With the pain of last year’s loss in the 2A state title game still in their minds, Owensboro Catholic made a statement in their season-opening 50-13 win over Apollo. In front of a packed house at Eagle Stadium on Friday, Aces quarterback Brady Atwell reminded everyone why he is one of the best players in the state by accounting for six of his team’s seven touchdowns — throwing for four and adding a pair on the ground.
Owensboro Catholic started with the ball and immediately marched down the field on their opening drive. After a successful mix of run and pass plays, Atwell capped off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Maddox with 11:10 remaining in the first quarter.
Less than 30 seconds later, the Aces defense stifled Apollo, forcing a fumble that Miles Edge recovered on the Eagles’ 5-yeard line. Atwell ran it in on the next play to make it 14-0. Apollo quickly went three and out, and Atwell and his offense got back to work. A few plays later, Atwell rushed for his second TD of the game — a two-yard run to make it 21-0 with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter.
“I think it was a very good start. We knew what we were going to do early — run the ball,” Atwell said. “We wanted to test them on their conditioning. I think the team came together once we started rolling. We knew we had to execute more and it was a good first game, but we have plenty of improvements to come.”
Feeling the pressure, Apollo responded with multiple passes to march down the field. Facing a 1st-and-goal from the 8, Catholic’s defense stonewalled the Eagles on four consecutive plays. On 4th-and-goal, Edge sacked Apollo QB Maxwell Johnson for a loss of 20 to force a turnover on downs.
A couple of plays later, Atwell once again connected with Maddox, this time for a 14-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-0 with 8:36 remaining in the half. Apollo’s pursuing drive quickly came to an end after Edge forced his third turnover of the game, this time picking off Johnson. The offense took advantage, with Dereon Crowe running it in for 3 yards and then Atwell successfully throwing for the 2-point conversion to make it 36-0.
On their last drive of the first half, Apollo’s Johnson connected with receiver Landen Bratcher for a 72-yard catch and run to put them within striking distance. Johnson threw an interception on the following play and the Aces entered halftime up 36-0.
Throughout the first half, both teams let emotions get the best of them at times and a plethora of words were exchanged. Multiple times penalty flags were thrown as a result.
“I was really upset with both teams,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said. “In today’s society, kids think in general they can play the game by running their mouths. They see it on social media. That was what my halftime speech was about — humbling yourselves, keeping your mouths shut, and just letting your play do the talking. I am proud of the way we did that (in the second half). We came back out in the third quarter and it looked better.”
Owensboro Catholic quickly forced an Apollo punt to start the third quarter and immediately scored on the other end. Atwell connected with Crowe for a 21-yard TD pass to make it 43-0.
After forcing another 3-and-out, the Aces had an offensive misstep when they fumbled on their own 39. The ensuing play saw Johnson connect with Bratcher for a 39-yard touchdown. After a special teams miscue, the score was 43-6.
Unbothered by the previous fumble, Atwell threw his fourth touchdown of the game and second to Crowe, this time for 46 yards to make it 50-6 as time expired in the third quarter.
On their last drive of the game, Apollo’s Johnson avoided multiple sacks and scrambled for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 50-6.
“It’s motivated us,” Atwell said when asked if last year’s loss fueled his team to start the season. “Every day. Every day in the weight room. Every day at practice. Just understanding where we were and where we want to be. We were a few plays from winning a state title and I think this year, if we cut out those plays we will take it home.”
