Elgazzar: Walker Shines As Holy Cross Cruises Past Owen County

Reported by: Kareem Elgazzar
Email: ke.kypost@gmail.com
Last Update: 11/07 12:36 am

Walker leaves two Owen County defenders in his trail on his to a 9-yard first down run in the third quarter. (Kareem Elgazzar | Kypost.com)

Scroll down to view complete photo gallery

Following Holy Cross’ 48-10 annihilation of Owen County Friday night, quarterback Markel Walker said he models his play after NFL star Michael Vick.

Walker displayed Michael Vick-esque talent throughout the night, as he went 11-for-17 passing for 240 yards with three touchdowns. Walker also rushed for 86 yards on 12 carries with one touchdown.

“When I scrambled and had no where to go, the offensive line made sure I had enough time to make a play,” Walker said.

Whenever a play seemed dead, Walker improvised brilliantly, eluding the Owen County pass rush and finding open targets deep down field time and time again, including four passes for 20 yards or more. Clearly, the Rebels had no answer for the standout two-way starter at quarterback and free safety.

If that wasn’t enough, Walker picked off two passes, and scored on a 73-yard punt return with 6:25 remaining in the second quarter.

“At any point he’s a playmaker,” said Holy Cross head coach Bruce Kozerski. “When we didn’t call the right play, he made things happen. He’s awfully slippery.”

Owen County head coach Adam Fowler said Markel Walker was the best quarterback he’s ever laid eyes on.

“That kid is unbelievable,” Fowler said. “He moved around in the pocket so well. Our defensive line was trying to keep rushing and get a hand on him and he was just going. We watched film on him all week, and tried to break him down. We thought he was going to run more than he actually did.”

It scoring one touchdown in the first quarter, Holy Cross opened up the offensive gates and threw down 28 second-quarter points on the Rebels, making it a 34-3 game at intermission. By then the game was too far out of reach for the anemic Owen County offense to pull back into it.

Owen County was limited to 211 yards of total offense, a field goal and a fourth-quarter touchdown when the game was already put away.

“That was the key,” Kozerski said. “We scored a whole bunch unanswered and that was a reaping of response to holding [Owen County] to a field goal early on.”

Fowler said his team needed to be able to run the ball a lot better to open up other facets of the offense. Running back Joseph Wood led then Owen County rushing attack with 84 yards on 14 carries but failed to reach the end zone. Quarterback Cody McDaniel struggled, throwing for only 68 yards and was picked off three times by the Holy Cross defense.

“This is playoff football, and its one and done,” Kozerski said. “We’re going to take this one opportunity now and play to win.”

Photos to follow.

OWEN COUNTY 3-0-0-7—10
at HOLY CROSS 6-28-7-7—48
OC-J. Davis 24 field goal
HC-Jasper 68 pass from Walker (kick failed)
HC-Walker 1 run (Roenker pass from Walker)
HC-Walker 73 punt return (Hassert kick)
HC-Jasper 39 pass from Walker (Hassert kick)
HC-E. Walker 7 pass from Walker (kick failed)
HC-Smith 1 run (Hassert kick)
HC-Ziegler 19 pass from Arlinghaus (Hassert kick)
OC-Hoop 9 run (Davis kick)
RECORDS: Owen County 3-8, Holy Cross 6-5.

Kentucky Post

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