When Owensboro takes the field tonight at Rash Stadium against Frederick Douglass in the KHSAA Class 5A State Semifinal, it’ll be the fourth state semifinal in Jay Fallin’s coaching career and his second as a head coach.
For Fallin, tonight’s matchup is not the norm for a semifinal in a multitude of ways.
“It’s different this year because it’s usually Thanksgiving weekend but it’s exciting for our kids and because of the experience, because of who we’re playing, rematch of last year, it feels more like they’re a little more comfortable with the situation,” he said. “We all have a firmer grasp on the situation. You study film, but going into the game last year, Douglass didn’t know what to expect from us, we didn’t know what to expect from them.
“You feel a little more knowledgeable but both teams are very different than they were last year and it’ll be a different game. We need to be prepared to grab momentum from the start.”
The makeup of the bracket is also different for OHS and teams across the state with the introduction of the RPI a couple of seasons ago as both of this year’s semifinals are the same matchups from a year ago.
“It’s a lot different than semifinals used to be because there was a west semifinal and an east semifinal so you were always playing somebody on the west half of the state in a semifinal as long as I’ve been around high school football,” he said. “Now for the last two seasons with RPI, you can play anybody in a state in a semifinal regardless of geography. It’s just worked out that two years in a row it’s been us and Douglass. I think it’s neat locations are flipped now. Just kind of establishing a cross-state rivalry but we’re excited.”
Earlier this week, Owensboro senior Treyvon Tinsley said some players may have had some nerves during last year’s state championship game but going into tonight, those nerves have turned into some Fallin is excited about.
“Experience is everything in life,” he said. “I don’t want to say things get easier but you have an easier grasp of things and you know what to expect. Last year, a lot of people, whether it was state-wide media or people here locally, when it came to pass we were going to play Frederick Douglass in a semifinal, there was a lot of ‘oh my goodness, they’re so good. They’ve got all these D1 players. What are you guys going to do?’
“I think our kids were a little anxious about that but we went up there and proved we could compete with them and had an opportunity to win that game. I think this year our kids are just really excited to continue to prove that we belong with anybody in 5A and we are an elite 5A team. It’s definitely a different feeling, different vibe, a different level of confidence from our kids this year.”
Only 24 teams got to practice this week across the state but not many have been on a run like the Red Devils the past two seasons.
With this week being about fine-tuning, Fallin said it’s been a solid past few days for his squad.
“It’s been a really good week of practice,” he said. “We’ve won 22 of our last 23 games and sometimes you can become a victim of your own success in that you can get a little flat in practice or not appreciate the urgency and the intensity of the situation but anytime you’re playing in a semifinal, the intensity is ratcheted back up. The guys have been very locked in.”
A coach’s mind is a map of every game they’ve been on the sideline for and last year’s 28-17 loss to the Broncos has definitely gone through Fallin’s mind a few times in the last year.
He said he’s looked at the tape from the loss in Lexington and hope it helps them this time around.
“I’ve relived that game in my mind several times, what could have gone differently that didn’t,” he said. “That, to me, is how you become a better coach. Whatever your profession is, you always have to be constantly reflecting on what you could have done differently to be a little bit better.
“We didn’t win but I’m proud of the way we went up there and competed last year because again, state-wide media, I don’t think many expected that. I think we proved we’re a very good team and we’re looking to take another step this year.”
With less than hours until kickoff, there are three things Fallin said they have to do to get redemption on the Broncos.
Limit Mistakes
“Everybody’s going to make mistakes but you can’t make the big mistake. We can’t turn the ball over, can’t lose the turnover battle and we can’t have penalties. We’re going to have a few but we really limit our penalties as much as possible.”
No Big Plays
“Whether that’s on defense or special teams. Last year we gave up a punt return for a touchdown, we gave up a long kickoff return for a touchdown that was called back and we gave up a big six and they had a like a 60-yard rushing touchdown. Of their four touchdowns, three of them were over 50 yards in length and two of them were non-offensive. We can’t give up big, explosive plays.”
Maximize Opportunities
“When we get opportunities to take shots, to take risks, we’ve got to maximize whether that’s offense, defense or special teams. We’ve got some things we’ve installed and we’ve schemed that we think can be successful.”
Owensboro and Frederick Douglass kickoff at 6 p.m. inside Rash Stadium for a spot in next week’s Class 5A State Championship.
