District play is heating up for teams in our coverage area, and games will be played both Thursday and Friday this week. Tonight, Hancock County and McLean County have home matchups while Owensboro hits the road. On Friday, Owensboro Catholic stays home while Apollo is away.
Hancock County 6-0 (Class 3A, District 1)
vs. Webster County 2-4 (Class 3A, District 1)
*Thursday
Quick notes: The Hornets are off to one of the best starts in recent history thanks in large part to QB Dylan Morris. Last week in their 64-19 win he threw for over 400 yards to set a new single-game school record. Tonight they host Webster County, whom they narrowly beat last year 40-39.
Head coach Bob Eubanks said: We want to improve in areas that we lacked in the previous week. We want to have a fast start out of the gate and play our style of football. We want every facet of the game to compliment each other: offense, defense, and special teams.
Webster is a team that is run-heavy and likes to boot and run play action out of Wing T sets. Defensively, they want to play aggressively and get you in 3rd-and-long situations by being stingy on 1st and 2nd down. Ty Phillips is their leading rusher; we will need to limit his touches as much as possible. Tyler Koutzman is their leading tackler. We need to know where he is at all times and make sure we account for him. He’s a tough, aggressive defender.
Keeping improving and taking care of the little things that can help us win ball games.
McLean County 3-3 (Class 3A, District 1)
@ Hopkins County Central 2-4 (Class 3A, District 1)
*Thursday
Quick notes: The Cougars’ offense looks to get back on track after being shut out last week. The run game has been their strength all year long, led by QB Ayden Rice and RB Aden Bolden. Tonight, they travel to Hopkins County Central whom they beat last year 28-27.
Head coach Zach Wagner said: We want to build on the physicality that we showed last week.
Hopkinsville Central looks to air the ball out, but does have a running game to mix in and lean on when they need it. Sylas Gunn has been moved to QB and he has shown the ability to make the deep throw as well as pull the ball down and run it.
Owensboro 3-3 (Class 5A, District 1)
@ Marshall County 3-3 (Class 5A, District 1)
*Thursday
Quick notes: In the rain, the Red Devils held off a pesky Eagles’ offense in a 28-6 win. Evan Hampton had another dominant game running the ball scoring two touchdowns allowing Owensboro to solidify themselves at the top of their district. Tonight, they travel to Marshall County whom they shutout 52-0 last year.
Head coach Jay Fallin said: It’s going to take a lot of maturity. We are playing on Thursday night, on the road, and this is the first time we’ve played on grass all year. Our kids are excited for it. Playing against a team that no one on our roster is familiar with is different.
They are big and physical, especially up front, and want to run it first. Their QB does his job. They don’t throw downfield a lot, but he gets the ball out quickly. On defense, they can run multiple schemes and are well-coached. We will be who we are and mix what we want to do on offense.
We had too many penalties last week, specifically in key movements. We need to eliminate that and clean up our miscues.
Apollo 3-3 (Class 5A, District 1) @ Graves County 4-2 (Class 5A, District 1)
Quick notes: Apollo started strong but couldn’t hold on against Owensboro last week. On Friday, they have another chance to make waves in the district with their matchup against Graves County, who they lost to a year ago 14-7.
Head Coach John Edge said: This is a big district game. We have a chance to win and we need to play clean and sound football. The winner of this game will probably finish second in the district, meaning a home-field playoff game.
We cannot afford any costly turnovers and we didn’t do a great job last week snapping the football. Our special teams didn’t play well last week, but they will bounce back this week. They have bailed us out all season long.
They will slow it down and we want to speed it up. Their running back Dennis Marrs is as solid a running back as you will see in high school. He’s a strong kid and he ran all over Owensboro. He does a good job of running hard and we need to slow him.
Lincoln Acree is a really tough receiver. He’s been out for a while but were expecting him to be back. Defensively, Marrs plays on both sides. The guy we definitely need to block is their nose tackle Jaron Tyler. He’s tough and a bowling ball. We need to get him out of there.
Owensboro Catholic 6-0 (Class 2A, District 2)
vs. Todd County Central 2-4 (Class 2A, District 2)
Quick notes: The Aces’ undefeated season continues after shutting out Crittenden County 51-0 last week. QB Brady Atwell left in the second quarter with an ankle injury and is unlikely to suit up this week. In his stead is Dremail Carothers, who flourished when taking the reins last week. Catholic beat Todd County Central 57-7 last year.
Head coach Jason Morris said: We expect another good game against a district opponent. They will show up well-prepared and give us their best.
Todd County is a spread-to-run-the-ball team. High run but they will do that with spread formation. Their QB is a capable runner. Their running back is slippery and really good at getting through creases. Their left DE makes plenty of plays for them and so do their safeties make plays. The front and back ends of their defense are their strength.
We will continue to be multiple spread attack. Brady is doubtful and we want him to be 100% before he takes the field again. We expect Carothers to make the start if Brady can’t go. He’s getting the reps this week at practice and our offense won’t take a dip with him at the helm.
I want to be able to come out and play four quarters of clean football. We played three clean quarters last week. We need to make all of our extra points, not commit any penalties, and eliminate bad snaps.
