Who wins the battle of Owensboro? Both teams come in to this game in the top 5 of their respective classes, will Owensboro have the firepower to shoot it out against Owensboro? How much will be learn about both teams from this game?

I think conventional thinking says OHS wins this game. However, with any rivalry game, you can throw records and conventional thinking out the window. Not to take anything away from Daviess County, but OCath got caught looking ahead to this game last week. The Aces had tons of penalties and dropped passes that ultimately lead to their defeat.

 

Owensboro meanwhile is riding their stingy defense to early season success while the offense is trying to get their footing. Junior Zach Gross is going a good job running quarterback and will only improve with each and every game. I can't be any more pleased with OHS' playcalling. Once OHS settles in and cuts down on the penalties, they'll be fine.

 

This game will come down to a 2 major facets:

1-Can OCath stop the run, or slow it down enough to get OHS off the field?

2-Can OCath exploit OHS' secondary deep?

 

If the answer to both of those questions is no, OHS wins by a lot. Win or lose, this game will give coach Edge and coach Fallin some more answers about what their respective teams need to work on. OHS better make sure they don't do what OCath did last week and look past the Aces. BG will be there next week. The Purps are always there lol.

 

Owensboro 42,

Owensboro Catholic 21

As much as I hate to say it, after what I saw on Friday against DC, this could be a running clock game.

OC o line will be exposed all night long. RZIII will be running for his life. I too say it will be a running clock.

Great report Devils58!

Just think Os Oline and Dlines are just too strong for the Aces to handle. 38-10 Red Devils

Great summary Devils58.

 

I agree on the playcalling - Love it so far and new plays each game so who knows what we'll see. Gross can run - we saw that vs Madisonville. Board and James have been stellar at the RB, but the best play I saw was Kishawn Walker one-handed grab and faked out half the Madisonville defense for a TD. So many playmakers on offense for Owensboro with Barret & Walker on the outside. Walker also had a great end-around for 30 yards or so.

 

OHS is simply dominating the trenches at this point on O & D. Watching the game Lucas Williams was dominating the guy he was blocking as did most of the O-line. On Defense there are not many rushing yds available against these guys (unless you fake punt!). Greer (One of the best D-linemen in the state), and now full-time on the defensive side and Big Tinsley and Crowe dominate the trenches and Crowe, Mundy, Gardner are in the QB's face when he tries to fade back in an instant. OHS can go quick, they can go big. Board the MLB had some HUGE hits vs. Madisonville...I think KHSAA had him with 12 tackles. The secondary, the one questionmark is great on the corners with Barret and Walker (who should be on the all-state watch list for CB IMHO), and James and Bartimus at Safety - a couple of great plays by Bartimus in the last game. This is simply the best Red Devil Defense in some time.

 

Now they haven't played a great offensive team like Catholic yet. The QB has a gun for an arm and is a heck of an athlete. Morton is one of the fast kids in the state and is a great football player - you know he wants to have a great game vs his old school. My question even before the Daviess game was how is their line play - to me that's the key. They better have a good if not great O-line or they are in trouble. Owensboro found a way to sack Shanklin for Warren Central time and again, and he is an exceptional athlete. The Garner kid is putting up good stats, but I don't remember him. Catholic can strike quick, but they'll need good D-line play also. Boarman is a beast at MLB - 19 tackles vs DC. He'll need some help up front in this game. I think Morton is playing defense also. I haven't seen Catholic this year but they will be up for OHS.

 

As D58 says - you can usually throw out the records on this one - I think OCHS comes to play, they always do, but I think OHS is too talented all around. Morton is dangerous once he catches the ball in the open field. Catholic must get a good game from him.

 

OHS 35 OCHS 21

@devils58 and @Brown this thread may have the best information in it out of all the prediction threads, thanks for providing a breakdown.

Thanks Ram, but I only watch OHS, so I am limited - Devils58 and Apollo98 do a radio show in our area - I listen to them. I would recommend to watch for their posts as they know what they are talking about when it comes to all sports in the 3rd region and beyond.

Brown, thanks for the kind words. We love to cover the local kids and Apollofan98 puts in countless hours with show prep. Brandon Ward is a beast on the social media scene. I just kinda "show up" and talk sports.

 

The atmosphere Friday night is going to be electric. I think had OCath beat Daviess, the scene would've been unreal. OCath is going to go hard this week and refocus on the details that got them beat. OCath is so detail oriented because they have great coaches and frankly with their numbers, they need to be. Edge expects sharp execution and I'm sure he was pulling his hair out watching video of the game.

 

Jay Fallin has quickly put his stamp on the OHS program. While he inherited a very talented senior class, he's opening the offense up to get some guys in space. We all know about Barrettt, James, and Walker but the biggest surprise so far has been the emergence of Landon Board at RB and Gross' ability to use his legs to gain yards. Once OHS works out the kinks they'll be on their way. Defensively, I can't wait to see how OHS responds to a high octane attack such as OCath's.

