Owensboro Catholic was dominant in every facet of the game as they breezed past Caldwell County for a 61-14 win at Steele Stadium in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
The Aces (11-0) wasted no time lighting up scoreboard. Brady Atwell hit Elijah Blair for an 11-yard touchdown 2 minutes in, then found Tutt Carrico for 6-yard score 3 minutes later for a 14-0.
Carrico then returned a punt about 60 yards to set up a 1st-and-goal from the 4. A couple of penalties backed the ball up to the 18 before Atwell hit Deuce Sims for another touchdown.
Caldwell County (1-10), meanwhile, kept moving backwards on their drives. On their third possession, the Tigers faked a punt but turned it over on downs on their own 18.
On the next play, Atwell pitched it forward to Noah Rhinerson, who went to the right side but reversed all the way back and was knocked out of bounds at the 1. Blair easily carried it in for the touchdown on the next play.
Caldwell again turned it over on downs, this time on their own 31. Atwell perfectly floated a pass to Waryn Ebelhar on the next play. The 2-point attempt was no good, but the Aces led 34-0 with 1:10 left in the opening quarter.
The Tigers then fumbled the ball on their own 8, and the next play was a touchdown pass from Atwell to Rhinerson. With the Aces up 41-0, a running clock started with 49.5 left in the first quarter.
“We’re gonna take it one game at a time,” head coach Jason Morris said. “Our kids are locked in right now. … All these kids are focused. They’ve got one goal in mind, and that’s to go win (the state title). And we’re practicing and playing like that right now.”
Catholic started the second quarter with an interception by Nick Sims. On 4th-and-8 from their own 39, Atwell found Tutt Carrico at midfield. Carrico broke out of a tackle and spun away from a pack of defenders to take it all the way for a another touchdown. On the 2-point attempt, Dremail Carothers connected with Noah O’Nan to put the Aces up 49-0.
Catholic added one more score before the half when Chris Burns just crossed the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown. The 2-point attempt was no good.
Atwell finished the half with 6 touchdown passes. While he only had 24 yards on the ground, his ability to evade pressure helped extend plays.
“Brady’s very gifted,” Morris said. “He’s our leading rusher this year. When plays break down like that, he’s able to keep the play alive. Obviously you want to play a little bit better every week, but overall, our offensive line kept him up right. We got the ball out in space and took care of business.”
After no first downs and recording negative yardage to that point, the Tigers suddenly marched down the field and scored on the last play of the half. Catholic led 55-7 at the break.
Morris said when his starting defensive unit was in, they made the type of plays it will take to make a deep playoff run.
“I’m really proud of my group. I’m really excited about where we’re at defensively,” he said. “Hopefully we’re playing championship level defense now, because that’s where we want to be.”
Caldwell reached the end zone one more time in the third quarter, and the Aces rounded out the scoring in the fourth on a 41-yard pass from Carothers to Riley Harville.
The Aces will remain home for the second round next week when they host Crittenden County (7-4). The Aces rolled past the Rockets 62-12 in a September matchup.
“We just can’t get complacent,” Morris said. “The main thing is that making sure that we’re taking care of the small details.”
