The Todd County Central Rebels very nearly put themselves in a position to pull off the unthinkable Friday night at Steele Stadium in Owensboro. After being hit with an offensive barrage in the first half and trailing by 41 points at the half, and dealing with a running clock from the beginning of play in the second half, the Rebels were just a couple of plays, or a couple of minutes from pulling off a stunning rally.
Problem was, with the running clock, the Rebels just ran out of time. Thanks to their big time first half, the Owensboro Catholic Aces were able to survive 30 unanswered points in the second half from Todd Central, even with a running clock, as the Aces claimed a 47-36 district win.
That score is even more amazing considering what the Aces had done in the opening half.
Owensboro Catholic scored on their first three possessions of the game to take a 20-0 lead with 2:59 to go in the first quarter. Sophomore quarterback Brady Atwell threw two touchdown passes to William Carrico, while Vince Carrico ran for a two yard score to get the Aces the big early lead.
The Rebels got on the board their next possession when Gavyn Nolan ran it in from three yards out to cut the lead to 20-6. That touchdown was set up by a big 68 yard run from Jamarion Smith.
Then came the big missed opportunity of the first half for the Rebels. Perez Whitlock came up with an interception and ran it back to the Catholic 18 yard line. However, the Rebels could not take advantage of the opportunity and were stopped on downs at the Aces 8 yard line.
And Catholic made the Rebels pay dearly for not taking advantage. Three plays later Atwell and William Carrico hooked up again, this time for a 90 yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 27-6.
After stopping the Rebels again, it was Atwell and William Carrico for the fourth time in the first half, this time on an 18 yard touchdown pass, which made the score 34-6. And the Aces were not near done yet in the opening half.
The Aces stopped the Rebels again on the next possession as the Rebels elected to fake a punt on fourth down. Catholic would take over at the Todd Central 12 yard line. The first play from scrimmage Atwell hit Tanner Roberts for a touchdown that moved the lead out to 40-6 with 3:01 to go in the half.
Todd Central was forced to punt the ball away on the ensuing possession and the Aces went right back down the field. Owensboro Catholic went 80 yards in four plays, capped off by a one yard run from Eric McCarthy to put the lead out to an unseemingly reachable 41 points at 47-6 going into the half.
Brady Atwell had a career in the first half for the Aces, going 17-25-1 for 401 yards and five touchdowns, four of those going to William Carrico.
As the second half opened with a running clock, Todd Central kicked the offense into high tempo, and the Rebels appeared to like it.
The Rebels took the 2nd half kickoff and drove right down the field, capping off the drive on a Gavyn Nolan 4 yard touchdown run to make it 47-12 with 4:24 to go in the third.
Owensboro Catholic fumbled the kickoff and the Rebels recovered and got right back to work. The Rebels went 53 yards on five plays, the last three yards on a run by Nate Reding, cutting the lead to 47-20 with 11:47 to go in the game.
Todd Central then recovered an onside kick and got their offense right back on the field. The Rebels drove 50 yards in six plays, capped off by a Jamarion Smith one yard touchdown run, and suddenly the scored was 47-28 with 6:09 to go in the game.
Another onside kick attempt failed, so the Aces finally got to run a play for the first time in the second half with just over five minutes left in the game. The second play they ran in the half resulted in a Rebel interception.
Four plays later, Gavyn Nolan found Nate Reding for a 21 yard score and the lead had been cut to 47-36.
The Owensboro Catholic coaching staff had gotten concerned enough at this point that starters were inserted back into the contest. But the momentum was now on the Rebels side. The problem was time was not.
Todd Central held the Aces to a three-and-out and got the ball back with a minute to go. But with the running clock, the Rebels were only able to get two plays off before the game came to an end.
After that monstrous offensive first half, the Aces only managed 2 yards on five plays in the second half.
For the night, the Rebels had 461 yards of total offense.
Jamarion Smith finished with 224 yards rushing and a touchdown. Gavyn Nolan rushed for 57 yards while Nate Reding had 56.
Nolan was 13-25 through the air for 124 yards and a touchdown.
The loss drops the Rebels to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in district play. Todd Central is off next Friday before returning to action on October 14 in a huge district game against Butler County in Elkton.
