While they would have liked for the finish to be a little bit different, it was still a season of marked improvement for the Fort Campbell Falcons on the football field. That season, however, came to an end Friday night, as the Falcons fell to Owensboro Catholic 54-8 at Steele Stadium in the opening round of the Class 2A playoffs.
Needing to get off to a good start in the contest, the opposite happened for the Fort Campbell Falcons, and it quickly snowballed from there. Owensboro Catholic took the opening kickoff and returned it to the Falcon 38-yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, the Falcons had one of those chances get away that if you are going to pull off a big upset you just have to find a way to make it happen.
Aces quarterback Brady Atwell went back to pass and dropped the ball. The Falcons missed a chance to pick it up with Atwell then taking the ball and slinging it down the right side of the field. A Fort Campbell defender broke on the ball and had it in his hands but could not hold on. The very next play, Atwell hit William Carrico for a 33-yard touchdown to put the Aces up 6-0 less than a minute into the game.
It went from bad to worse for the Falcons on their first offensive series. As the Falcons were attempting to punt from deep in their own end of the field, the snap was high to Darin Frederick and he was then tackled at the two-yard line.
The very next play Atwell hit Waryn Ebelhar for a two-yard touchdown and the lead was at 12-0 with still 9:23 to go in the first quarter.
Fort Campbell got a little offensive momentum on their next possession as Frederick connected with Jayden Swann and Dakevius Lewis, giving the Falcons their first first down of the night. However, the drive bogged down and the Falcons turned the ball over on downs at their own 45-yard line.
The Aces promptly marched down the field and scored again when Jack Terry took it in from one yard out to make it 19-0, and still the first quarter avalanche was not near done for the Falcons.
Two plays later Darin Frederick was picked off and the Aces were back in business on the Fort Campbell side of the field. Four plays later, Catholic was back in the end zone when Brady Atwell found Noah Rhinerson from five yards and the score was 26-0 with 3:34 left in the opening quarter.
After a three and out for the Falcons, William Carrico returned a punt for a 43-yard touchdown and the lead was extended to 33-0 with 2:28 left in the first. After another three and out for the Falcons, the Aces hit paydirt yet again when Atwell hit Michael Hyland for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 40-0 with 14 seconds left in the quarter.
With the running clock in play in the second quarter, and with reserves seeing most of the action for the Aces, the pace slowed down somewhat. Owensboro Catholic added a touchdown when Lucas Gorman threw a 31 yard touchdown pass to Waryn Ebelhar to make it 47-0 with 6:36 to go in the half. That would be the score at the break.
The Aces racked up 211 total yards in the opening half, while limiting the Falcons to just 20 and one first down. Fort Campbell had no luck on the ground, finishing the half with -11 yards on the ground.
Brady Atwell only played the first quarter of the contest and still managed to go 9 for 13 for 141 yards and 4 touchdowns.
With the clock in running mode as the teams came back on the field after the break, the second half played out quickly. The Falcons got some positive momentum early in the second half. After the Aces fumbled the ball, Frederick found Maurice Moore for a 21-yard touchdown pass to get Fort Campbell on the board. Moore outjumped two defenders in the end zone to come down with the pass to cut the lead to 47-8.
The Aces responded with less than a minute to go in the third when Lucas Gorman hit Hudson Ebelhar for a 31-yard score to make it 54-8.
The rushing totals for the Falcons did not get better in the second half, as the Aces’ defense simply gave up nothing on the ground. The Falcons finished the night with -7 rushing and 103 passing for 96 total yard. Catholic limited Keswhawn Dixon to seven yards on eight carries.
Darin Frederick finished the night 9 of 27 through the air for 103 yards, 1 touchdown, and two interceptions. Amari Waddy caught two passes for 41 yards to lead the Falcons in receiving yardage.
The Aces finished with 74 rushing yards and 249 yards through the air for a total of 323 yards, most of that coming in the first half of play.
After winning just one game during the 2021 season and losing their entire 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Falcons took big steps forward and ended up with four wins during the 2022 season and earned a playoff berth for the first time since 2019.
The Falcons picked up wins over Muhlenberg County, Fort Knox, Caverna, and Ballard Memorial.
For the Aces, they improve to 8-3 on the season with their 6th consecutive win. Owensboro Catholic will be back at Steele Stadium next week as they host a second-round contest.
