Owensboro Catholic couldn’t hold on to an early 26-0 lead, and Murray stormed back to win a 41-38 shootout Friday night at Steele Stadium in the second round of the Class 2A football state tournament.
The Aces (8-4) got three first-half touchdowns from senior running back Von Williams, but injuries, penalties and turnovers — combined with a strong effort from the Tigers (8-4) — kept the Aces from maintaining their lead.
A 32-21 halftime lead for Catholic turned into a 41-32 advantage for Murray heading into the fourth quarter, but the Aces did give one final push.
In the final quarter, Catholic quarterback Drew Hartz found Nick Mills for an 18-yard touchdown pass with 2:36 to go. After failing on a 2-point conversion attempt — the Aces were 1-5 on such conversions and missed an extra point — Murray was still on top by 3.
Though they came up big on defense and regained the ball with 1:33 to go, the Aces were unable to convert a 4th-and-inches from their own 35-yard line. The stop allowed the Tigers to run the clock out and celebrate the come-from-behind victory on the road.
Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris did not envision the end result of his team’s home defeat prior to the game, and certainly not when his squad jumped out to the big early lead. After the game, Morris found himself ruing several unfortunate penalties that cost the Aces field position and possible scoring opportunities on multiple occasions.
“I’m very disappointed with our lack of discipline tonight,” Morris said. “We just didn’t keep our cool when we needed to. You have to be able to handle adversity in football, and that translates to life experience as well. You have to keep a cool head when times get tough and we did not do that tonight.”
Other first-half scores for the Aces came on a 39-yard punt return by Braden Munday and a 69-yard pass from Hartz to Noah Todd. Hartz then threw pair of interceptions that led to a couple of touchdowns for the Tigers.
Though Murray’s comeback began in the first half, the third quarter proved to be the most important momentum shift of the game. It began with two early Murray touchdowns, the second of which gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 35-32. On the ensuing drive, Williams was hit hard on a counter play to the left, fumbling and exiting the game with a concussion.
Murray scored, and the Aces promptly drove the ball deep into Tiger territory. With just over seven minutes to go and down by two scores, Hagan Edge caught a pass inside the 10-yard line. As he was being tackled by two defensive backs, Edge fumbled. The ball bounced on the 5-yard line, rolled through the Murray end zone, and came to rest outside the field of play for a Tigers’ touchback.
Unfortunate plays and untimely injuries were abundant for the Aces on Friday night, ultimately proving fatal to the team’s playoff hopes. Before Williams’ injury, free safety Ya Ya Gray and inside linebacker Jack Hamilton were both sidelined before halftime.
“Gray’s injury hurt our secondary,” Morris said. “Von going out caused us to shuffle people around and we also lost Hamilton, a starting inside linebacker. I’m not blaming this loss on injuries, though, because ultimately we didn’t take care of the ball as we planned. My guys didn’t quit, we just lost to a good team tonight.”
On the opposite side of the scoreboard, the Tigers reveled in a massive comeback following the game. Offensive and defensive line coach Scott Turner said he has been around Murray football for the last 50 years coaching for the last 32.
“I’ve been around Murray football all my life,” Turner said to his team after the game. “I can remember back over the last 50 years of Tigers’ football. I guarantee you Murray High School has never come back from 26 points down to win like this. It has never happened.”
The Tigers’ playoff run will resume next week against Mayfield (12-0), while Owensboro Catholic’s loss spells a premature end to an otherwise terrific season.
