Owensboro Catholic jumped out early and never looked back Friday night, cruising past Daviess County 34-2 in front of a packed crowd at Reid Stadium.
Quarterback Dremail Carothers threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 10 yards. Running back Miles Edge paced the ground game with 93 yards and a score on 15 carries, while also hauling in two touchdown passes.
The Aces (2-0) set the tone on the first play from scrimmage when Carothers found Hudson Ebelhar for a 46-yard touchdown strike. Catholic added a 29-yard field goal from Andrew Garvin and another Carothers-to-Edge touchdown to lead 17-0 after the first quarter.
Daviess County (1-1) put together its longest drive midway through the second quarter, moving 53 yards in 11 plays, but a missed field goal kept them off the scoreboard. Catholic’s Nick Sims grabbed a key interception just before halftime, and Garvin connected on a 38-yard field goal to make it 20-0 at the break.
The Panthers’ lone points came on a third-quarter safety when Carothers was sacked in the end zone. Catholic responded with a punishing 13-play, 80-yard drive capped by a two-yard touchdown run from Edge. Carothers later found Edge again for a six-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
Daviess County quarterback Garrison Barker finished 12-of-27 for 128 yards but was intercepted twice. Jace Hunt was his top target with six catches for 60 yards. The Panthers were held to just 56 rushing yards on 27 attempts.
Despite the lopsided score, Catholic head coach Jason Morris said his team needs to be sharper moving forward.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to be at a place where you win 34-2 and you’re not satisfied,” Morris said. “We’re going to go and make a lot of changes over the weekend to make sure we clean some stuff up offensively and become more efficient. But overall, our defense played good when they had to.”
Morris added that his team lacked the intensity it showed in its season opener.
“I begged our kids in the locker room. I sensed it in pregame. We were dead,” he said. “We can’t keep flipping that light switch on and off. Eventually it will burn out.”
Panthers head coach Q. Wallace said his team strayed from its fundamentals.
“We didn’t play our brand of football. We weren’t disciplined with the little things,” Wallace said. “That’s something all summer long we prided ourselves on, and we made some mistakes with technique, not being disciplined, doing things that are uncharacteristic of how we play the game.”
Wallace said his message is to stay steady through the ups and downs of the season.
“Of course, losing is never fun. But we understand that’s life, so it’s about how we respond next week,” Wallace said. “Owensboro is coming into town, so we just have to lock in, go to work Sunday and get ready to play.”
