Red Devils Close Out The Regular Season With Their "Biggest" Test Since St. X

Records: Owensboro (7-2) | Henderson County (8-1)

BGP Ranking: Owensboro (#10 in 5A) | Henderson County (#7 in 6A)

Series History: Owensboro leads 73-35-5 all-time 

Table Setter: After six weeks of complete and utter domination against an overwhelmed district, Owensboro has a well timed tune-up against a big, physical Hendo squad before the playoffs get underway. The tune-up works both ways, as the Colonels will be challenged by the athletes in red and black before they dive into the deep waters of the 6A postseason.

Anytime you talk Owensboro athletes, Kenyata Carbon's name will be front and center in the conversation. The featured back's name has floated around the Mr. Football orbit this season. He's been in cruise control throughout district play, but should find himself under duress at some point against an imposing Henderson County defensive front, led by Purdue commit Saadiq Clements.

As is often the case, the battle at the line of scrimmage will dictate the outcome to a large degree. O's very talented offensive front versus Hendo's stout d-line deserves the spotlight here, but Owensboro's run defense will face perhaps its stiffest challenge of the season. Hendo excels at pushing opponents around and opening holes for the duo of Jordan Wright and Jaheim Williams. Forget thunder and lightning. Those two are lightning and more lightning. 

The Colonels caught a bad case of road "Rash" last year in Owensboro, getting blown out 55-18. Hosting the Red Devils should play to Hendo's advantage in this clash of teams with designs on deep playoff runs.

I'll take Owensboro in a close one.

Rogers needs to be back for O.

I am very interested in this game. 

This game will be very telling for how the Devil's post season will go IMO.   When they came out of the gate at with what I thought was a strong showing vs. St. X at the start of the season, I had very high hopes for OHS to return to at least semi finals, if not making it to the championships.   Then as weeks went on it seemed as though something was just off with this team as they were 100% not playing up to their potential, culminating in the loss vs OCHS.   From there they've been untested but I believe that changes this Friday.  5A has some teams down south and to the east that are not going to make it an easy road forward. I'd love to see O come out with some fight and show that they can be the team that many thought they would be at the start of the season and really build momentum in to the playoffs with a solid W.    

3 minutes ago, JCrowe86 said:

This game will be very telling for how the Devil's post season will go IMO.   When they came out of the gate at with what I thought was a strong showing vs. St. X at the start of the season, I had very high hopes for OHS to return to at least semi finals, if not making it to the championships.   Then as weeks went on it seemed as though something was just off with this team as they were 100% not playing up to their potential, culminating in the loss vs OCHS.   From there they've been untested but I believe that changes this Friday.  5A has some teams down south and to the east that are not going to make it an easy road forward. I'd love to see O come out with some fight and show that they can be the team that many thought they would be at the start of the season and really build momentum in to the playoffs with a solid W.    

Owensboro played really hard against St. X. Maybe struggles have been because not being as motivated against lesser competition. This game will tell us about both teams.

4 hours ago, Brown said:

Rogers needs to be back for O.

He will be back for that game. His injury was minor he just didn’t want to risk it getting worse before this game.

Very interesting game.  First time Owensboro's lines will be really tested in awhile.  Hendo is no joke up front on both sides.  Owensboro has the better skill guys and why I picked them.  But I think the Owensboro QB will need to make some plays in this game for Owensboro to win.  I'm anticipating he can and if they want to go deep in the playoffs it's a must because Greenwood is a team everyone overlooks.  That's a mistake.  But this Hendo game will be a good one!

If Tilghman weren't playing Friday night, this is no doubt the game I would be at. That Henderson defensive line is no joke, they flat can cause a lot of havoc on just about anyone. You have to use their aggresiveness against them. Owensboro is solid all around and have been rolling. I really can't wait to see how this one turns out. 

Clements and Tapp both ways.  I think that hurts them (Hendo) against O’s 1 way line players.  O as 2 great tackles so I expect some neutralization of Clements.  They seemed to do a good job last year.  Henderson 2 great RB’s.  They are firing in all cylinders.  Great matchup for O against 1 of the best 6A teams in the state on their home field.

16 minutes ago, Brown said:

Clements and Tapp both ways.  I think that hurts them (Hendo) against O’s 1 way line players.  O as 2 great tackles so I expect some neutralization of Clements.  They seemed to do a good job last year.  Henderson 2 great RB’s.  They are firing in all cylinders.  Great matchup for O against 1 of the best 6A teams in the state on their home field.

I know last year Clements went both ways. But the games I watched this season he has been defense only and switched his jersey to #8. Makes him an absolute wrecking ball on defense.

Owensboro will win this game 35-14.

This game should be very competitive. I had to go back and watch some film on Owensboro to see if there has been any improvements on either side of the ball. Watched 3 games in particular before commenting. St. X, O’ Cath and Graves County. On defense the Red Devils appear to have made the biggest jump in improvements. Against St. X the pass and out side rush defense were good but it was obvious the middle of our defense was the weak point as the majority of there yards came straight up the middle. O’Cath recognized this and took advantage along with injuries to some key players (Goodwin being the biggest factor). Ran up the middle for short gains controlling the clock limiting the Red Devil possessions. Since that game O not only returned key starters in Johnson and Goodwin but added freshman Eli Hampton to the middle of the defense who is just about on every tackle . Young man brings more size speed and aggression to the middle of the defense and is getting better game by game it feels like. Also bringing Crowe in at OLB and some DE into the mix brings a lot more speed to the pass rush. In the secondary I see improvement as well CB’s are playing more aggressive and tend to be in better positions to make plays on the ball Robinson being undersized still worries me, better teams will take advantage of this and the Red Devils will have to be ready to make that adjustment fast if need be and replace him with Carbon.

On offense at the beginning of the season it seemed as if the Red Devils only had one calling card and it was give the ball to Carbon. Although that is effective on lesser quality teams it won’t be on top quality teams. As the season has progressed O has spread the football out with some familiar names like Pendleton and Rogers getting more touches which only opens things up for Carbon that much more. There’s also a new face on the scene freshman Evan Hampton. He's got varsity size on him he’s a strong runner with speed and elusive with the ball in his hands. Most of his touches go for 6. I believe he can make a big impact down the road this season Red Devils need to find creative ways to get him the ball in big games. The offensive line is playing great at the moment, like @Brown said I expect them to be able to some what neutralize Hendersons Dline to an extent. Still don’t know what to expect from Boone at QB at this point he hasn’t been able to take the top off of any defense we’ve played but maybe that’s just not his game. If he can continue to just complete the short to intermediate routes to keep the chains moving and let his athletes do the rest this offense should be able to keep rolling. 

I’ll admit I don’t know to much about Henderson other than the bits and pieces I saw against Tilghman. Clements is a Monster on that Dline but there defense as a whole isn’t anything O hasn’t already seen this year in St. X. I expect them to be able to move the chains consistently and a big game from carbon as he proves he’s the best running back on this side of the state. There QB worries me the most and looks to be the biggest threat in my eyes he’s got an arm and he’s mobile similar to O’ Cath Qb who gave Owensboro issues. Either way I feel if O wants to be a serious contender in 5A they need to put Henderson away. 
 
Give me the Red Devils 42-28

If Owensboro wins would that be considered an upset?

This could be a very good game.  Hard to call it.

JV Devils beat Hendo tonight 30-13 at Rash.