Jim Mashek

WILLIAM HOWARD’s GREENWOOD SQUAD LOOKS FOR ANSWERS NEXT WEEK AT LOGAN COUNTY

OWENSBORO — The Greenwood High School football team sensed opportunity was knocking for its quick jaunt up the Natcher Expressway to lock horns with Owensboro Catholic on Friday night.

Only problem for the Gators is what they had waiting for them.

Junior OCHS quarterback Brady Atwell made it happen immediately and the Aces never let up in their 43-13 thrashing of Greenwood at Kentucky Wesleyan College’s Steele Stadium. The Gators were simply swamped.

“Every week, you’ve got to earn it. Nothing is going to be given to you,” Greenwood coach William Howard said when it was over. “You were hoping it was going to be a fourth-quarter game, and it really wasn’t … They’re a good football team.”

Owensboro Catholic remained unbeaten in three decisions, routs of crosstown rivals Apollo High School (42-6) and Daviess County (50-0), and now the Gators. Greenwood dropped to 2-1 overall and will be on the road next week to tangle with unbeaten Logan County, a KHSAA Class 4A quarterfinalist last season.

The Cougars are averaging 45 points per game themselves.

“We’re going to play a good football team next week,” Howard said. “A very physical team … We can’t have little mistakes, here and there, and be successful.”

Atwell completed 18 of 26 passes for 211 yards and five touchdowns, taking advantage of splendid protection and going through his progressions as the Aces stayed on the move.

“We came out focused, just executing in all three phases of the game,” OCHS coach Jason Morris told Joseph Russell of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. “Greenwood did some good things to us, early in the game, but our defense stuck in there and got some big stops in that first half, giving it back to our offense, which was clicking.”

The Aces were bigger and stronger than the Gators, up front, and the last thing Greenwood wanted was to face a big deficit early in the game.

“We really didn’t expect anything like that,” Greenwood quarterback Cam Smith said. “We fell behind and probably got a little down on ourselves. We’ve got to put this game behind us, learn from it, and play a lot better next week against Logan County.”

Greenwood punched out a couple first downs on the game’s opening possession before Catholic’s William Carrico made a nice play on Smith’s first-down pass, coming up with the interception at the Greenwood 42-yard line.

That’s when Brady Atwell went to work, finding OCHS teammate Noah Rhinerson on a fourth-and-7 pass for the game’s first touchdown, a 40-yard scoring strike with 8:27 left in the first quarter.

Greenwood tried to convert a fourth-down play themselves, needing just 1 yard to move the sticks on its next possession. But Gators fullback Gray Price ran into a wall of OCHS defenders, and the Aces wasted little time extending their lead to two touchdowns.

Atwell scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and it was 14-0 in a hurry.

The Gators’ Tel Tel Long returned the ensuing kickoff to the OCHS 47-yard line, and Greenwood put together a brisk scoring drive of its own. Long found the end zone from 4 yards out on a sweep to the left side, but Atwell soared behind the line of scrimmage to block a low extra-point attempt, and it was 14-6 in the opening moments of the second quarter.

Long returned an Owensboro Catholic fumble 75 yards for an apparent touchdown, but a block in the back left the Gators at the OCHS 25-yard line midway through the second quarter. Greenwood managed one first down, but Graham Smothers’ attempt at a 31-yard field goal was again blocked, and the Aces’ Kaiser Frick returned the ball to just shy of midfield.

“That was probably a mistake on my part, going for it on fourth-and-1 there,” Greenwood coach William Howard said. “We knew what we were up against, defensively. We did some good things, on offense, but couldn’t sustain anything.”

Atwell then directed another brisk scoring drive, finding Carrico on a 21-yard touchdown pass — again, on fourth down — to put the Aces in front, 21-6, with 10:44 left in the first half.

Owensboro Catholic’s offense needed just four plays to score on its next series, with Atwell finding Carrico in the right seam on a nifty 34-yard TD pass at the 8:29 mark of the second quarter.

Atwell then threw his fourth touchdown pass of the first half in the final two minutes, finding OCHS teammate Waryn Ebelhar at the goal line for an 18-yard TD strike.

The Aces knew they were just a touchdown away from gaining a running clock in the second half, and Carrico’s 12-yard touchdown catch — his third TD of the night — created just that. Greenwood’s Tel Tel Long had a 23-yard touchdown reception on a pass from Cam Smith in the final three minutes of the third quarter, and Smothers’ PAT accounted for the final margin.

Gray Price, the Gators’ durable fullback/linebacker, seemed a little perplexed when it was over.

“They did their thing … and really, we didn’t,” Price said. “It’s a learning experience for us … I think Monday we’ll definitely have a tough, physical practice.”

Atwell was quick to credit his offensive line afterward, while adding the Aces have multiple options on the flanks, too.

“We’ve got more in the tank,” Atwell said. “We’ve got three quality wins, for sure, and for our guys, that’s become the expectation … We’ve got a chip on our shoulder. Honestly, every week, take it one week at a time. I think we’re making a statement.

“Our passing game, we’ve just got guys all over the field.”

Greenwood (2-1) squares off with Logan County (3-0) next Friday, while OCHS tangles with crosstown rival Owensboro High School (1-2) at Rash Stadium, the Red Devils’ home field.