There will be a MASSIVE crowd on Friday at Reid Stadium. Very rarely does Daviess County come into a game of this magnitude with a 4-0 record. There is a ton of optimism with the DC fans and rightfully so. The Panthers have more talent on both sides of the ball than they've had in years, highlighted by 6-5 senior receiver John Stratton (aka Strattatron). DC also boasts playmakers in QB Adam Bouchard, RB Chase LeCroy, and WR Jared McEwen. Defensively DC, has improved by leaps and bounds and a big part of that has been the services of Luke Baird and Jordan Lee. Also the addition of CB/Saftey Jonathan Powell off the baseball team has paid off with critical pass breakups and timely interceptions. There is no doubt DC fans, the coaches, and the players believe.

 

OHS meanwhile is coming off a hard fought loss @BG on Friday. OHS was its' own worst enemy and spotted BG 7 points by throwing a pick 6. Turnovers have been a thorn in the Devils side every game this season. While most people see that happening for different reasons (ie QB play, coaching, etc), I see it as growing pains as the result of a new offense and a new QB. Keep in mind that QB Zach Gross is running a totally different offense than he's learned the past 2 years, and he's a first time starting QB. Also Gross banged his hand up pretty good in the Madisonville game causing swelling and reduced grip strength. I think Gross and OHS will be fine in the long run. Overall, this offense suits OHS better and the playcalling has been good as a whole this season. Defensively OHS is unreal this season. It going to take a very talented team with a great QB (ie Ray Zuberer OCath) to derail the "HellRaiser" defense.

 

This game will come down to a couple of factors. 1-Can DC match up with OHS physically and athletically? 2-Will OHS continue to turn the ball over 3+ times every game. I do think DC can match up with OHS in spots, but overall the talent descripency is probably bigger than some people realize. While I do think OHS will have a few turnovers this week (they've had them every game) there will come a point where OHS stops turning the ball over and the offense will click. Is the the game it happens? Maybe, maybe not. DC needs to play mistake free football and ride the momentum of the huge DC crowd on Friday.

 

Owensboro 28

Daviess County 24

Give me OHS and that nasty defense by 10. While they might be dealing with learning a new offense with a first time starter that defense is a beautiful unit to watch. Im pulling for your boys this week Devil58.

D58, do you anticipate the O Defense will play a similar game plan as they did vs OCath where they rushed 3 and dropped 8. I anticipate not entirely, but know the DC QB is a good one too, probably not Zuberer worthy but next tick down.

Purple88, I think OHS likes to mix up the zone and blitzes. I honestly hate when they drop 8 because there are too many holes in the zone to cover and a good QB will know exactly where the holes are. When OHS blitzes, they tend to get good pressure. OHS did get burned against Catholic a couple of times on the blitz, but the performace RZIII had against OHS was one of the best I've seen from a high school QB in quite some time. It's going to take that kind of effort to move the ball consistantly against OHS. The ideal situation for DC would be to sustain drives, because OHS plays a lot of kids both ways in the secondary and LBs. I did think OHS showed some fatigue in the Catholic game, and DC has the ability to exploit that if the Panthers can sustain some drives. I look for OHS to run the same defensive stuff at DC. They'll want to see what kind of rush they can get with their front 3 and they'll probably double high cover Stratton. When OHS rushes, they'll probably man up Stratton with KiShawn Walker who is in the 6-1 range.

 

The whole game will come down to the DC defense. If the Panthers can keep OHS out of the endzone and capitalize on turnovers the huge crowd at Reid will be going nuts. Also, dont forget special teams. DC would probably be wise to not kick the ball to Jahlil Barrett. I think it's going to be a heck of a night at DC, and I'm sure they can't wait to count the gate $$ on Friday night! The bowling team is getting new uniforms for sure now, haaha.

All great information 58, glad you provided it.

Great stuff 58! I noticed last Friday that Barrett, who is a terrific player, slipped consistently when returning punts. Don't know if he plays with extra short cleats or what. BG seemed to contain him except for the nice TD reception. I would have thought O definitely would have wanted to get him going in the open field.

If OHS can run the ball....they win. IF DC can run the ball.....THEY WIN.

 

I'm going to go OHS 24-10

Very nice material guys, thanks. Great news for the bowling team.:thumb:

Good defense great special teams improving offense spell OHS victory, too many athletes.

 

 

OHS 35-7

42-14 Devils

I think Devils has this one covered. On this weeks Homers Show we caught up with OHS's Jay Fallin and DC's Matt Brannon to get their thoughts on this matchup. Both guys seem very happy with where their respective teams are at this point in the season. You can catch those interviews on Homersradio.com.

 

I would put OHS as about a 9.5 point favorite in this matchup on the road. As Devils said, its going to be a monster crowd on hand. I know Panther fans are fired up and believe this is their year to make a deep playoff run. Im expecting the biggest crowd in Reid Stadium history this Friday night.

 

For DC to have shot to win this game, they will need to force OHS into as many throwing situations as possible. Daviess County's defense is much improved, only giving up 17ppg thus far. I believe the Panthers can have some success in slowing down the OHS offense. The problem for DC comes vs OHS's defense. County has relied heavily on their run game and Chase LeCroy(4 straight games over 100 yards) opening up their pass game and im just not sure anyone is going to have much success running on that Devils front 7. I think DC will give it a shot, but may end up having to put the ball in Bouchard's hands more than they would like. Not that that is a bad thing, as he is a very capable QB with some very solid weapons. I could see OHS taking DC out of their game plan a little bit. At the end of the day, i think both teams defenses will play well and keep it low scoring. Owensboro's offense is still finding their way, but i think they can hit on a few big plays and rely on their D to finish strong...

 

OHS 20

DC 14

I agree with everything that has been said so far…… but I like to say Daviess County has played as a team all year and kept the distractions to a minimum that would have derailed previous Daviess County teams.

All the kids have bought into the “Team” not letting Stats and press clipping get in their way for a successful year.

I think the DC coaching staff has done a great job changing the culture around the DC Football program , I would say that coaching football at DC is one of the hardest job around the area. Coach Brannon and his staff are doing a great job no matter the outcome of Friday’s game.

With all that said I think DC can stay in the game by keeping the mistakes low and containing OHS running game and forcing OHS to pass.

The DC Offense now has a sound running game and I would not rule out Chase Lecroy from having a big night, there is not a harder running back around and still Stratton and Bouchard are still looking for a big game. This should one of the best game in the area this year ! DC 28-OHS 21 in OT

I don't think Daviess Co. has played anyone like a DL of OHS yet. This is their biggest challenge so far of the season.

I just don't think DC matches up as well against OHS as they did against Owensboro Catholic. Give DC credit they deserved to win that game, but if we are being honest Catholic played bad. If Catholic played the same way against DC that they played against OHS they would have won by 2 scores. Owensboro is too good up front defensively and have too many playmakers.

 

Owensboro 35

Daviess County 14

DC is good, but I don't think they come close to the team speed they will see Friday night. OHS' defense is one of the best in the state and I don't see the DC offense doing much against them. I believe DC will have trouble moving the ball, which is going to create field position nightmares for them. They will be Punting to Barrett who can do damage in a heartbeat.

 

Devils kick off - DC most likely pinned, DC kicks off - I see great run backs setting up great field position. Because of OHS' playmakers on special teams and OHS' stout defense I believe DC will struggle with field position all night - that spells doom.

 

Everyone putting up close scores, I believe most are being politically correct. If this game plays out like it should, it will be somewhat of a blowout (4 scores +).