Owensboro Catholic wasted no time taking control Friday night, never letting up in a 50-14 rout of Crittenden County in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs at Steele Stadium. Six different Aces reached the end zone, the defense added a safety, and Owensboro Catholic led 43-0 before the Rockets scored on the final snap of the first half.
With the win, Catholic moves on to host Somerset in next week’s quarterfinal.
Head Coach Jason Morris said he was pleased with how sharply his team executed from the opening whistle.
“I was proud of the way we came out and took care of business again,” Morris said. “Crittenden County’s a really good offensive team, and I was really proud of the way our secondary was able to man them up and take their passing game away.”
The Aces got on the board less than a minute into the game when Dre’Mail Carothers dumped off a short pass to Hudson Ebelhar, who turned the corner and went untouched for a 51-yard score.
Catholic’s defense then forced a three-and-out, and the Aces marched back inside the Crittenden 5. A strip-sack stalled that drive, but the defense immediately made up for it. Heavy pressure in the end zone forced an intentional grounding call for a safety and a 9-0 lead.
A few plays later, Jude Evans punched in a 14-yard touchdown to extend the margin to 16-0.
The Rockets briefly swung momentum by nearly returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown on a reverse, but Catholic stopped the return at the 6-yard line and delivered a goal-line stand, taking over on downs at its own 2.
The Aces turned the ball over on downs on the next possession, but Noah Grant quickly flipped it back in Catholic’s favor with an interception. Moments later, Xavier Maddox hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass from Carothers to make it 22-0.
Another interception — this time by Evans — led to a 1-yard dive from Nick Sims on the first snap of the second quarter. Catholic added touchdown passes to Luke Thomas and Cam Woodward before halftime, stretching the lead to 43-0 with under a minute left in the half.
Crittenden scored on a 3-yard pass as time expired in the second quarter, but the Aces answered after the break with another touchdown pass to Thomas. The Rockets added a final score in the fourth.
Morris said the defensive plan was simple: trust their athletes in man coverage and heat up the quarterback.
“If you sit back in your base defense, they do such a good job with preparation that they’re going to pick you apart,” he said. “Everything they’d had success with against us the last two years came against zone coverage. So our game plan was to play man and bring pressure.”
Six different Aces scored, a trend Morris said has simply evolved as the offense has hit its stride.
“That’s just the way it’s happened for the last seven or eight weeks,” he said. “We just take what’s given to us. When we’re playing that fast and able to move the ball around like that, we’re really fun to watch and really fun to coach.”
Up next is a familiar postseason foe in Somerset. The Briar Jumpers bring one of the state’s top players in quarterback Kris Hughes, who leads Kentucky in rushing touchdowns.
“They’re going to try to run their quarterback over and over and over,” Morris said. “This will be the third year in a row we’ve played them in the playoffs. They battled us last year here in the Final Four, and we’re expecting a four-quarter, really good football game.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Steele Stadium.
