Atwell, Aces roll Rebels

Sep. 30—Owensboro Catholic junior quarterback Brady Atwell threw for 313 yards and seven touchdowns in the first half Friday, leading the No. 3 Aces to a 57-7 win over Class 2-A, District 2 foe Todd County Central at Steele Stadium.

Catholic (7-0, 1-0 district) scored on each of its seven first-half possessions, with Atwell capping off each drive with a touchdown throw. In total, he completed 14-of-16 passes and didn't play after leading his team to a 50-0 lead at intermission.

"We had a good week of practice," said OCHS head coach Jason Morris, whose team was originally set to travel to Elkton for the matchup Thursday night before poor field conditions moved the game to Owensboro. "The kids came out focused. We just did our jobs and executed almost every single play.

"I'm sure we'll go back on film and see some things we've got to correct — because you always do — but I have no complaints. I really love this football team. We're together more than any team I've ever coaches, and we see a bright future ahead of us."

After taking the opening kickoff, the Aces needed just two plays to score. Atwell connected with senior wide receiver Tutt Carrico for a 45-yard gain on the game's first play, followed immediately by a 5-yard TD throw to senior wideout Noah Rhinerson with only 24 seconds removed from the clock.

Less than four minutes later, Catholic used a short field after a Todd County punt to go 35 yards in five plays — with Atwell throwing a 12-yard TD to sophomore running back Miles Edge.

Following a three-and-out, the Aces scored again on Atwell's completion to Rhinerson, who went 81 yards to give his team a 21-0 lead with 5:47 left in the first quarter.

Sophomore Cameron Woodward recovered a live ball on the ensuing kickoff, and one play later, Atwell threw a 10-yard scoring strike to Carrico.

After another poor special-teams play left the Rebels (3-4, 0-1) on their own 1-yard-line, quarterback Miles Reding was sacked for a safety. After the Aces got the ball back, Atwell tossed a 27-yard score to junior wide receiver Waryn Ebelhar to put Catholic up 37-0 — and force a KHSAA-mandated running clock — with 4:35 left in the opening frame.

Atwell later threw a 4-yard TD to junior Vince Carrico and closed the first half with a 43-yard scoring completion to senior Kaiser Frick at the buzzer.

Tutt Carrico finished with three catches for a game-high 99 yards and a touchdown, with Rhinerson adding 86 yards and two scores on two receptions.

Seven players caught touchdown passes for Catholic, including junior wideout Noah O'Nan, who reeled in a 2-yard scoring reception from freshman quarterback Dremail Carothers for a 57-0 lead with 8:15 remaining.

"The offensive line, once again, kept Brady upright and our guys in space, once again, got a lot of man coverage," Morris said. "That's about the third or fourth time we've gotten that, and we've picked it apart every single time. I'm really happy about that.

"We got all kinds of guys involved, probably 10-plus guys got touches on offense, multiple guys scoring touchdowns — it was just a total team effort."

In back-up duty during the second half, Carothers completed 5-of-7 passes for 67 yards and a score as the Aces racked up 436 yards of total offense.

"It's nice because football at Owensboro Catholic right now is special," Morris said of getting playing extended time for his reserve players. "Even in a game like this on late notice, we had a pretty good crowd here tonight. People want to come out and see it.

"These young guys like to play in front of a big crowd like that, so it's nice to be able to get them on the field and get them seen. And (Todd County) scored a touchdown there in second half, too, and that was really nice to see."

The Rebels scored their lone touchdown on Reding's 37-yard throw to wide receiver Brian Farlow on the game's final play.

Todd County Central, which generated only 36 yards in the first half, finished with 141 yards of total offense.

Catholic is off next week before resuming action at home Oct. 13 against district opponent Edmonson County.

TODD COUNTY CENTRAL 0 0 0 7 — 7

OWENSBORO CATHOLIC 37 13 0 7 — 57

OC-Rhinerson 5 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-Edge 12 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-Rhinerson 81 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-T. Carrico 10 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-Safety

OC-Ebelhar 27 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-V. Carrico 4 pass from Atwell (kick failed)

OC-Frick 43 pass from Atwell (Garvin kick)

OC-O'Nan 2 pass from Carothers (Frick kick)

TCC-Farlow 37 pass from Reding (Reding kick)