Three local teams are still searching for their first win of the season, and one of them is guaranteed to find it as yet another city-county matchup highlights the week three slate of high school football. Owensboro will play hots to Daviess County, Owensboro Catholic will take on Greenwood, and Apollo will travel to Meade County tonight. Here’s what to know about tonight’s games.
Daviess County, 0-2 (Class 6A, District 1)
at Owensboro, 0-2 (Class 5A, District 1)
Highlights
It’s rare when a city-county game is a meeting of winless teams, but that’s the case for this one. The Red Devils have put up strong fights in the second half of their games, but early holes proved too difficult to dig out of. It’s been an especially rough start for the Panthers, who have been outscored 74-0 through two games. While there are local bragging rights on the line, both teams are focused on getting better as they near district play.
Last week
Daviess County: Lost 50-0 to Owensboro Catholic
Owensboro: Lost 42-28 to Bowling Green
Coaches’ thoughts
Daviess County Head Coach Matt Brannon: I think we knew going into this year it was gonna be a rebuilding year because we have so many young players and inexperienced upperclassmen. We kind of re-evaluated ourselves on Sunday and challenged the team to find ways to measure their success one day at a time. We have to minimize our mistakes, both mentally and on turnovers. The biggest thing for us is we can’t beat ourselves. We have to put points on the board too. You have to find the end zone, which has been a struggle for us. We’ve been an explosive offensive team over the years, so that’s gonna change for us.
Owensboro has been tested already. They’re a very talented football team with a big offensive line and two excellent running backs. They also have what I think is one of the better quarterbacks in this area with Trevor Delacey. He’s an excellent runner as well. Also, Owensboro is always notorious for having big playmakers on special teams, so we’re gonna be very aware of who we kick it to and how we manage our special teams play. They’ll always have explosive players back there who can change the tide of the game in one play.
Owensboro Head Coach Jay Fallin: We’re looking to get in the win column. We can say we played two great teams all we want, but the fact of the matter is we’re 0-2. Losing is not OK at Owensboro High School, so we’ve got to get right and find a way to win. We’re excited to get another opportunity to do that this week. In both games we played I feel like we could have won, but we didn’t as a result of our own mistakes. I think we have to clean up our mistakes, play a little clearer, and we’ll be in good shape.
Daviess County uses a lot of different personnel picks, which is going to force us to be aware of who’s on the field and when. They have three different kids that they’ve worked in at quarterback. Russ Crowe has taken more reps than anybody else, but when Dartez Basham gets in he’s very effective at running the ball. We’ll just have to be aware of personnel groups, of each formation, and do a lot of different things to keep our odds up. We have to be prepared because half the battle on defense is getting lined up right. We’re just going to have to execute.
Greenwood, 2-0 (Class 5A, District 2)
at Owensboro Catholic, 2-0 (Class 2A, District 2)
Highlights
After a pair of blowout wins, the Aces are expecting a bigger challenge this week in a Greenwood team that’s had a couple of its own big victories to start the season. Catholic and the Gators have similar styles in that they have several experienced playmakers and thrive off big plays. With a pair of offenses that have been rolling out of the gate, the game is likely going to come down to which defense can get a few stops.
Last week
Greenwood: Won 38-6 against Warren East
Owensboro Catholic: Won 50-0 at Daviess County
Coach’s thoughts
Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Jason Morris: We expect a four-quarter battle this week. Greenwood’s had a lot of recent success, and they are a senior-led team that we highly respect. Greenwood is really good at running the football and then using play-action passes. They’ll kind of lull you to sleep, but they’re actually a big-play offense. If you look at their season, most of their scores have come on big plays of 20+ yards. We’re gonna have to do a good job of making sure we keep the ball in front of us and don’t let them big-play us.
We’re just gonna continue to try and hone in on some of the mistakes we made in the first couple of weeks. To continue to stay humble and hungry is what we’re calling it. We know that we have a very talented group this year. It’s a senior-led team with kids who’ve played varsity football for me for 3 or 4 years now. We’re gonna continue to try and make sure we stay disciplined, and do what we can to make sure we’re not doing things to beat ourselves.
Meade County, 1-1 (Class 6A, District 3)
at Apollo, 0-2 (Class 5A, District 1)
Highlights
The Eagles are still looking to hit their stride after a slow start to the season. Apollo has won this matchup each of the last four years, including a 55-54 overtime win last season. Meade County’s team has improved over the last couple of years and now fields an offense that can put up points in a hurry. Apollo’s offense has struggled, so they’ll either need to find some answers quickly or hope the defense can keep the Green Wave out of the end zone.
Last week
Apollo: Lost 48-12 to McCracken County
Meade County: Won 41-14 against Elizabethtown
Coach’s thoughts
Apollo Head Coach John Edge: When we go into every game, that’s our expectation is to win ball games. Going into this week, we’re practicing hard and making all the necessary adjustments to win this game. I thought we did a really good job, especially in the first half, against McCracken. Then the second half they got on us and the drive kind of stopped. We just gotta continue to compete. That’s what I’m looking for this week.
Meade County runs the ball really well out of a spread. They’ll kind of look and see how many you have in the box. If you have six or seven they’re gonna throw the ball. If you have five they’ll pick their bubble, and find the bubble where they need to run the ball.
