Class 2A football state championship preview: Owensboro Catholic vs. Mayfield

Jared Peck
·4 min read

It’s championship weekend for the 2023 UK HealthCare Sports Medicine State Football Finals. Here’s a look at Friday’s Class 2A state title game at Kroger Field.

Owensboro Catholic (14-0) vs. Mayfield (12-1)

Kickoff: 4 p.m. Friday.

RPI Ratings: No. 1 Owensboro Catholic (.82634); No. 2 Mayfield (.77808).

Cantrall Ratings: Mayfield (85.4); Owensboro Catholic (83.6).

Championship game history: Owensboro Catholic — Four finals appearances, the last in 2010; Mayfield — 12 state titles (the last in 2015) in 25 finals appearances; last year’s 2A runner-up.

Quick hits

Class 2A offense ranks: No. 1 Mayfield (49.5 points); No. 2 Owensboro Catholic (48.1).

Class 2A defense ranks: No. 1 Owensboro Catholic (12.1 points); No. 3 Mayfield (15.8).

▪ Owensboro Catholic receiver William “Tutt” Carrico is one touchdown away from tying the single season mark of 28 held by Lone Oak’s Jamarielle Brown (2007) and Somerset’s John Cole (2006). He’s tied for second on that list with Highlands’ Brett Hamblen (2000). He’s committed to Division II Hillsdale College (Mich.).

▪ Mayfield’s running back also has a nickname, but it’s not pronounced as you’d expect — Jutoriaus “JuJu” Starks goes by “Juh-Juh.”

▪ Owensboro Catholic’s Brady Atwell, a 6-3 junior QB, has thrown for more yards and more TDs than anyone in the state this year, regardless of class, with 4,227 yards and 65 TDs.

▪ Owensboro Catholic’s quality wins over teams in bigger classes, like Class 5A No. 5 Greenwood and No. 9 Owensboro and Class 6A No. 13 Henderson County, locked the unbeaten Aces in as the No. 1 team in the RPI about midway through the season.

▪ The Aces have had just two relatively close games all year, a 33-28 win over Owensboro on Sept. 8 and a 41-21 win over Henderson County on Sept. 15. In the other games, they’ve won by an average score of 50-10.

▪ Mayfield’s closest win of this season came last week against three-time defending champion Beechwood by a score of 31-28. It was won on a late field goal by Lincoln Suiter.

▪ Mayfield’s only loss this season came at the hands of Paducah Tilghman in one of the oldest football rivalries in the nation. The Blue Tornado’s 35-28 win on Sept. 1 broke a 17-game losing streak to the Cardinals. Mayfield has beaten all other opponents outside Tilghman and Beechwood by an average score of 53-13.

▪ Mayfield reached six straight Class A finals between 2009 and 2014, winning four of them. Each time the Cardinals finished runner-up in that span, they won it the next year. Mayfield finished runner-up last season.

▪ Since 2015, Mayfield has reached six out of the last nine Class 2A finals, winning only the 2015 title and suffering three straight finals losses between 2017 and 2019 to Danville, Christian Academy-Louisville and Somerset.

▪ Over the last two decades, Owensboro Catholic and Mayfield have met only three times. Each was for a region championship in the playoffs in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Mayfield won all three.

Mayfield’s Jutoriaus “JuJu” Starks (24) runs the ball past Lexington Christian’s Braylon Moss (3) and Mac Darland (33) during their region championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Mayfield on Nov. 17.
Mayfield’s Jutoriaus “JuJu” Starks (24) runs the ball past Lexington Christian’s Braylon Moss (3) and Mac Darland (33) during their region championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Mayfield on Nov. 17.

Mr. Football watch: Since the Kentucky Football Coaches Association took up naming the state’s Mr. Football in 2019, the award has never failed to go to a state championship game most valuable player who also had the career stats to back it up. The award is given annually to a player deemed to be the state’s most outstanding senior by the KFCA. Class 2A’s top candidates (with career marks) would be:

▪ Mayfield quarterback Zane Cartwright (7,884 yards, 93 TDs passing, 135 yards 2 TD rushing);

▪ Mayfield’s Starks (3,478 yards, 65 TDs rushing);

▪ Owensboro Catholic’s Carrico (2,991 yards, 46 TDs receiving, 564 yards, 8 TDs rushing, 411 tackles, 13 interceptions).

Standouts

Owensboro Catholic: Brady Atwell, Jr. QB (4,227 yards, 65 TDs passing, 657 yards and 13 TDs rushing); William “Tutt” Carrico, Sr. WR/DB (1,587 yards, 27 TDs receiving, 98 tackles, 6 interceptions); Noah Rhinerson, Sr. WR/DB (904 yards, 12 TDs receiving); Waryn Ebelhar, Jr. WR/DB (801 yards, 13 TDs receiving).

Mayfield: Zane Cartwright, Sr. QB (2,306 yards, 32 TDs passing); Jutarious Starks, Sr. RB (1,533 yards, 29 TDs rushing); Xavier Biggers, Sr. WR/DB (542 yards, 9 TDs receiving); Ian Williams, Jr. LB (109 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks).

@HLpreps pick

Mayfield 44, Owensboro Catholic 35.

State championships

At Kroger Field in Lexington

Tickets: Available by advance sale digitally at KHSAAtickets.org. No walk-up paper tickets sold.

Streaming broadcasts: Subscription required for live video stream at KHSAA.tv. Pay-per-view live video at Go.PrepSpin.com. Free audio stream at KHSAA.net.

FRIDAY’S GAMES

Class A: Raceland (11-3) vs. Pikeville (11-2), noon.

Class 2A: Owensboro Catholic (14-0) vs. Mayfield (12-1), 4 p.m.

Class 4A: Covington Catholic (14-0) vs. Boyle County (14-0), 8 p.m.

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Class 3A: Christian Academy-Louisville (13-1) vs. Bell County (13-1), noon.

Class 6A: Bryan Station (11-3) vs. Trinity (11-3), 4 p.m.

Class 5A: Cooper (12-2) vs. Bowling Green (11-3), 8 p.m.

Class A football state championship preview: Pikeville vs. Raceland

Class 4A football state championship preview: Boyle County vs. Covington Catholic