Owensboro Catholic has had a prolific offensive season so far, and much of their success has come from the senior duo of Drew Hartz and Hagan Edge.
Both veterans have broken individual records for the Aces this year, and they anchor a group of dynamic skill position players who have made Catholic one of the highest scoring offenses in the state.
Head coach Jason Morris said he knew a special year was in store for his team.
“I knew that we were going to be pretty dynamic offensively all offseason,” he said. “Any time you have a three-year starter because of how skilled he is, not just because of necessity, you’ve got something good. Having a senior at quarterback with a kid like Hagan coming back at receiver, along with the other receivers that I knew were talented, I knew we were going to be pretty good.”
Hartz is the state’s leading passer with 3,873 yards, and his 53 touchdowns is 13 more than any other quarterback in Kentucky. He’s completed 221 of 313 pass attempts with only four interceptions.
Earlier this year Hartz set a program record with nine touchdown passes in a game, and he also broke the record for most career passing touchdowns. His current career total of 111 is tied for eighth-most all time in Kentucky.
Though it was a goal to etch his name in the Catholic record books, Hartz said he’s mostly focused on winning each week.
“My focus right now is on the next game,” he said. “Survive and advance, especially in the playoffs. After the season I’ll look back at the great accomplishments this team has had. I wanted to put my name in the record books. It’s a great feeling knowing I’m up there.”
Edge, meanwhile, now holds the record for most receiving touchdowns in a single season. So far he’s got 20 — tied for second in the state this year — to go along with 1,424 yards on 72 receptions.
“I’ve just relaxed this year and played my game,” Edge said. “I know I have the speed to beat people one on one. So when they go man coverage, Drew knows I can usually get open on those routes and he’s been hitting me more this year.”
The success goes well beyond Hartz and Edge, though. Braden Mundy (1,015 yards), Dre Thruston (705 yards) and Jackson Staples (461 yards) each have caught nine touchdown passes.
Thurston is also a threat out of the backfield, as he leads the team with 642 yards and six touchdowns on 53 carries.
“They help spread out our skill set across the whole field,” Edge said. “We have four guys that the team has to worry about and then we have Dre in the backfield.”
Hartz was sure to compliment the offensive line, saying it has been an all-around effort all season.
“With the line doing as good a job as they have, that’s made it possible,” he said. “They give me time to get it out to my receivers and make plays. All the receivers have bought in. Our passing game has been doing great, but we’ve also added the run. Adding that as another threat is great for us.”
Though they are averaging nearly 50 points per game, Morris said there’s always room to improve. He’s hoping they’ll keep getting even better as they try to advance in the playoffs.
“We never want to plateau,” he said. “Every time you go back and watch film you find something you could have done better. We need to clean up the little small details of everything we do.”
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