 

Keep in mind, last year, OCath took the opening kickoff downfield very quickly for the game's first touchdown. The only problem was like 3 plays later, TJ James is running down the sideline to tie the game up. OCath has to stop or at least slow down the run. The bigger picture for OCath is using OHS to prepare for teams like Murray and Mayfield. Edge can use this game as a teaching tool and maybe to experiment a little if need be. Playoff time is what counts, and both OHS and OCath are working towards the goals of going deep in the playoffs.

 

It just so happens that there are some mighty good teams on this side of the state in 2A and 5A. Here's to an injury free game and a fun night at Rash Stadium!

58, does your radio show stream the radio show? Archive the shows? I would be curious to check it out. Good luck this week.

Thanks Ram, but I only watch OHS, so I am limited - Devils58 and Apollo98 do a radio show in our area - I listen to them. I would recommend to watch for their posts as they know what they are talking about when it comes to all sports in the 3rd region and beyond.

 

Thank you for the kind words. We put in a lot of work and have a lot of fun with the coverage, but i dunno if we always know what we are talking about lol. We just want to give the kids around the region as much spotlight as possible.

 

58, does your radio show stream the radio show? Archive the shows? I would be curious to check it out. Good luck this week.

 

We do a weekly live show that streams on our website Homersradio.com. You can reach our show archives from there. All of our prior podcasts are archived on the site as well(before we did the live stream stuff). Livesportscaster.com also streams our stuff live. We run all the live stuff thru mixlr. Our coverage on Fridays starts at 6 with a tail gate pregame show from our game of the week. We've had some great guests join us thus far. We'll be out at Rash this week and have some pretty good guests lined up(Jacoby Harris OHS basketball standout etc...) Our play by play stream starts about 5 til 7 central.

Im real curious to see how this one plays out. On paper, it heavily favors the Devils for sure. I watched DC handle Catholic's offensive line a week ago and OHS may have the best front 7 in the state. On paper OHS should dominate in the trenches. I will try to look at things from a, what can Catholic do to compete, standpoint.

 

#1 . Quick Passes - RZ3 will need to make quick decisions vs that front 7 or he will be running for his life. The good news is Catholic is built to run this way. Ray will need more help from his WR's this week. They dropped a lot of balls a week ago. While talented, i dont think OHS's DB's have been tested yet this season. I think coach Edge will install a gameplan to test them this week.

 

#2 . Limit OHS's big plays - i think Catholic's D will be a bit overmatched in this one, BUT if they could limit the big plays it could give them a chance to stay in it. I think the Devils are still trying to find their way in the passing game, so limiting the run will be big for Catholic. Its not an easy task vs that Mammoth OHS line. John Mark Boarman and Nick Blair will be the guys to watch for OC.

 

#3 . Win special teams - Catholic was somewhat dominated in this facet vs DC last week. Which was a huge surprise to me. They struggled to flip the field on short possessions and gave DC field position for a lot of the game. If they do that this week, its going to get ugly. They need to not only limit Jalil Barrett's return game, but they need to give Shamari Morton some space to make plays. This is an area i feel like Catholic COULD win in, but they will need to be much better than a week ago.

 

#4 . Make less mistakes - when you are over matched on paper, the best way to make up ground is to win the turnover & penalty battle. Catholic was flagged a lot last week, but OHS Achilles heel(if you want to call it that) the first two games have been penalties. If the Devils continue to be penalized at the rate they have been, and Catholic can play clean, this could help the Aces even the playing field a bit.

 

In the end, i think it is a little closer than most people expect. I personally think the loss last week helps Catholic get better along the way. They now know they are not going undefeated and have a lot of things to work on. I expect them to come out much sharper than they did a week ago but OHS has talent everywhere. While i think OHS is still finding their way offensively, their line play and defense gives them the BIG advantage in this one....

 

OHS 35

Catholic 14

Several thoughts on this game for me. #1 for OC: Can they bounce back and make plays in the passing game? Will someone other than Morton step up and make plays at WR. #2 ; Can Catholic slow down the OHS run game? OC has some speed this year but their small D-Line got exposed by Daviess County last week and OHS is even bigger and better upfront than DC is. #3 Can Gross continue to get better at QB? He is going to have to be able throw the ball down field to beat your Bowling Green's of the world.

 

I hope to see OC keep this one competitive. If I'm Edge I just want to get through this game injury free and get some more evaluations on some of guys against good competition. For OHS, they will probably try to fine tune some certain things for next week.

Here's a couple quotes from the coaches:

 

OHS Coach on OC in Messenger-Inquirer:

 

Owensboro knows how much trouble Zuberer can cause if he gets on a completion streak.

 

"They've got a great quarterback, great receivers, they have a very efficient offense in general, they're very good at running their system," Fallin said. "When they get into a rhythm, they can be deadly.

 

"You have to know what you're doing defensively. You have to bring pressure in some instances. You have to go zone and drop eight in coverage in other instances."

 

 

OC Coach on OHS in Messenger:

 

Owensboro Catholic will have to offset the Devils' size advantage along both sides of the line.

 

"We're going to get tested again up front," Catholic coach John Edge said. "They've got 300, 280, 230, 230, then another 300 pounder. They're very big, they're very good, very physical. They're very good at running back, too. TJ is a very good running back, he doesn't go down easy. None of them do. They're all very physical, and they've got good balance."