Owensboro football will look to continue its winning ways and the winning streak to three games against Owensboro Catholic, while they will be searching for their first win on Friday night.
The Red Devils are coming off a statement win over Daviess County, as they defeated them 49-42 behind an offense led by junior running back Kenyatta Carbon.
Carbon had his second straight four-touchdown game last week—one being a 90-yard kickoff return—while turning 10 carries into 181 yards.
With Gavin Wimsatt’s departure for Rutgers taking place, Owensboro will now have junior quarterback Kasey Boone taking over at the helm of the offense.
“Offensively, Kasey will be making his first varsity start,” Fallin said. “There will always be some nerves associated with that, but we have every confidence in Kasey. Special teams have made a huge impact this year in each game and we plan to continue to execute well in that phase.”
This is an offense that has scored 35-plus points each game this season and the Red Devils will look to keep that going against the Aces defense.
If they can establish a solid run game again with Carbon and senior Tramel Barksdale, things could fall into place for a solid debut for the new man under center.
Knowing that Catholic is going to look to limit Carbon, Fallin said if they do his teammates will have to step up when needed.
“Kenyata is playing well in all three phases of the game,” Fallin said. “His individual performance against DC was one of the more thorough I can remember in several seasons in terms of contributions on offense, defense, and special teams. If a team schemes to limit his contributions, they will weaken themselves elsewhere and his teammates will have to rise to the occasion.”
Defensively Fallin said they are looking to key in on senior Braden Mundy and will have to match their effort on Friday.
“They are a well-coached, young team that will play very hard and have a solid game plan,” Fallin said. “They won’t give us anything and we will have to execute in all three phases. Braden Mundy is a very dynamic ball carrier and we will need to be aware of where he is.”
Meanwhile, Owensboro Catholic comes into the game riding a three-game losing streak after a tough loss to Apollo.
The Aces suffered a heartbreaking loss, falling after grabbing their first lead of the game late at 7-6 with 5:34 left to play.
Minutes later Union County put together one last drive and found a way to score, taking a 12-7 victory over Owensboro Catholic.
Regardless of the score not being in their favor, Head Coach Jason Morris and company are hoping to continue to grow in a positive direction like they did last week.
“We are looking to build off our stronger performance last week against Union County,” Morris said. “We have learned a lot so far this season about who we are and the potential we have in the near future.”
Senior quarterback Lincoln Clancy had a solid game against Union County while battling a shoulder injury, throwing for over 100 yards and a touchdown. His shoulder is still bothering him, but he will be able to play situationally against the Red Devils.
Morris knows that they will have a tough challenge in facing a group with such athleticism and experience.
“Owensboro is one of the top 3-5 teams in the entire state,” Morris said. “They have lots of size and speed along with experienced players. Owensboro is very well coached and they always play hard.”
Defensively they’ll be tasked with halting Carbon, who has been terrorizing opposing defenses for weeks.
“Kenyatta Carbon is a very explosive running back and Hines is one of if not the best D tackle we will face all season,” Morris said.
Along with stopping their strong ground game, Owensboro Catholic has to convert on every offensive chance they get in the redzone.
“Our key to winning the game Friday will ultimately come down to stopping the run game and being able to punch the football in the end zone on offense,” Morris said. “We are stalling out too much on offense right now with our young team.”
Owensboro will look to extend its winning streak to three games, while Owensboro Catholic will look to upset the Red Devils at 7 p.m on Friday.
