Bears drop 41-34 heartbreaker at Catholic

Mon, 09/30/2013 - 11:11am — John Embry

In a game that featured multiple lead changes and numerous momentum shifts, the Butler County Bears (3-2) fell 41-34 to the Owensboro Catholic Aces (3-2) on Friday night at Steele Stadium on the campus of Kentucky Wesleyan University in Owensboro. It was the first Class 2A, District 2 game for both squads.

Butler County Bears Face the OC Aces

Many astute football watchers saw this contest as a key indicator in district play and expected a quality football game. They were not disappointed.

With their up-tempo, no-huddle offense, it was the Aces who struck first, taking advantage of excellent field position at the Butler County 35-yard line after the Bears were pinned to their own goal line inside the 5-yard line on their first offensive set. At 7:01 in the first quarter, the Aces scored on a 21-yard, first-down pass play. The extra-point kick was good to give the Aces an early 7-0 lead.

Although the Bears didn't score on their next possession, things got interesting following a Jake Martin punt on fourth down. The Aces' receiver called for a fair catch but mishandled the ball resulting in a fumble. It appeared that Butler County may have recovered the fumble. However, the officials got together and indicated that an inadvertent whistle had been blown by one official just prior to the attempted catch. After a brief meeting, officials decided to replay the down, which meant the Bears would have to punt again. This call brought howls of criticism for the Butler County cheering section as well as prompting Coach Ryan Emmick to storm the field in protest. This call, which many of the Bear faithful felt was incorrect, seemed to galvanize the Butler County players as the already-emotional contest was turned up another notch. A Butler County penalty — roughing the punter — gave the Aces another break on their next possession, as well as a first down. But, from this point the Bear defense found its grove and shut down the Aces' drive with tackles by Trent Cox and Jacob Courtenay, among others.

With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, the Bears' offense got in on the action — fueled in part by the legs of quarterback Bryce Shanklin. Advancing into Catholic territory, carries by John Peyton and Shanklin kept the drive going. Receiver Zeke Woodcock went up high above two defenders for a 20-yard first-down completion. As the quarter ended, the Bears were faced with a second-and-ten from the Aces' 15-yard line. Butler's Shanklin scored at 11:54 in the second quarter on the Bears' first play in the quarter. Martin's kick was good to tie the score at 7 apiece.

Following a good Butler kickand even better kick coverage, the Aces started their next possession at their own 17-yard line. A swarming Butler County defense (key tackles by Woodcock and Peyton) combined with an illegal forward pass penalty against Catholic resulted in a safety for the Bears at 11:10. This gave Butler County it's first lead at 9-7 … and the ball back.

A 20-yard return by Shanklin, along with an 8-yard keeper and a 5-yard gain by Cody White, gave the Bears a first down. Shanklin connected with Walker Weathers for the pass completion but the drive was ultimately stopped on downs.

Catholic threatened on its next possession as an Aces' pass to the middle of the end zone was swatted away by Shanklin. Then, on fourth down, Butler lineman Connor Reed deflected a pass to end the Aces' drive.

The Bears began their last drive of the half form the Catholic 48-yard line with a little over three minutes left. A penalty for having too may players on the field (Catholic's second such penalty in the last two minutes) moved the ball to half the distance to the goal line. Shanklin hit Woodcock for the touchdown from 10 yards out with .50 seconds left in the half. The kick failed but the Bears still led 15-7. Butler County's defense stopped the Aces cold to close out the half.

Both teams traded possessions out of the gate in the third quarter before the Bears found the end zone again. Starting with good field position, completions from Shanklin to Drake Embry and Matt Moore pushed the ball to the Catholic 15-yard line. Butler County turned to quarterback Jimmy Burns after Shankin suffered a shoulder injury and Burns delivered — first connecting with Embry for a 16-yard gain to set up a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Burns found Martin in the end zone on a quick slant for the touchdown at 3:10. With a 21-7 Butler County lead, the crowd of green drew quiet. Shanklin would not return to the game due to a shoulder injury.

However, the Aces answered on their next possession, going 56 yards on a second down pass completion. The extra-point kick was good to trim the Bears' lead to 21-14.

A 25-yard return by Drake Embry followed by a pass completion from Burns to Moore moved the call for the Bears but an untimely fumble ended the drive. The third quarter ended with Butler holding a 21-14 lead. Catholic took advantage of the opportunity and scored on an 8-yard run at 11:44 in the fourth to tie the game at 21-21.

With the momentum had shifted to the Aces, the Bears bounced back. Burns continued his passing prowess with a 20-yard completion to Woodcock. The drive slowed and the Bears faced a crucial fourth-and-six play. In the clutch, Burns found Embry for the 35-yard touchdown play with 9:16 remaining. Martin's kick was good and the Bears moved ahead 28-21.

The see-saw battle continued as the Aces came through on third-and-ten, scoring on a 77-yard pass play. The missed extra point resulted in another tie game at 28-28.

The Aces picked off a Burns pass on the Bears' next possession — a turnover that would prove costly. Catholic put the ball in the air to reach the end zone, finally scoring on a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. This gave the home team a 34-28 lead.

But, the Bears weren't about to quit despite falling behind. Burns, behind a wall of an offensive line, marched the Bears downfield in what was arguably Butler County's most impressive drive of the game. He completed passes to Embry (3 receptions, 23 yards), Woodcock (1 reception, 11 yards), Caleb Deweese (2 receptions, 22 yards), and Kory Johnson (3 receptions, 12 yards). Burns scored on a keeper from five yards out with 1:16 left in the game. The extra point was wide but the game was tied at 34-34.

A Butler County penalty on the kick-off gave the Aces good field position at their 40-yard line and a second penalty — this one for pass interference — on a third-and-ten play with .48 seconds left kept the Aces' drive alive. Catholic exploded for a 40-yard gain on a second down pass completion to push the ball near Bears' goal line. The Aces scored on second-and-goal from the 5-yard line with .47 seconds left. The successful P.A.T kick gave the Aces a 41-34 win.

The Bears had one last chance but time wasn't on their side as the Aces held on for the win.

Butler County will return to action on Friday, October 4, on the road at Union County - another district rival. Kick-off is set of 7 p.m.

Game Stats:

Butler County 0 15 6 13 34
O. Catholic 7 0 7 27 41

First Downs        BC 20; OC 17
Rushing Yards    BC 131; OC 39
Pass comp/att    BC 27-36; OC 25-50
Pass yards         BC 234; OC 382
Pass TD-Int        BC 3-1; OC 5-0
Punts-Avg.         BC 3-33; OC 4-26
Fumb - lost        BC 3-2; OC 0-0
Penal - lost        BC 4-40; OC 7-60
Time Poss         BC 31:37; OC 16:23

Passing:
Shanklin 9/13, 75 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions
Burns 18/23, 159 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception

Rushing Leaders:
Shanklin        17 carries for 112 yards
J. Peyton        5 carries for 11 yards
Burns            2 carries for 6 yards

Receiving Leaders:

Woodcock         6 receptions for 76 yards
Embry              10 receptions for 93 yards
Deweese           2 receptions for 23 yards
Moore               3 receptions for 24 yards
Johnson            3 receptions for 8 yards

Defensive Leaders (tackles):

Brooks        6.5
Shanklin        4
Deweese        4
Moore            3
Courtenay       3
Martin             2
Merrick           2
Woodcock       2
Henderson      1
Cox                1
Lawrence        1
Hampton        1
Bratcher         1
Arnold           .5

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