The Owensboro Catholic Aces gave it everything they had on a cold Friday night in Murray but came up short in a battle with the Tigers in the KHSAA Class 2A Quarterfinals at Ty Holland Stadium.
Murray never trailed in the 28-7 victory over the Aces.
Catholic got the ball to start the game and punted on its first three possessions, and they trailed 7-0 with 1:14 left in the first after Tiger quarterback Rowdy Sokolowski punched it in earlier in the frame.
“We came up with a bad matchup tonight, both sides of the ball,” Catholic coach Jason Morris said. “We thought we could wear them down a little bit and kind of saw it. About halfway through the second quarter, we saw our game plan kind of coming together … There were all kinds of plays there in the first half I thought we didn’t make that we could have went to halftime either tied or with the lead, and I think you would have seen a little bit different outcome tonight.
“That’s the way football is. When the plays are there to be made, you’ve got to make them. There’s no reason for our kids to hang their heads. They fought as hard as they could all night long and didn’t get run out of here. They fought for four quarters.”
Trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, the Aces found some life when Braden Mundy hit Trey Roberts for the long completion before he was eventually taken down at the Tiger 2-yard line. Mundy then ran it in for a touchdown to give Catholic’s its only score of the game.
Morris said he thought the tide was shifting.
“Momentum had swung and we’d come out and got them pinned down there and make them punt out of their end zone,” he said. “We muffed that punt and that’s just a huge play that swung momentum back in their favor. If we get the ball right there and make it 14-14 instead of 21-7 or 14-7 at half, who knows what could have happened. But at the same time, there’s no reason to say ifs or buts, let’s just be proud of these kids because they came together this year and had a special season.”
The Aces defense stood tall in the second quarter and didn’t allow another score, and they trailed 14-7 going into the break.
Morris said they were still in good shape going into the second half.
“We were right where we needed to be game plan-wise,” he said. “We just knew it was going to be a dogfight and for us to win it, we were going to have to be somewhere within striking distance so we could continue to run the football.”
Murray added two scores in the third to take a 28-7 lead, and that’s the way it stayed until the final buzzer went off.
The Tigers now advance to take on Lexington Christian next week in the semifinals.
“Murray’s a really good football team, there’s no doubt about it,” Morris said. “Our team didn’t fall apart but lost a lot of players this year and we didn’t use that as an excuse. We still ended up winning our district and there’s no reason for our guys to hang their heads.”
Senior linebacker Chris Boarman has been an Ace since kindergarten and has always seen Catholic as home.
“Everything,” he said is what the team meant to him. “We’ve been doing this since middle school, everyone growing up together. It’s a family, it’s a second family.”
The Aces have been through a lot of adversity this season, starting with the death of senior Logan Davis during the summer.
Boarman said the hard days are what fueled them this season.
“Relying on each other,” he said was key. “It’s not about you, it’s about the team. Holding everyone accountable, make sure everyone is doing their job. That’s what held us together. I think our adversity really held us together.”
After the game, Morris walked toward his team to give them their final postgame talk of the season as they were covered in mud, cold and exhausted after their 48-minute battle with the Tigers.
“It means everything to me,” he said of coaching the Aces. “It’s what I’m trying to instill in them, no quit no matter what and I’m going to be there for you the rest of my life and we’re going to be there for each other. It’s togetherness. I’m just super proud of my team and we’re going to do this life now together.”
