Regardless of who was in at QB or who was running the ball, the Aces’ offense was borderline unstoppable Saturday evening, blowing out Crittenden County 51-0. QB Brady Atwell tweaked his ankle, which he had hurt a week ago at Henderson County, and left halfway through the second quarter.
Dremail Carothers took over and led five straight scoring drives. As a precaution, Atwell was held out for the rest of the game and was ready to go back in if needed.
“Dremail is a stud. He’s an exceptional young talent who we are very confident in running our offense,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said. “Just a great kid who is always ready, and he proved that tonight.”
Receiving the opening kickoff, Atwell and the Aces quickly marched down the field before he found Waryn Ebelhar for a 43-yard completion, who was down at the two. Miles Edge punched it in on the next play to give the Aces a 6-0 lead after they missed the extra point.
Starting the ensuing drive on their own 45, Crittenden County used their run game to pick up two consecutive fourth-down conversions before turning it over on downs on the Aces 18.
A few plays later, the Aces fumbled, and Crittenden recovered on the opposing 39. The Rockets drove into the red zone for a second straight drive but turned it over on downs, this time at the Aces 15.
Shortly after Edge ripped off a 41-yard run, Vince Carrico scored his first touchdown of the season, running it in from 11 yards out to make it 13-0. After forcing a punt, Atwell went down on the ensuing drive. Taking over, Carothers quickly found Ebelhar for a 53-yard TD and a 20-0 lead.
Crittenden County returned to its run game and, for the third time in the first half, found itself in scoring position. Similar to its first two trips, it turned it over on downs on the Aces 25.
On the next play, Carothers found Ebelhar for a second touchdown pass, this time for 75 yards and a 27-0 lead, which they carried into halftime.
In the second half, the Aces scored on all four of their drives – a one-yard run by Carrico and a Dereon Crowe two-point conversion, an Andrew Garvin 49-yard field goal, a Jude Evans 1 yard run, and a 14-yard pick-six by Chris Burns.
“I’m excited about how we practiced this week,” Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris said. “We carried it over. That’s a solid 2A football team that is coached very well. They came out with a strong game plan and ground out a lot of clock in the first half… When you get a shutout and win 51-0, there isn’t much to complain about.”
