Apollo paired a dynamic run game led by Harold Hogg with a much-improved defense to fly past Owensboro Catholic for an impressive 56-35 victory Friday in football’s final week of the regular season.
Hogg set a single-game school record with 336 yards, also scoring six touchdowns on 39 carriers — bringing his season total to 23 scores and more than 2,000 yards on the ground. The Aces (8-2) simply struggled to contain him all night.
“The line was blocking good tonight and everything was going how it was supposed to go,” Hogg said. “It’s been a lot of hard work. I always try to push myself to do better and I think this was my best game of the season.”
Head coach Phil Hawkins was complimentary of his junior back, citing him as a pivotal component to their success.
“Harold is a dynamic running back and at the competition level we’ve competed at, he’s still been getting those 200-300 yard nights,” he said. “This should tell anybody that he can run the ball against any competition. I love the kid because he tries so hard on every down.”
Apollo’s offensive line and fullback Wes Daugherty paved the way for Hogg, who exploded for several big runs — with the longest going for 57 yards.
Hogg’s first touchdown run was a 1-yard push that tied the game at 7-7 early, and it was his only score of the first half. Second-half scoring runs went for 1, 2, 5, 42 and 19 yards.
While the run game has been a mainstay for the Eagles (4-6) all season, it was their defense that came through on countless occasions against Catholic.
“All year long it’s been no secret that we were struggling to stop teams,” he said. “We’ve spent the last week or so shoring that defense up and it meant changing a few things, but I think they’ve proved that they were willing to embrace the changes.”
The Eagles trusted their defensive backs in man coverage and applied maximum pressure on the inside. Out of their comfort zone, the Aces had six turnovers — two fumbles, one interception and three turnovers on downs.
Despite all the pressure, Catholic quarterback Drew Hartz finished with over 370 yards and five touchdowns. His first touchdown — a 41-yard bomb to Dre Thruston — marked the 103rd of his career, a new school record.
Also entering the record book for the Aces was Hagan Edge, whose late 5-yard touchdown reception was his 20th of the year — a single season record.
“Drew and Hagan have had a special career, there’s no doubt about that,” said Catholic head coach Jason Morris. “We’ll continue to ride them. They made a lot of big plays tonight against a very aggressive defense that Apollo put out there.”
Edge led the Aces’ receivers with more than 200 yards. Braden Mundy added two touchdowns and 80 yards, while Dre Thruston and Jackson Staples also added a touchdown each.
“We knew entering the game that we might have to win a shootout because they’re very potent on offense as well,” Morris said. “I think turnovers cost us tonight, but I’m proud of the way we fought and didn’t quit. We have to get back to work on Monday and look at the film and fix the issues we have with stopping the run game against a good offensive line.”
Eagles’ quarterback Damian Lovinsky finished with 97 passing yards, and his lone touchdown came on a 30-yard toss to Geoffrey Johnson with 2:43 left in the first quarter that tied the game at 14-14. After a long scoring drought, Daugherty added a touchdown on a 2-yard rush up the middle to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead at the half.
“I’ve been telling our kids that we are closing the gaps on teams,” Hawkins said. “We limited our mistakes this evening and that made the difference.”
Apollo is set to travel to McCracken County next week in the first round of playoff action, while the Aces will host Todd County Central.
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2019 football coverage is presented in part by Owensboro Health Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.
