The Aces will look to extend their winning streak to six games in the opening round of the postseason, as they are set to host Fort Campbell on Friday night.
Owensboro Catholic is coming off of another dominant performance that helped them close out the regular season at 7-3, defeating Elizabethtown at home 43-9. It was the Aces ability to run the football that stole the show last week, as they ran for 392 yards with sophomore quarterback Brady Atwell leading the way at 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries—while also throwing for 77 yards on 6-12 passing.
Junior Tutt Carrico wasn’t far behind Atwell with 111 rushing yards on 20 carries, while his brother sophomore Vince Carrico ran for 84 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries and junior Elijah Blair ran for 37 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Head Coach Jason Morris said Owensboro Catholic expects to execute and play well in the first round, with replicating its strong offensive play during the latter half of the season once again being key. The Aces will have to battle defensively as well though, as Fort Campbell has a big weapon under center as well.
That weapon is junior quarterback Darin Frederick, who throws for 162 yards and two touchdowns per game to go along with 20 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, freshman Keshawn Dixon leads the way out of the backfield with 48 rushing yards per game, giving the Aces plenty to prepare for on the defensive side of the ball.
“Fort Campbell has athletes all over the field,” Morris said. “Their quarterback makes them click… We have to contain Fort Campbell’s quarterback and also defend the pass.”
Fort Campbell sits at 4-6 overall on the season, but Morris and Owesnboro Catholic don’t want to look past them in the slightest. Morris said they have been focusing on staying humble and hungry at the same time, while making sure that they are prepared and well-rested going into Friday’s matchup.
The Aces have expected a lot of themselves in practice this week in terms of individual improvement to be at their best as a team this week and they’ll get the chance to see if their hard work paid off when they host Fort Campbell at 7 p.m. on Friday.
“I have asked all the kids to tell me three fundamentals they think they need to work on the most and try their best to improve in those areas this week,” Morris said.
