For the final four plays of the 2A semi-finals, the collective fans at Steele Stadium were left holding their breath. Trailing 41-34, Beechwood’s final pass in regulation landed on the ground, but a defensive pass interference penalty awarded the Tigers one untimed down.
Their second attempt at the endzone once again fell incomplete, but a holding penalty on the Aces put the ball at the five. On their third opportunity, Beechwood’s Emmett Queen found Brody Aylor in the endzone, leaving the Aces home crowd in stunned silence.
Yet, instead of kicking the extra point to force overtime, the Tigers went for two and the win, but Queens’ game-winning pass attempt fell out of reach of his receiver. As the home crowd went ballistic, the Aces streamed onto the field to celebrate returning to the 2A State Championship game for a third consecutive year.
“This was hands down the best win in Owensboro Catholic Football history,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Jason Morris said. “I am just so proud of these boys. They have faced so much adversity all year long. And to be able to put on a show like this one more time for the fans, leading to another state championship appearance. Now we have to put our attention on Lexington Christian.”
A year ago, when these two teams faced off in the 2A State Championship, Beechwood jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and never looked back. This time, Morris and the Aces wanted to be able to set the tone early, and that they did – forcing a punt on the Tigers’ opening drive. A few minutes later, Dre’mail Carothers flashed his arm on a 61-yard bomb to Xavier Maddox to take an early 7-0 lead.
“To be able to come out and get a stop and then get a lead in front of our home crowd was huge,” Morris said. “Shoutout to all of the Owensboro Catholic fans for showing up, being loud, and giving us the energy we needed.”
The Tigers quickly responded on a two-yard touchdown run by Nathan Pabst, but Jude Cecil blocked the extra point. A 21-yard field goal extended the Aces lead, but Beechwood went ahead 13-10 on a deep touchdown pass to Tyler Fryman.
After an exchange of punts, Carothers methodically led the Aces down the field, before finding Hudson Ebelhar in the back of the endzone. One play later, Beechwood reclaimed the lead 20-17 after Pabst bumbled the kickoff, recovered it, and then took it all the way to the house.
Unfazed, Owensboro Catholic entered halftime leading 27-20 after a Miles Edge 1-yard rushing touchdown and a 21-yard field goal.
“At halftime, we talked about these guys being way too experienced to be satisfied with a one-half game,” Morris said. “We knew we would have to play four quarters. We also knew that we had to put a good drive together to start the third quarter to try and go up two scores to put them down two scores.”
Out of halftime, Edge bulldozed his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night to push the Aces’ lead to 34-20. The lead would yo-yo over the next few possessions. Beechwood cut the lead to 34-27 on a 12-yard touchdown pass, but the Aces quickly made the game two possessions on a Cecil three-yard touchdown run.
With 2:33 remaining in the game, Queen ran it in from seven yards out to cut the lead to 41-34. After recovering the onside kick attempt, the Aces had an opportunity to close out the game, but they were forced to punt after three straight run plays. Beechwood started the final drive of the game on their own 17, but the Aces’ defense stood tall on the last play.
Returning to the 2A State Championship game for a third straight year, Morris wants to see his team just put together four quarters, similar to tonight.
“At this point of the season, the other team is just as good as you, and they’re going to make good plays,” Morris said. “You just can’t let one good play lead to another, which leads to another, and then all of a sudden it leads to an entire quarter. We just have to play the next play. Tomorrow, we need to wipe this win out, start focusing on Lexington Christian, and put all of our focus in and just do our job.”
