When most teams look for leaders on a squad, they usually look toward a senior, someone who’s helped the team for multiple seasons. For the Owensboro Red Devils, they have plenty of upperclassmen that fit that role, including Austin Gough and Treyvon Tinsley.
Gough and Tinsley have been skilled players for OHS throughout their careers as Gough leads the team in tackles with 101 and Tinsley is the Red Devils’ top receiver with 35 catches for 527 yards and 9 scores on the year.
Both said they’ve been ready for this moment.
“It’s the last year,” Gough said. “Every practice this season has been special and I’ve been giving it my all. To get back in the semifinals … That makes it all the more sweet to come here and work and get another chance at them.”
Tinsley echoed his teammates sentiment.
“It means everything just because of the fact it’s my senior year,” he said. “Been out here since freshman year with a lot of these guys and if we wouldn’t have been able to play this year it would have really sucked but we made it this far and I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”
Gough spoke on the setbacks they’ve had to endure this season but they’ve come together when it matters and he thinks that’s why the Red Devils are still playing.
He said many of the guys have been playing on the same team for a long time.
“Other schools have guys come in each year from different places and the thing about us, we’ve all been playing together since we were eight years old,” Gough said. “Pop Warner, same all-star teams, same travel baseball teams, same AAU teams. This is our goal and we’ve been talking about this since we were little. We’re just excited to be here.”
Tinsley has been a favorite target of junior standout Gavin Wimsatt this year and he knows what his gunslinger is capable of.
“It’s pretty nice, a lot of teams don’t have that,” he said about having Wimsatt at quarterback. “A lot of it comes from both of us. He has the arm to give it to me and make it a perfect pass. As long as I catch it and look the ball in, it all works together.”
Tinsley said nerves could have been a factor in last year’s matchup but with this year’s team, he said they’re ready to go.
“We’ve played them, they’ve pretty much got the same team,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of players back. I feel like we have the chance.”
For Tinsley, this week isn’t any different than any other week. He said he knows what he has to worry about each and every practice.
“Same thing I usually try and focus on every day,” he said. “Coming out here, running my best routes, catching the ball. Just the simple things that always lead to the bigger things.”
Gough said something similar and that it’s time to zero in on their goal.
“Dial it in,” he said. “This could be your last game. Even for the younger guys this Covid-era, it could be your last game and I know that from being hurt and then with the pandemic. You just can’t take any game for granted. It felt like I was just a freshman or sophomore and then a year got taken away then a whole offseason got taken away. Next thing you know, you’re a senior … You can’t take it for granted. It’s a big game.”
