Wildcats Fall To Top Ranked Aces at Home

Cats Fight to the End in 44-0 Loss

Edmonson County senior defensive end Ace Daugherty (56) sacks visiting Owensboro Catholic quarterback Brady Atwell (7) for a loss in the first quarter Friday October 18 in Brownsville.

Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Edmonson County (4-3) football took the field at home in Brownsville against the number one ranked Class 2A Kentucky High School Athletic Association Owensboro Catholic Aces (7-0) Friday, October 18th, knowing their opponent would be formidable.

They were formidable indeed.

Maybe from the stands, it would be hard to see the size difference of the players, but on the sidelines, not so much. What could be seen easily from the stands was the more than twice the number of players standing on the visiting side.

Edmonson County has 33 players. Owensboro Catholic has 69.

The Aces quarterback is larger than every player on the Wildcats squad, but the Wildcats were not deterred.

In fact, despite the 44-0 loss, one thing to note is in the first quarter, it looked as if the Aces had thought of the Wildcats as just another pushover on their journey back to the Kentucky State 2A Championship.

A mistake on the Aces part and while the Wildcats were unable to capitalize on their early success against their oversized opponents, they did make the Aces have to switch their style.

The Wildcats stopped the Aces twice on fourth down causing a turnover on downs, senior defensive end Ace Daugherty had a glorious sack followed by a tackle for a loss from the everywhere kid, junior place kicker, punter, field goal kicker, running back and defensive back Colton White.

Edmonson County junior defensive back Colton White (8) tackles visiting Owensboro Catholic for a loss Friday October 18 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County junior quarterback Tristen Muse (1) is gang tackled by visiting Owensboro Catholic defense Friday October 18 in Brownsville.

​The result, in the second quarter the Aces went Spinal Tap, and cranked their gears to 11, instituting a hurry up offense that could make National Football League teams jealous with the speed and efficiency in execution.
 
Number, color, check down, hike. 
 
The Wildcats had no time to readjust after any plays. Without backups, substitutions and time to get set, the stalwart Wildcats defense faced their toughest challenge to date.
 
The Wildcats also tackled, covered and played some of their best defense so far this year. It just happened against an oversized, over budget, overbearing team like no other in Class 2A.
 
“The boys came out and played real hard,” Edmonson County head coach Justin Vessels said after the game on the Edmonson Voice Live Broadcast.
 
Vessels’ style of coaching is bad if you are a heart monitor in a hospital. On the field, with the sound of a flatline, it rubs off and is good.
 
Vessels speaks about not wanting the players to get too high, or low, as he himself exudes the same.
 
There is passion. There is love. There is determination. There aren't players getting down on each other or coaches. There is recognition for feats achieved, and it isn’t like a post-apocalyptic movie where the world is on some form of Prozac. There is emotion.
 
After a sack. A great run. Complete pass. They are still just young men. There is though method like an invisible metronome moving forward.
 

Edmonson County junior kick returner William Saling (14) looks for room to run on a kick off from visiting Owensboro Catholic Friday October 18 in Brownsville.

Edmonson County senior running back Carter Swihart (88) turns the ball up field against visiting Owensboro Catholic Friday October 18 in Brownsville.

​To move forward for the Wildcats, like every week before, they will learn from game footage, make adjustments, and then go into the next week with the previous week behind them. Have good practices, fix mistakes and get better.
 
It will not change. It is what Vessels does.
 
It is like the ‘Serenity Prayer’ exhibited and applied in the Friday night lights. The team will change what they can control and leave the rest for wisdom.
 
“Our boys, we came out and I thought they played hard the whole game,” Vessels said. “The defense played really well early. We had trouble moving the ball on offense.”
 
Junior quarterback Tristen Muse echoed Vessels’ comments.
 
“We played really good in the first quarter,” Muse said after the game. “It’s just we got gassed ‘cause they have so many rotations for the players and we only have first team for varsity.”
 
There are positives on the evening more than just a lesson in hard knocks.
 
First, there were no penalties committed by the Wildcats.
 
“If we can move it against this team, we probably can move it against any team we want,” Muse said. “And if we can play defense, we can probably stop anyone. We just need to keep our players fresh and go at them like we did in the first quarter.”
 
This time tomorrow, Vessels said, this game is behind us and we are on to our next one.
 
“The process doesn’t change,” Vessels said in multiple previous post-game interviews.
 
Next week, Edmonson County travels to play Todd County Central at 7 p.m. October 25 in Elkton.