Owensboro Catholic’s strong first half wasn’t enough to hold off Lexington Christian, as their season came to a close with a 49-21 loss.
After throwing an interception on their opening drive, the Aces were able to quickly regain possession by forcing a fumble.
Owensboro Catholic was able to take advantage of this, as senior quarterback Lincoln Clancy scrambled on fourth down to find fellow senior Braden Mundy for a 20-yard touchdown to take a 7-0 lead with 5:20 left in the first quarter.
The Eagles responded swiftly on the ensuing drive, as junior quarterback Drew Nieves found senior Xavier Brown for a 31-yard touchdown to knot things up at 7-7.
The two remained tied to close out the first quarter, but it was Lexington Christian that got on the board first in the second quarter.
It was Nieves making things happen again for the Eagles, as he connected with senior Mason Moore for a 15-yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead with 6:38 left in the second quarter.
Looking to gain some momentum before going into the locker room, Owensboro Catholic scored on an eight-yard touchdown from Clancy to Mundy with eight seconds left in the first half.
Receiving to start the third quarter, Lexington Christian quickly set the tone for the second half. The Eagles scored on the first play of the half, as a 70-yard rushing touchdown gave them a 21-14 lead.
The Aces weren’t able to get anything going on their following drive and Lexington Christian turned its defense into offense.
On third and 18 it was Brown again, this time taking a handoff down the sideline for a 30-yard touchdown to make it a 28-14 game with 3:14 left in the third quarter.
Owensboro Catholic tried to make ground up offensively, but the Eagles defense kept fighting them and earned an interception.
Shortly after Lexington Christian scored once again, as Brown’s three-yard rushing touchdown made it 35-14 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles struck again early in the fourth, as junior Jeremiah Riffle’s 39-yard touchdown run extended their lead to 42-14.
A little deja vu struck later in the fourth, as Lexington Christian intercepted another pass before capitalizing with a three-yard rushing touchdown to take a 49-14 lead with 4:24 to play.
Owensboro Catholic was able to score for the first and only time with 1:32 remaining thanks to Clancy hitting sophomore Mitchell Sims for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 49-21.
While the Aces gave it their all, Lexington Christian was too overpowering on both sides of the ball in the second half as they fell 49-21.
Owensboro Catholic wraps up the season with a 7-6 record after winning its second straight district title before falling in the region championship game.
The Aces got off to a rough start to the season by losing its first five games, but closed out the year with an impressive seven-game winning streak before falling to Lexington Christian.
