Tight-knit Aces working hard to improve
Jul. 25—Owensboro Catholic High School football head coach Jason Morris has liked what he's seen from a young but determined group of Aces during the first phase of summer workouts in preparation for the 2021 season.
"I've been really pleased to this point," said Morris, who directed Catholic into last year's Class 2-A Region 1 championship game. "We're a really young football team, and we're just now getting our full roster together with some kids coming in from (summer) basketball and baseball.
"One thing I think we've really improved on as a program over the past few years is our team chemistry. The attitudes here are outstanding and the work ethics here are outstanding — we never have to worry about that anymore."
Morris said he and his staff have wasted no time on the practice field.
"We've already installed our entire offense and defense and now we're moving into a phase where we're fine-tuning the details," Morris said. "Now, we're working on putting everything together so that we will execute at a high level by the time the season begins.
"Conditioning is very important for us because we want to play fast. We want to be the best-conditioned team on the field and we want to use a fast pace of play to our advantage. We've worked very hard in this area and we'll continue to work hard."
The Aces have 55 players out this summer and Morris is placing a strong emphasis on developing a promising sophomore class.
"We have quite a few seniors, not as many juniors, and quite a few sophomores, so we're trying to accelerate the sophomore class as far as learning schemes and knowing their roles is concerned," said Morris, whose Aces will visit Princeton on Aug 6 for a matchup with Caldwell County in their first preseason scrimmage.
"This is probably one of the toughest schedules Owensboro Catholic football has ever faced, so we need to be prepared to play at a high level right from the start."
Morris appreciates returning to a more standard summer practice setting after working through a host of COVID-19 restrictions last summer.
"Oh, it's definitely a blessing," Morris said. "We definitely appreciate the sense of normalcy because last year put a lot of stress on coaching staffs everywhere. It's just so much better for everyone this summer, there's no comparison, and we're thankful it is the way it is."
Catholic opens regular season play on Aug. 20, playing host to City-County rival Apollo at Steele Stadium.
