Greenwood’s Canon Jaggers (11) attempts to make a catch during Greenwood’s 49-16 loss to Owensboro Catholic on Friday, September 6, 2024 at Greenwood High School in Bowling Green, Ky. (Photo by Caleb Lowndes/caleb.lowndes@bgdailynews.com)

It was over before it started for Greenwood’s football team against the Owensboro Catholic Aces on Friday night.

On the first play from scrimmage, OCHS quarterback Brady Atwell connected with senior receiver Waryn Ebelhar for a 75-yard touchdown. Following a Greenwood three-and-out, the Aces struck again with a two-play, 59-yard touchdown drive capped off by another Atwell to Ebelhar connection, this time for 48 yards.

In the blink of an eye Greenwood was down two touchdowns.

“We’re kind of banged up in the secondary and we had some young kids in there. They were able to capitalize early on that,” Greenwood coach William Howard said.

From then on, the Gators experienced nothing short of an Atwell avalanche as the 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior who has committed to play baseball at Western Kentucky tallied more than 200 yards, four touchdowns in the air and two on the ground en route to a 49-16 assault on Greenwood at the Swamp.

Greenwood (1-2) was handed a great chance to chip away at the lead midway through the first quarter as an Atwell interception gave the hosts the ball in plus territory. The Gators drove the ball inside the red zone with a prime chance to score, however, the offense stalled and a missed field goal ended the promising drive with no points.

“Momentum is always a good thing,” Howard said. “I felt like we had an opportunity to get it in the end zone and we weren’t able to do that … that would have been a big momentum shift.”

That turned out to be the best chance Greenwood would have to get back into the game. OCHS (3-0) kept Greenwood scoreless the entire first half, taking a 35-0 lead into the break.

Even with the insurmountable deficit, the Gators offense showed some fight late. Greenwood drove down the field twice in the fourth quarter to score 16 points and keep a zero off the board.

The Gators are back in action this coming Friday at home against Logan County.

OCHS 21 14 7 7 – 49

GHS 0 0 0 16 – 16

First Quarter

OCHS – Waryn Ebelhar 75 pass from Brady Atwell

OCHS – Ebelhar 48 pass from Atwell to Ebelhar

OCHS – Atwell 12 run

Second Quarter

OCHS – Dereon Crowe 10 pass from Atwell

OCHS – Atwell 6 run

Third Quarter

OCHS – Crowe 5 pass from Atwell

Fourth Quarter

GHS – Jackson Freeland 14 run

OCHS – Noah Grant 25 pass from Dremail Carothers

GHS – Will Crutcher pass