open Blake Kimbrell, who broke a tackle and scored a 21-yard touchdown with 8:32 left in the first half.
With momentum no longer in their hands, the Aces’ offense sputtered and quickly went three-and-out. Starting at their own 25, DeLacey and company quickly made their way into Aces territory thanks to a plethora of penalties against OCHS. On fourth-and-10, DeLacey’s pass was incomplete but a personal foul on the defense kept the drive alive. The Red Devils had a couple of chances to reach paydirt but the Aces’ defense stood tall, and with 43.6 seconds left in the first half, Owensboro kicked a field goal to make it 17-14.
The Aces attempted a 50-yard field goal as time expired and although it had the distance, it narrowly missed wide left.
Owensboro maintained the momentum to begin the second half. On the first play from scrimmage, Evan Hampton broke a tackle in the backfield before ripping off a 70-yard touchdown run to put his team up 10.
“On that play, we had it fit up, but that’s a really good high school football player that broke a couple tackles and is faster than everyone else,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said. “Other than that, we bottled him up really well and we knew we could. It was just a matter of staying calm… There was no doubt in my mind we weren’t going to fight.”
With 8:27 remaining in the third quarter, Atwell threw across his body, connecting with Crowe from 12 yards out to cut the deficit to three. Crowe went down in the endzone and was carried off due to cramps in both of his legs, but he returned on the following drive.
After botching the kickoff, Owensboro started at their own 15-yard line and went three-and-out.
On the ensuing drive and facing a third-and-9, Ebelhar fought off double coverage and beat both defenders in the air to pull in a 38-yard pass from Atwell at the 1-yard line. Atwell ran it in on the next play and then ran in the ensuing 2-point attempt to give his team a 29-24 lead with 5:49 left in the third.
The Red Devils again had trouble on the kickoff, this time fumbling at their own 35. Taking advantage of the field position, Atwell threw a 17-yard strike to Miles Edge, who made a fingertip catch before falling backward with his defender into the endzone.
The Catholic defense similarly stepped up, making things difficult for OHS the rest of the way, although the Red Devils put up a fight til the end.
Trailing by 12, DeLacey couldn’t find an open receiver so he took off, beating multiple defenders and cutting back up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown run with 1:24 left in the game.
The Aces recovered the onside kick attempt and only needed a first down to put the game away. The drive instead ended with Atwell’s 66-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to go.
Atwell finished 18-33 with 279 passing yards, six total touchdowns, and an interception. DeLacey was 21-39 for 282 yards, two total touchdowns, and an interception.
“You can’t really describe the words,” Atwell said after the game. “I am so proud of my guys and this community. All of the hard work we put in this year. A lot of people didn’t think we were going to win tonight. I think we came out here and made a statement. We proved we don’t quit, we don’t hang our heads, and we play the next play. I think it’s a true testament of what we have going on.”
