Owensboro Catholic heads into Friday’s KHSAA Class 2A State Playoff game against McLean County after a 5-3 regular season but the Aces and coach Jason Morris are ready to get revenge on the Cougars after last season’s loss in the second round of the playoffs.
The Aces didn’t have a Week 9 game as their matchup with Daviess County was canceled due to Covid-19 but Morris said the extra week helped his players immensely.
“It helped in the fact of getting kids healthy,” he said. “We were pretty banged up at the end of the year. We got beat up in the Apollo game pretty good so getting those two weeks off has really helped some senior leaders get their legs back under them. We know everybody’s going to be rusty at this point a little bit going into it so those first couple series, we’re hoping to play basic fundamental football and just get back into the flow of things.”
After beating Todd County Central in last year’s first round, the Aces fell to McLean County in a 37-36 thriller.
Morris said it definitely adds to the fire going into Friday.
“It needs to be there,” he said. “There’s no reason not to talk about it and say forget about it. They had a great game against us and we didn’t play very well and we can’t let that happen to us again. All the focus is on making sure we’re taking care of ourselves and just do the things right and don’t let it happen again.”
The Aces got their first bit of revenge earlier this season when they beat the Cougars 37-0 but Morris said they can’t let that be their focus.
“I think the way we’ve been battled tested in the fact that we have shown them on film to where we could easily be 8-0, just like we’re 5-3,” he said. “McLean County is saying the same thing. They take those four or five plays away, they played us a really tight game. Just like when we played Owensboro, Apollo and Hancock, you take four or five plays away from all those games and we’re 8-0. We know McLean County played better than 37-0 and we’re given them respect and we’re respecting a battle.”
To beat McLean this week, Morris said it’s a simple gameplan but they have to execute it.
“We’ve got to stop the run,” he said. “It’s all about alignment and assignment with McLean County. You’ve got to get aligned and you’ve got to make sure your eyes are where they need to be. You’ve got to be disciplined, you’ve got to win the discipline gam, making sure you’re not giving them free yards.
“They’re going to ground and pound you and they’re going to be excited about three and four yards so if you’re giving them four and five yards off of undisciplined stuff, whether that be physically or mentally, you’ve got to stay disciplined.”
In their three losses this season against Owensboro, Apollo and Hancock County, the Aces kept the game close and if a few plays would have gone differently, their season would have a few more wins.
Given their battles against the Red Devils and Eagles, Morris said that means they can compete with any team in Class 2A.
“It just proves that we belong in that conversation, in my opinion,” he said. “We can’t have those four or five plays. We’ve got to be able to play clean football all the way through. We’ve lost three games by a total of 25 points but our turnover ratio was like -12. You got to take care of the football and you’ve got to play good, clean football. When we do that, we’ve proven we’re a solid defense and we can run the football. That’s what you’ve got to do in the playoff to advance.”
Senior defensive end Finley Munsey has 36 tackles (7 TFL, 4 sacks) this season for the Aces but he said he was just happy to this the field this year.
“It means a lot because we didn’t know if we were going to be able to play and just coming out here with my brothers every day, it means a lot,” he said.
Munsey said the loss to the Cougars last season drives them a lot and it motivates them to give it their all leading up to the big contest.
As a senior, Munsey knows he has to lead the team and he said he’s been doing that every chance he can with the younger players.
“Make sure they’re doing everything right, working hard,” he said. “When they do something wrong, make sure they keep their head up and just keep encouraging them.”
When the Aces take the field Friday, one senior that won’t be with them on the field physically is Logan Davis but one thing is for sure, he’s in every one of their hearts.
“It drives us a lot because we know he’s watching over us everyday,” he said. “Trying to live he did.”
Morris echoed his leaders sentiment.
“There’s still no words to describe it,” he said. “It was a big loss to our program. It was like losing a son. It’s a coach’s worst nightmare. It just takes time to heal something like that, more than six months. We still have Logan at the top of the list, he’s right here with us and we’re playing for him.”
Owensboro Catholic and McLean County hit the field at 7 p.m. Friday at Steele Stadium, a place the Aces have been dominant in recent years.
“It’s definitely a tough place to play,” Morris said. “That’s why you play the regular season, why those games matter because you want to try to get that home-field advantage. I’m glad to get these seniors one more game here at least at Steele Stadium and we’re going to play this last one for them.”
