For a second straight year, Owensboro Catholic Middle School’s eighth-grade football team has advanced to the State Championship – this time against Pikeville. The game is set for this Saturday at 3 PM at Lexington Christian Academy in Lexington, KY. The reigning champions, this marks the third time in school history the Aces have advanced to the State Championship.
It has been an impressive playoff run for Owensboro Catholic, playing without their starting QB who went down with an injury in the regular season finale – having completely changed their style of play on the fly.
“We have become more of a running team and were focused on perfecting our ground game,” Owensboro Catholic Middle School coach Hank Harvey said. “We need to be in position to score when the opportunity arises. The defense has held really well since the playoffs started. The kids that have stepped up are playing both ways and have accepted it on the fly.”
In the State Semi Finals against Meece Middle School, the Aces struggled with their blocking on the outside – an area that will need to be cleaned up heading into Saturday. Owensboro Catholic’s backfield is full of speed, but the offensive line will need to move the defense back and float to the ball.
The defense has been one of the teams’ strengths all season long, even more so in the playoffs now that the Aces offense isn’t scoring as much as in the regular season. Harvey praised how everyone has stepped up, but especially his defensive line.
Owensboro Catholic’s continued success despite having to switch their entire game style so late in the year has been an indictment of Harvey’s entire coaching staff – Kyle Gorman, Drew Harvey, Chad Mongold, JT Jones and Darius Oller.
“I have to give the credit to the coaching staff because they have been out here adjusting on the fly due to our loss of our QB,” Harvey said. “We made some additions to the coaching staff at the beginning of the season and the kids have flocked to them.”
Pikeville enters Saturday undefeated, but Harvey likes his team’s chances of defending their title.
“If we play like we are capable of I feel good,” Harvey said. “It’s about getting the kids to play a certain way.”
