The Apollo Eagles are coming off of their first win over Daviess County since 2012 while the Owensboro Catholic Aces bounced back their back-to-back losses with a dominating win over Butler County a week ago.
The two City-County rivals will meet at 7 p.m. tonight at AHS as both have one game left on their regular-season schedule after Friday.
Eagle coach John Edge said his team was excited after Friday’s win over the Panthers but when practice started this week, it was the Aces that were on their mind.
“They moved on,” he said. “They did a great job of just getting ready for Catholic. This week, that’s what they put their focus on and that’s what you’ve got to do to be successful. You’ve got to be ready to go and they’ve done that.”
Damian Lovinsky (251 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Harold Patterson (237 yards, 4 touchdowns) combined for 488 rushing yards and six touchdowns in last week’s win and Edge said they’re not the only ones that deserve praise for their performance.
“They’re ready to work this week,” he said. “We’ve got a great o-line that’s improving every week as well. A lot of the credit to them, goes to the o-line. We’re doing some different things that we did not do in the very beginning of the year and it’s helped us out a whole lot.”
Edge, like his counterpart, are no strangers to rivalry games in the city of Owensboro.
Edge said they don’t have to tell their kids what’s at stake.
“We don’t have to,” he said. “City games are city games. Like last week, we didn’t have to build that game up, the kids knew. It’s a city game. It’s a rivalry. This is no different. It doesn’t change anything. They’re ready for this game just like they were last week. It’s just a lot of bragging rights and that sounds cliche but it’s a city game.”
When asked about getting ready for Catholic, Edge knows what the Aces can do offensively.
With Lincoln Clancy leading the Catholic offense, Edge said they can do a lot of different things.
“They’re very good,” he said. “They run a lot of pistol now, which gives the running back a good downhill run. You’re going to see a lot of RPO … You’re going to see a lot of formations, a lot of movement. The main thing is you just have to play defense and tackle, that’s the name of the game and that’s what you’ve got to work and improve on each week.”
Edge said not much has surprised him about his team but he has been impressed about how much better they’ve gotten.
“Week 1 to week now, especially on the defensive end, we’ve gotten a lot better,” he said. “Offensively we’re doing some different things and helping our offensive line, helping our quarterback out a whole lot. They’re learning still how to practice and that’s what you’ve got to do. It’s a deal where the kids are continuing to learn and they’re just taking it once step at a time like we are as coaches. This is only game number seven and we’re almost at the very end.”
Prior to their 41-0 win over Butler County, Catholic suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since 2018 when they fell to Owensboro and Hancock County in the last few weeks but Morris said his team is taking a turn.
“Anytime you go through a two-week period that you lose two games, it’s good to get back on the winning side of things,” he said. “Kids have had a really focused week of practice and we feel good about our chances.”
The Aces roster is peppered with freshmen players as many have had standout seasons in their first year as Catholic football players.
Morris said that trend won’t change.
“We started four freshmen Friday night so that was good to see for the future,” he said. “We’ve played pretty young all season. We obviously have some pretty talented upperclassmen too.”
Catholic only threw for 56 yards in its win over the Bears but they ran for 425 yards, including 149 and three touchdowns from Hunter Monroe while Braden Mundy added 141 yards and a score on the ground.
“It was nasty conditions last week so it was hard to throw the football,” he said. “We had wind gust in Butler County that were pretty bad too in the second half so we weren’t able to be our traditional spread-type team and it was a good sign to see us be able to grind one out.”
Morris said it’s important as the season goes on to have stability in the running games because as the year gets later, inclement weather becomes more of a concern.
When asked about his gameplan for the Eagles, Morris admitted it hasn’t changed in recent years.
“There’s no hiding gameplans when you’re going to play Apollo,” he said. “They’ve been the same way the last 2-3 years. They’re going to run first and if you don’t stop it, they’re going to run second and run third. What happened to Daviess County happens to us last year against Apollo too so it’s not like we don’t know what that feels like. We’re going to do everything we can, within our power, to stop the run first and go from there.”
The Aces end the year with back-to-back rivalry games as they take on Daviess County next week at Steele Stadium.
Morris said if they can find a good result against the Eagles and Panthers, then that bodes will for them in the Class 2A State Playoffs.
“We try to treat every week the same but these two weeks for us at the end of the season, they’re just going to make us that much better for playoffs as long as we can come out of them healthy,” he said. “We know both of these schools are 6A schools and would be really good in 2A football. If we can compete the next two weeks, we know we can play off that.”
The Aces graduated their leading quarterback, rusher and receiver from last season’s squad and Morris admitted his team has played with a chip on their shoulder this year.
“We lost so much offense last year, people thought for the most part that we were going to be down,” he said. “We want to be a little different style but I don’t think we’re down. That’s been what’s surprised me the most is the community reaction to us being so good.
“We don’t take years off at Owensboro Catholic. You’ll always hear people say the futures bright but I’m thinking the present is too. We want to be as good as we can be right now and the future will take care of itself.”
Apollo and Owensboro Catholic hit the field at 7 p.m. at AHS.
