Kroger's Kentucky High School Football Rundown - Week 4
It was a beautiful night for high school football action in Kentucky. KSR had boots on the grounds in various corners of the Commonwealth. Before diving into the details, let’s share a few notes from some eye-opening matchups.
The third annual Kroger KSR Hometown Classic produced a tight ballgame between Shawnee and Jackson County. The Generals struck first on their home field, but an opportunistic Shawnee capitalized on every Jackson County mistake. The Golden Eagles threw a 36-yard touchdown pass as the clock expired in the second quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish. Shawnee secured a 28-14 victory with a pick six in the final minutes of the four quarter, but it wasn’t the most impressive interception of the day.
There were a couple of noteworthy matchups in the city of Louisville Friday night. Trinity got back to its winning ways to improve to 2-2 with a 41-14 victory over Carmel, IN. A week after upsetting Bowling Green, Bryan Station went on the road and upset Ballard 28-21 behind 167 rushing yards and two scores from Kalen Washington.
Not too far across town there was a matchup between arguably the state’s top two quarterbacks, Kentucky commit Cutter Boley and East Carolina commit Cole Hodge. Instead of a shootout, spectators witnessed a slobber-knocker. Boley only completed 10 passes for 64 yards, while Hodge threw for 289, two scores and the game-clinching interception as LCA defeated CAL 14-12.
Those are the CliffNotes. Now let’s dig into the details elsewhere.
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No. 12 Owensboro Catholic Wins Owensboro Rivalry in Final Seconds
BY: Piper McCoun
Ladies and gentlemen, the No. 12 Owensboro Catholic Aces are the new (unofficial) kings of the city.
For the first time in school history, the Aces (4-0) have defeated Owensboro (1-3) in back-to-back seasons. Owensboro Catholic built up an early lead, but this game went down to the wire. Through the ups and the downs, the Aces proved yet again why they’re a Top 25 team.
“Our word of the week was faith,” head coach Jason Morris said. “and we definitely showed a lot of faith… We have a strong belief in everything we do here at Owensboro Catholic, and that starts with a spiritual belief, and it trickles down. Our kids never stopped believing.”
They could have stopped believing when Owensboro took the lead with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The Aces converted multiple fourth downs before Brady Atwell pushed through the pile of bodies near the goal line to score the game-winning touchdown with only 11 seconds on the clock.
Getting Comfortable
Rash Stadium was absolutely packed with fans from both sides. A sea of red and green filled the stadium and the energy was indescribable. With emotions running high, the first quarter mostly featured the teams feeling each other out and acclimating to the other’s style of play.
The Aces struck first when junior quarterback Brady Atwell connected with senior Elijah Blair for six about halfway through the first quarter. After trading 3-and-outs, Owensboro began their push upfield at the start of the second. Deion Winstead rushed to the end zone for six, and an extra point conversion put the Red Devils on top 7-6.
The Aces kept their composure and utilized senior receiver William “Tutt” Carrico to claim another Owensboro Catholic touchdown on a 62 yard reception, hastily claiming the Aces lead back at 13-7.
When Owensboro got a holding call after a huge run to the house, the Aces capitalized on the opportunity with an interception on the next play. This gave Owensboro Catholic the opportunity to use Atwell’s legs for a huge rushing touchdown, pushing their lead to 20-7 heading into the locker room.
Momentum Changes
Coming out of the locker room, the Red Devils reignited their spark and opened the second half with another Winstead rushing touchdown, chipping away at the score gap to make it 20-14.
The Aces made a steady push up the field in response to get Atwell in scoring position again, as another rushing touchdown brought it to 27-14. The Aces maintained the score through the end of the third quarter.
“We knew that we were gonna have to use Brady’s legs this week,” Morris said after the game. “Just watching [Owensboro] on film and seeing some things that we thought we could take advantage of.”
A fire lit under Owensboro when the clock started ticking at the start of the fourth quarter. A massive Red Devils touchdown reception brought the gap to 27-21, not only revitalizing the players, but the crowd as well. Their composure allowed them to convert on multiple third downs, continuing their push up the field until junior quarterback Trevor Delacey went on a run of his own for a Red Devils touchdown.
