Any questions about Owensboro Catholic quarterback Brady Atwell’s nagging ankle injury were put to rest Friday night. The senior threw for six touchdowns in the first half before sitting out the entire second half in his team’s 61-6 blowout victory over Todd County Central.
“I was feeling the best I have felt in 2 weeks,” Atwell said after the game. “I have been taking care of my body and was getting right again. I feel really good now.”
It took Aces less than 90 seconds to take a 7-0 lead when Atwell found Dereon Crowe for a 10-yard touchdown. On the ensuing drive and the Rebels’ first play from scrimmage at their own 10, they ran a trick play that turned into a 90-yard touchdown. Todd County Central missed the extra point, and their offense was held scoreless the rest of the night.
Atwell and company quickly got back to work with the QB finding Waryn Ebelhar for a 19-yard touchdown and a 14-6 lead with 8:59 left in the first quarter.
On the Rebels’ second drive of the game, they quickly went three and out, but a roughing the kicker penalty on the Aces kept the drive alive. Todd County Central punted four plays later, but the Aces muffed the punt, and the Rebels recovered on their own 32. After back-to-back miscues, the Aces defense settled down and forced a punt.
On the next play at their own 32, Atwell found Ebelhar for a 68-yard touchdown and a 21-6 lead with 2:31 left in the first quarter. The Aces’ defense forced punts on the Rebels’ next four possessions, while the offense scored four more times before halftime.
Atwell threw three more touchdowns in the first half — a 17-yard pass to Crowe, a 1-yard pass to Woodward, and a 1-yard pass to Miles Edge. Up 42-6 with under 4 minutes left in the half, Atwell was pulled for Dremail Carothers to take the helm. In his lone drive of the first half, Carothers threw a strike to Crowe in the middle of the field, and the receiver took it to the house for a 60-yard touchdown and a 49-6 halftime lead.
Outside of the touchdown they allowed on the opening play, the Aces’ defense was dominant, a performance they would replicate in the second half.
“Defensively, our run fits were just right,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said. “We weren’t allowing yards after contact and running our feet through our tackles. I’m really proud of the way we zoned in tonight and we didn’t go into Fall Break too early.”
With 3:45 left in the third quarter and in the red zone, Carothers found Hudson Ebelhar in the back end of the end zone for a touchdown to go up 55-6. On their last possession of the game, Carothers found an open Josh James, who raced to paydirt for a 61-6 lead.
As the Aces head into Fall Break, the players will be given the entire week off to rest up and mentally prepare for the final stretch.
“I preach to the team every day to not get bored with excellence,” Morris said. “It’s easy to get bored with what gets us here and that attention to detail, ultimate discipline, and the maximum effort we give on a daily basis. We need to perfect that and we’re getting there.”
