In week four football action, Owensboro Catholic and Owensboro stay home, and Apollo and Daviess County go on the road. The Aces and Eagles face a pair of winless teams, while the Red Devils and Panthers face high-scoring offenses.
OCHS and OHS met last week for an intense battle that finished with the Aces on top. OCHS will try to continued their success against former head coach John Edge. The Red Devils will try to rebound against some stiff competition in Bowling Green.
Apollo and Daviess County each got on the board early and held on for slim victories. The Eagles take an undefeated record into Butler County, who have yet to get a victory this season. The Panthers will face a Hancock County team coming off back-to-back dominant wins.
South Spencer (0-3) at Owensboro Catholic (1-2)
The Aces stunned Owensboro a week ago in a 45-32 win. After going down by two scores early in the third quarter, OCHS rallied on offense and held strong on defense to get the first victory of the season. This week, they’ll play against former coach John Edge, who brings a team eager for their first win of the year.
OCHS will look to build off a successful offensive showing that saw quarterback Drew Hartz throw for 376 yards and four scores, completing 24 of 35 pass attempts. They’ve got a powerful and speedy back in Von Williams, who ran free last week and finished with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 17 attempts. Out wide, Hartz has a couple options in Hagan Edge and Nick Mills, who combined for more than 200 yards receiving.
Bowling Green (3-0) at Owensboro (2-1)
The Red Devils come off a surprise 45-32 loss to Owensboro Catholic a week ago, and they’ll need to fully recover with a road game against a heavy hitter in Bowling Green. The Purples stayed undefeated by beating perennial powerhouse St. Xavier in overtime. It will be a battle of two high-powered offenses, as the Red Devils have totaled 108 points so far, while Bowling Green has scored 88.
Owensboro has been a little slow to start games, but they’ve been able to pick up the pace after a few possessions. They’ll have to play well for a full four quarters, and the offense needs to go through running back Monte Owsley, who has rushed for 323 yards and four scores on 27 carries. Even though he lines up in the backfield, Owsley is tied for the lead as a 5A receiver with 18 catches for 300 yards and four touchdowns. The Devils also have to stay focused on the defensive side, where they are led by Austin Gough, who leads Class 5A with 23 solo and 23 assisted tackles.
Apollo (3-0) at Butler County (0-3)
After jumping out to an early lead, the Eagles were able to just hold on for a 21-18 win over McLean County last week. Apollo will look to stay perfect on the season when they travel to a struggling Butler County squad in search of their first win. So far, the Eagles have been able to control the flow in games with few possessions, which will come in handy against the Bears, who have only scored 21 points all season.
The Bears allowed 159 rushing yards a week ago, another good sign for the Eagles. Dynamic running back Mariano McKenzie has amassed 576 rushing yards in only three games, good for third in Class 5A. While most of their offense runs through McKenzie, they do spread the wealth around. Quarterback Colby Clark has a handful or receivers he relies on, most notably Sam Parm and Gage Hayden.
Daviess County (2-1) at Hancock County (2-1)
Marquel Tinsley made a quick return from injury to lead the Panthers to a 20-18 win over John Hardin a week ago. It was the first game so far in which DCHS was able to score early, but they stalled out in the second half and hung on for the narrow victory. After scoring only 6 points in their first game, the Hornets have scored 95 combined points in the last two contests.
The Panthers will need to find Tinsley early to get the offense going. In only two games, Tinsley is the state’s Class 6A leading receiver with 330 yards and four touchdowns on 20 catches. They’ll also need to feed running back Landon Newman, who’s tallied 339 yards and four scores on 55 carries through three games. Quarterback Joey Cambron, who bounced back from a poor week two, showed his potential last week with 324 yards on 30-of-41 passing. Cameron Duvall leads the defense, and he’s the Class 6A tackle leader with 20 solo and 31 assisted.
