Owensboro Catholic looked in mid-season form Friday as they rolled to a 42-6 win over Apollo at Steele Stadium in the first game of the year. The offense was especially sharp with five touchdowns in the first half thanks to contributions from a handful of players.
Aces’ quarterback Brady Atwell had a stellar night. In addition to a rushing score from 2 yards out, Atwell added five passing touchdowns that were split among four receivers.
“Our togetherness and overall family-type atmosphere, not just playmakers, on our team makes it easy for me honestly, and I’m just blessed to be in the position I am,” he said. “I have confidence in everybody on my team.”
Catholic (1-0) took an early lead with a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter. Atwell hit Noah Rhinerson for an 18-yard TD up the middle on the opening drive. The Aces then forced a three-and-out, and the ensuing drive ended with Atwell scoring on a keeper for a 14-0 lead.
Catholic scored on three consecutive drives in the second quarter to reach a 36-0 lead and start a running clock before halftime. Early in the quarter, Atwell found Waryn Ebelhar through coverage, and the receiver ran it in for a 9-yard touchdown.
An Eagles (0-1) fumble led to the next score for the Aces, as Atwell threaded a long pass to Kaiser Frick for a 41-yard TD.
The final touchdown of the half came when Atwell passed to Tutt Carrico, who broke a tackle and made another defender miss as he ran it in for the 30-yard score. An unsportsmanlike conduct on the Aces made it a long 2-point conversion attempt, but Atwell connected again with Carrico, who tapped down his toes just inside the end zone to push the lead to 36-0.
The final touchdown for Catholic came early in the fourth quarter when Atwell hit Carrico once again for a 25-yard touchdown.
Head Coach Jason Morris said the team has no shortage of playmakers to rely on.
“We’re two deep in every receiver position,” he said. “In four spots, we feel like we have eight guys that can legitimately play varsity football at a high level.”
Morris said he was overall pleased with the entire performance but made special note of the offensive line’s contribution.
“I’m very pleased with everybody right now,” he said. “I am pleased with our efforts, and we were disciplined and played very well.”
AHS was never able to get much going offensively, struggling in the first half to even pick up a first down. The lone score came when quarterback J.T. Edge connected with Niles Board for a 6-yard touchdown.
One of the biggest plays for the Eagles was when Niles Board returned an interception about 80 yards to the endzone for a would-be touchdown, but the play was called back due to a penalty against Apollo.
Apollo finished with about 50 yards passing and rushed for about 80 yards, most of which was gained in one big chunk late in the game.
AHS Head Coach John Edge said this performance is not indicative of the rest of the season will unfold.
“The great thing is we got nine more ball games to get better and do our job,” he said. “One thing we have to do is we got to do a good job of executing on both sides. They got a lot of third-and-long’s that we should have gotten them off the field.”
Catholic will return to action next week with a road game against Daviess County (0-1). Apollo returns home to take on McCracken County.
