Owensboro Catholic needed to drive 94 yards in 53 seconds to claim their first 2A football title in program history. However, four straight incompletions sealed their fate — a 33-28 loss to Lexington Christian Academy at Kroger Field on Friday night.
LCA threatened to pull away multiple times, but the Aces battled back each time to stay within striking distance for a last-minute comeback attempt in the Class 2A 2025 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals.
“I am just super proud of my team,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Jason Morris said. “We could have easily lain down and let LCA run us out of there. We came down and had a chance in the fourth quarter to win, and that is all I can ask of my players to do: to keep fighting.”
The Aces found themselves in a quick 13-0 hole after punting on their first two possessions and having no answer for LCA on the defensive end. Catholic’s first deep drive ended when quarterback Dre’Mail Carothers was picked off in the red zone.
However, a quick 3-and-out by the Eagles gave the Aces a short field, leading to Carothers connecting with Xavier Maddox on a 5-yard touchdown strike. LCA quickly pushed the lead to 20-7, but the Aces answered right back with a nine-play drive culminating in Carothers finding Cameron Woodward from five yards out.
LCA’s field goal attempt as time expired in the first half clanked off the left upright, allowing the Aces to enter halftime trailing 20-14.
Catholic regrouped in the locker room, focused on finishing the game strong.
“The seniors are always right there, having my back,” Carothers said. “The same thing happened tonight, when the offense didn’t come out hot, and we got off to a bad start. We get to the locker room at halftime, and Barret Evans and the defense came up to me and told me to keep going, and we got this.”
The Eagles nearly double their lead early in the third quarter. They made a quick trip to the end zone on their first possession, got a stop, then methodically drove down inside the red zone again.
A fumble swayed the momentum. Catholic went the length of the field, but capitalizing, but Carothers was picked off again, this time in the end zone as the third quarter ended.
The Aces still didn’t fold. Their special teams unit blocked an LCA punt attempt to set Catholic up on the 16. A few plays later, Jude Evans punched it in from 2 yards out to get OCHS within 27-21.
Third-down defense had been a recurring issue for the Aces throughout the night, and it was again on the ensuing drive. The Eagles converted on a 3rd-and-11 and a few plays later, they found paydirt; a failed 2-point conversion left the score at 33-21 with 5:40 to play.
“These games, most of the time, come down to the turnover battle and third down,” Morris said. “They had multiple third-and-longs where they made really good plays, and we cannot let the football get thrown over our head in those situations.”
Undeterred, the Aces marched downfield. Carothers found Maddox for their second touchdown of the night, this time from 13 yards out to cut the lead to 33-28 with 3:18 to play.
LCA picked was able to drain some time off the clock, but the Aces got the final stop they needed to have one final chance to win. After the Eagles’ punt pinned the Aces on their own 6, OCHS couldn’t get anything going on their final drive.
LCA took a final knee to run out the clock, securing their first 2A title since 2009.
The Aces came up short in their third straight appearance in the 2A championship. The senior class graduates as the winningest in Owensboro Catholic history.
“Above anything to do with winning, they are even better people, and that is what we strive for,” Morris said. “… I greatly believe that the culture of our program and the standards, the expectations, and what these boys have accomplished have done that. They have achieved our school purpose.”
