With both teams coming off of week one losses to start the 2022 campaign, Owensboro and the Eagles football teams will be geared up for a crosstown showdown at Rash Stadium on Friday night.
Apollo is coming off of a rough 42-14 home loss to Owensboro Catholic, a game in which sophomore Brady Atwell threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns for the Aces. The Eagles didn’t have as much luck offensively, as senior Christian Combs threw for 105 yards and two interceptions, while all the scoring came from their backfield.
Senior Donte Dixon got 13 carries in the season opener, shining as a bright spot for Apollo with 108 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Head Coach Jay Fallin said they’ll be looking to contain Dixon, as well as Combs and another player who can change the game in junior Noah Rhinerson.
“Apollo is led by upperclassmen on offense, especially at quarterback in Combs, slot WR in Rhinerson, and RB in Dixon,” Fallin said. These guys can make plays and we need to be aware of where they are and execute our assignments to keep them contained.”
In order to grab a win this week, the Eagles will need to maximize their ground game, while finding a way to limit turnovers and capitalize on scoring opportunities.
The Red Devils on the other hand are coming off a 28-14 loss on the road, as they had a rematch from a year ago with the powerhouse football program in Saint Xavier.
They were able to limit the Tigers to 49 passing yards in the contest, but senior Adam Boone (96 yards, one touchdown) and junior DonTre Richardson (82 yards, two touchdowns) stole the show with a combined 178 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The remaining pair of touchdowns for St. X came from special teams, as they returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.
Offensively senior Kenyatta Carbon stood out with 122 rushing yards on 17 carries, but was held to just one touchdown. Senior Kasey Boone had a decent outing under center as well, throwing for 138 yards on 17-28 passing.
While the overall result was not what Head Coach Jay Fallin and company had in mind, the Red Devils are poised to learn from the loss and feel as though they have grown in practice this week.
“We want to take a step forward and play with one week’s worth of improvement over last week,” Fallin said. “We identified some things we need to do better from last week’s film and we have worked hard on them this week in practice. We hope to execute more cleanly on third down on defense and in special teams, especially kick coverage.”
With just one offensive touchdown last week—the first of the game coming off of a 60-yard pick six by senior Zach Clark—the Red Devils will look to put together a much more complete game offensively in front of their home fans.
Fallin wants to see them improve in all facets of the game, but with a particular emphasis on getting off the field on third down. Amidst the fine tuning, the Owensboro skipper wants his players to also go out and soak in each play and enjoy competing under the Friday night lights.
“Improvement, but also to have fun and enjoy the moment,” Fallin said. “After Friday we will be getting ready for week three and also our first game in September. I try to keep it at the forefront of the minds of our kids and coaches that each season goes by so fast, so make sure you take time to enjoy the moments and have fun; it is supposed to be fun.”
The Red Devils and Apollo will look for their first win of the season this Friday at 7 p.m. at Rash Stadium.
