Owensboro Catholic will fight to keep their undefeated streak alive against Crittenden while Apollo and Owensboro face off in a city-county match to highlight week six of football. Daviess County travels to Warren Central in search of their first win of the season.
Owensboro, 2-3 (Class 5A, District 1)
at Apollo, 1-4 (Class 5A, District 1)
Highlights
Both teams are coming off of a win from last week and will be looking to stay in winning form. Both teams also have previously injured players returning to the field, so this game will feature both teams in good shape. Apollo managed to shut down Muhlenberg last week on defense, so the Owensboro offense will have to limit mistakes if they want to make big plays.
Last week
Owensboro: Won 29-21 against Graves
Apollo: Won 41-0 against Muhlenberg
Coaches’ thoughts
Apollo head coach John Edge:
We’re getting healthy which is good. We got kids back that didn’t play last week or the week before, so that’s a big positive going into this game. We’ve got a really good gameplan and I think the biggest thing is we have to execute it and continue to get better.
We just have to play. We’re not favorites to win, but it doesn’t matter. In these city games they’re big rivals. Their lines are really good on both sides of the ball. We’re gonna have to win up front. They have really good wide receivers. Morris is really good, Crowe has been out a couple weeks but he’s good, DeLacey is getting better as the year goes on and of course Winstead. Usually in these types of rivalry games, the ones who make the least amount of mistakes and penalties wins the games. Winning all three phases is important to win. If you can win at least two of the three phases; especially special teams when you get into field goal position, that’s huge. Whoever can work on the short field, offenses can score points. If you get them backed up and make them work, then the defenses will have a good night.
Owensboro head coach Jay Fallin:
Will Barnes is our new offensive coordinator this year and he’s done a fabulous job. Each week presents its own challenges. Every team every week has some arrows in the quiver that they haven’t shown yet, and you have to be able to adapt on the fly to that.
Niles is a very good runner and he’s experienced. They’re pretty big up front on the offensive line. Depending on who they play at quarterback it could be a problem. They played Max Johsnon the last two weeks. He’s done a pretty good job and he’s got a strong arm. Defensively they have solid speed and good players who play hard. They’re a solid team across the board and we’re gonna have to play hard.
Owensboro Catholic, 5-0 (Class 2A, District 2)
at Crittenden County, 2-2 (Class 2A, District 1)
Highlights
The Aces go into this game looking to breeze by and keep their streak alive. The big playmakers for the Aces like Brady Atwell and Tutt Carrico have proven they are a force to be reckoned with. Crittenden have not played since week 4, so the pressure is on them to get back into rhythm.
Last match
Owensboro Catholic: Won 41-21 against Henderson County
Crittenden: Won 26-21 against Hopkins County Central
Coach’s thoughts
Owensboro Catholic head coach Jason Morris:
We don’t have to make a whole lot of schematic-type changes. We just have to practice against the pass a little bit more. Everything runs through their quarterback. Much like last week with Henderson, we’re gonna have to do a good job of containing the quarterback in the run game and limit his passing ability.
For us it’s always about keeping Brady Atwell clean. Our offensive line has been doing a great job all year of doing that. We have five seniors: Luke Frey, William Pride, Todd Riter, Noah Girten, and Cooper Danzer. All of five of those guys have done a really good job up front along with junior Stephen Eaves. As long as we keep Brady clean we feel like we have the athletes to compete with anyone.
Daviess County, 0-5 (Class 6A, District 1)
at Warren Central, 1-4 (Class 6A, District 2)
Highlights
Daviess County are still searching for their first win as they go on the road. Warren Central are coming off a large defeat by Greenwood, so now is the time for the Panthers to capitalize if they want to get into winning form. Daviess County has been trying something new with putting Dartez Basham at quarterback to see if that can ignite the offense.
Last week
Daviess County: Lost 14-26 against Meade County
Warren Central: Lost 6-43 against Greenwood
Coach’s thoughts
Daviess County head coach Matt Brannon:
We kinda forced Dartez Basham into the driver seat after Russ Crowe was ejected last week. He’s a phenomenal athlete and a first-year football player, so throwing him into the role of starting quarterback is a lot for a first-year guy. He’s taken that on really well and has done a good job this week of leading the offense. I think that may be the spark we’ve been looking for.
Warren is a heavy running team, and if their quarterback is coming back, since he didn’t play last week, I think they have more ability to pass the ball. They definitely have some good athletes on the field we will have to be aware of. I feel like we match up really well against them, especially up front. That’s where we’ve had some of our growing pains. We’ve got some senior linemen that are hurt, so we played some younger kids in those spots and they’re starting to come around.
