After a dominant 47-14 home win over Greenwood in the opening round of the 5A state playoff, the Owensboro football team is headed into a rematch with Bowling Green.
The Red Devils (9-2) rolled to a big victory as most No. 1 seeds do in the first round, but head coach Jay Fallin said it wasn’t as easy as the scoreboard may indicate. He said the Gators (2-9) have one of the few schedules in the state that is more difficult than Owensboro has, so their record was deceiving.
The opening quarter for Greenwood looked somewhat promising, but the Red Devils forced a pair of turnovers for a 14-0 lead after the first quarter. Fumble recoveries by Trace Grenier and Jordan Sorrells led to touchdowns via a 20-yard catch by Treyvon Tinsley and a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Will Warren.
“A lot of times when an opponent is going to come out and have a lot of success on the first series, it’s because they’ve game planned and maybe installed some things you haven’t seen on film and are not prepared for,” he said. “You have to be able to adjust on the fly — that’s sort of a mark of a mature defense — they can see what is happening in front of them.”
Fallin credited Greenwood head coach William Howard and said he does a good job getting his players prepared to put up a fight.
“It was good for us to have to come out and play against someone who was going to compete with us in the first half,” Fallin said. “A lot of times when you win the district, you get a four seed and you almost could have the varsity out by the end of the first quarter.”
It wasn’t quite that easy, but Owensboro went on a tear in the second quarter to hold a 41-0 lead at halftime. Tre Green had runs of 39 and 8 yards for touchdowns, and Monte Owsley scored on a 41-yard catch. Jaiden Greathouse added a defensive touchdown when he stripped the ball and returned it 39 yards for the score.
Fallin doesn’t expect any more blowout wins.
“It was good for us to have to compete a little bit early, because this was probably the last game where we will have a running clock,” he said. “We’ve got to come ready to work. It’s good to get out on Friday and get out and to have to play a little bit.”
Greenwood scored one touchdown in the third quarter and added another in the fourth, though Lucas Howell returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a final Owensboro score.
The Red Devils now get a shot at redemption against Bowling Green (9-2), who beat Owensboro in week four of the regular season. Fallin said it was one of the best games the Devils have played against the Purples in a long time, and both teams have continued to improve all season.
“We feel we are a much better team now,” Fallin said. “They’ve got a lot of seniors and upperclassmen who take pride in what they do and have a great coaching staff, so they’re going to be a much better team than when we met in September. We feel we’ve got a great opportunity to win this ballgame. We have to come to work in practice and have a great attitude and great enthusiasm about it and come out and play a great game.”
Fallin said it’s going to be especially important to play the full 48 minutes, something they’ve struggled to do after getting big leads early in recent games. They’ve blown games open in short spans and all but won by halftime.
“We have to be really mentally focused and prepared for the battle to come down to the wire,” he said. “That’s why you do everything you do when you’re a football player. We’re enthused about it. We couldn’t ask to have a better opportunity. Half the teams will turn their gear in on Monday, and we play on and have an opportunity to play against a great team.”
