On an emotional Senior Night for Owensboro Catholic Friday night, the Aces shutout McLean County to avenge last year’s district final loss.
With a final score of 37-0, Catholic flexed its muscles and athleticism on both sides of the ball. In total, the Cougars were able to muster just 145 total yards, with 111 of those coming on the ground.
Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said his team was ready for Friday.
“The kids knew what this game meant for us,” Morris said. “They were ready to go from the start and a shutout made the game that much sweeter. Coming into the game, we knew it would be emotional honoring the late Logan Davis and the team just really came together tonight to honor him at halftime and during the contest.
“This senior group is special and they don’t get distracted, which sets the tone for the rest of the team.”
The Aces opened the contest with a quick drive to get on the scoreboard. With just 1:17 run off of the clock, Lincoln Clancy scored from 10 yards out on a quarterback keeper for the 7-0 lead to start the game.
Following failed drives for both teams, Catholic struck again with 4:36 to go in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead. This time it was Hunter Monroe scoring from 43 yards out after breaking multiple tackles.
The final touchdown of the first half was scored by Brice Boarman on a 2-yard score with 10:48 to go in the frame.
Both teams swapped punts and failed to push across any more points and the Aces rode a 21-0 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, it was more of the same, with no points being scored until just 28 seconds remained on the clock. This time it was McLean scoring for the Aces with a bad snap sailing through the back of the end zone for a safety.
Riding a 23-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter two more scores pushed the final line to its 37-point margin. The final frame was dominated by Braden Mundy, who scored a 4-yard rushing touchdown and a 26-yard receiving touchdown, respectively.
After the game, Morris praised his team’s defensive and offensive lines, who completely dominated the contest.
“Last year we tried to match up man-to-man a little more, but this year we just focused on using our athleticism to our advantage,” Morris said. “Our defensive line hurt them a little bit more in this game. Upfront we just wanted to outlast them and run it right at them as they wore down. That’s exactly what we were able to do tonight and we got the result we wanted.”
Though the game yielded few eye-popping statistics, Clancy was the standout performer for Owensboro Catholic, connecting on 13 of his 16 pass attempts for 165 yards. The Aces aided his effort with a team total of 142 rushing yards in the shutout.
Up next for Owensboro Catholic is a contest with in-town rivals Owensboro next Friday. That game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Steele Stadium.