With the extra point good, Owensboro re-claimed the lead at 28-27 with 2:44 left to play. The Aces chipped away at the clock with a few third and fourth down conversions and a few timeouts in their back pocket. Eventually Atwell was just yards away from the end zone. And just like that, the big quarterback barreled through defenders to score with just 11 seconds remaining, claiming the final score of the night at 33-28.
Coach Morris explained that Owensboro Catholic was not taking the Red Devils for granted. They knew coming in that their record (1-3) does not reflect their strength as a team, especially having played powerhouses like No. 9 CAL and No. 25 Bowling Green.
Owensboro Catholic yet again proved their cohesive offense, and the leaders stepped up and made plays when they needed to be made.
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“Atwell is the real deal,” Morris added. “In my opinion, Atwell is the best quarterback in our state. I’m not saying that because of bias, I’m saying that from a guy who has coached quarterbacks for over 20 years now and played the position myself. He’s 6’3, 230 lbs, can make every throw on the field and runs a legit 4.7 40 with power. It blows my mind that espeically small D1 schools haven’t offered him yet.”
“As the quarterback and the leader of this team it’s one of the best feelings in the world [to get a win at Rash], but I also know the jobs not done,” Atwell said after the game. “Hopefully we gained some respect tonight. I’ve been preaching about it the last few weeks, nobody respects us and nobody believes in us… being in this environment and getting ready for that next step is what we wanna do, and we just keep taking more and more steps.”
Paris Beats Montgomery County 33-6 to Remain Undefeated
BY: Troy Howell
The Paris Greyhounds (4-0) defeated the Montgomery County Indians (2-2) 33-6 on a beautiful night in Mt. Sterling.
The Greyhounds used big plays on defense and special teams to race out to a 21-0 lead. They halted a promising Montgomery County opening drive by forcing and recovering fumble in Paris territory.
After both teams went three-and-out, Paris capped off an impressive 90-yard drive with a Julius Gregory to Landon Scott 30-yard touchdown pass on 4th and 6.
Paris forced another turnover on the next Indian possession, with lineman Donovan Griggs picking off the pass and rumbling 52 yards up the sideline to make it 14-0.
It was the Greyhound special teams that came up with the highlight play of the game when Scott briefly bobbled a punt return but recovered to lateral to Jakari Ransom on a planned play. Ransom took it 65 yards up the sideline to put Paris up 21-0. Paris forced four first half turnovers to preserve their 21-0 lead heading into halftime.
The Montgomery County defense forced two second half Paris turnovers and blocked a field goal as neither offense could get much in the third quarter.
Gregory completed a 60-yard bomb to Brandon Santiago, who made an incredible one handed catch to extend the Paris lead to 28-0.
Jaimen Caba got the Indians on the board with an electrifying 94-yard kickoff return.
Jayden Holman rushed for another Paris touchdown to cap off the scoring.
Paris is having one of their best seasons in school history. They came in ranked 2nd in Class A in scoring (43.3 ppg), scoring margin (37.3), scoring defense (6.0 ppg allowed) and rushing (236 ypg.). Gregory is a freshman quarterback with a high ceiling. Look for him to lead them to a deep run in the Class A playoffs. Mark your calendars for their trip to 2022 runner-up Raceland on October 13, where the Greyhounds will try to avenge last year’s 43-6 playoff loss.
The Indians couldn’t overcome costly turnovers, poor exchanges on the shotgun snaps, and a first half injury to sophomore quarterback Jacob Gumm.
Montgomery County played well on defense and got another good receiving night from Harrison Haddix, who ranks eighth in the state with 114 receiving yards per game. Will Steger led the defense with several tackles for loss and a forced fumble.
Next up:
Montgomery County hosts Greenup County September 15 at 7:30 PM
Paris hosts Rockcastle County September 15 at 7:30 PM
Kroger’s Scores From Around The State
Kroger is a staple in your hometown community just like high school football. There’s nothing quite like Friday nights in the Bluegrass. We are honored to share this journey with Kroger and you for the fourth consecutive season. Check out all of the scores from throughout the weekend below.
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