Jim Mashek

SENIOR QUARTERBACKS BRING EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND ALL THE INTANGIBLES TO THEIR RESPECTIVE TEAMS

They’ve learned on the job, on the sidelines, and certainly in the film room.

They’ve put in the time, the effort, and made all the sacrifices required for being star quarterbacks in high school football.

They all play multiple sports, and they all work hard in the classroom. They’ve embraced their roles going into their final season at their respective schools, and there have been plenty of bumps in the road along the way.

Ultimately, though, they give their teams an edge, some intangibles, and they’ve all endured some tough sledding with the finish line in sight.

Meet Bowling Green High School’s Deuce Bailey, who guided the Purples to a KHSAA Class 5A state championship last season, and his contemporaries from South Warren and Warren East, Bryce Button and Dane Parsley, respectively.

They’ve been rivals, and they’ve been opponents, and when they were in grade school, they even had the chance to be teammates.

“In fourth grade,” Button said, “we played for the Colts, in the Warren County Rec Department league. Deuce was the quarterback, and I was the running back. Deuce was sick one game, and my Dad (Brock Button) was calling plays, helping me out when I got a chance to play quarterback.”

They’ve all been playing organized tackle football since they were six or seven years old.

They’re born leaders, to be sure. And the clock is definitely ticking on three sensational high school careers.

“I can’t believe how fast it’s flown by,” Bailey said.

I met Parsley, Button and Bailey for an “early bird special” dinner last week at Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen on Nashville Road, and they couldn’t have been more gracious with their time. They’ve all been great to work with, before and after launching jimmashek.com in September, 2021. They’re all talented basketball players, too, and Parsley has excelled in both baseball and track and field, too.

Need a quick quote, after a tough loss? No problem. They’re all savvy at social media and are willing to return text messages, if I get in a jam.

Bailey and Parsley became starting quarterbacks in their freshman seasons, when Button was playing JV games on Mondays and learning from the sidelines on Friday nights, when South Warren won the third KHSAA state championship in the 12-year history of the school. That’s when senior quarterback Caden Veltkamp — now battling for the starting role at Western Kentucky University — was calling the shots for thie Spartans, with Button serving as his understudy.

HIs role would change, in immense fashion, when he became the Spartans’ starting QB eight months later.

Veltkamp and South Warren controlled the clock, finishing with nearly a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession, to turn back Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School, 38-26, for the KHSAA Class 5A state championship on December 4, 2021, at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

Button was paying attention that evening, charting plays and consulting with Veltkamp and the South coaches on the sideline, but he was a 15-year-old freshman that night, so it all might have seemed a little surreal, in that kind of setting.

“I definitely got a lot of reps, in practice, as a freshman,” Button said. “And I got into three or four games. That championship game, that was something else …”

Button was groomed to become the Spartans’ starting quarterback for 2022, his sophomore season, and he helped South Warren win five of its first eight games, with the three losses — to Hendersonville (Tennessee), Fort Gibson (Indiana) and archrival Bowling Green High School — all coming by less than seven points.

Then the bottom fell out.

South Warren lost three of its final four games, including a resounding 34-0 defeat at the hands of Bowling Green in the second round of the KHSAA Class 5A playoffs. The Spartans would finish 6-6, with Button one of the few bright spots in a difficult season.

Deuce Bailey would go through that in his freshman year, when he supplanted BGHS senior teammate Spencer Newman as the Purples’ starting quarterback four games into the 2021 KHSAA season. Bowling Green would win in his first start, a 38-7 victory over Hopkinsville High School, but the road to success got a lot more difficult after that.

Bowling Green would lose three consecutive games — to longtime KHSAA Class 3A powerhouse Boyle County, Nashville’s Father Ryan Academy and South Warren — in lopsided fashion, the Spartans using their 36-7 victory as a springboard for the third state championship in that school’s history. The Purples would get another shot at South, in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs, but Veltkamp and the Spartans crushed BGHS 28-3 to advance to the KHSAA regional semifinals.

“I just wanted to help the team, to learn things as quickly as possible,” Bailey said of his freshman season. “Looking back, it was just a season of adjustment.”

Button and Warren East’s Dane Presley can relate.

Button moved into the starting role at South when Caden Veltkamp moved on to WKU, but Parsley became the Raiders’ No. 1 QB one month into his freshman season (2021). Warren East would throw the ball sparingly that year, but Parsley quickly established himself as a threat on the ground. Warren East would go 5-5 in the regular season, and Parsley would lead the team with 752 yards rushing, including 10 touchdowns.

In his sophomore year, Parsley became a bona fide star for the Raiders, making one big play after another on the blue turf of Warren East’s Jim Ross Field. With a full complement of experienced players, Warren East went 10-0 in regular-season play, in what proved to be Jeff Griffith’s final season as the Raiders’ head coach.

Parsley emerged as a dual-threat star at quarterback, passing for 1,880 yards and 30 touchdowns, with just five interceptions. On the ground, he was equally dangerous, rushing for 1,562 yards and 27 touchdowns. The Raiders reached the quarterfinals of the KHSAA Class 4A playoffs, before bowing out against Franklin County, 49-21, to finish at 12-1 overall.

The Raiders fell back to earth, so to speak, last season, in Tanner Hall’s first season as the Warren East head coach.

Warren East went 6-6, losing four of its last five games, including a 56-7 defeat at the hands of mighty Paducah Tilghman in the KHSAA 4A playoffs. Parsley kept his team competitive, however, again leading the team in passing (1,070 yards, seven TDs, three interceptions) and rushing (625 yards, nine TDs). Hall said the Raiders will be more experienced up front this season, giving Parsley a chance to go out with a bang.

“I’m starting to see the game a little bit different now, with all the games I have under my belt,” Parsley said.

Hall said Parsley sets a fine example for the Raiders’ younger players, and Parsley plays sports year-round, starting for Kyle Benge’s Warren East basketball team in the winter months. In the spring, Parsley switched from baseball to track and field, and he competed in the KHSAA state meet in multiple events, including the 4×100 relay and the long jump.

“It’s kind of hard to prepare for a quarterback who runs a 4.4 in the 40,” Hall said. “Dane’s kind of an extension of the coaching staff, on the field.”

Parsley is still evaluating his options, as far as fcollege football is concerned. Deuce Bailey, meanwhile, is verbally committed to Missouri State University, which will join Conference USA for the 2025-26 school year, while Bryce Button is set to play at Eastern Michigan University, in the Mid-American Conference.

“I really liked the (EMU) coaches,” Button said, “and I just thought it was the right place for me.”

Button and Bailey have had some memorable duels over the years, including last year’s shootout at South Warren, when the Purples caught the Spartans’ secondary out of position on the “hook-and-ladder” play for the winning touchdown with six seconds left.

Button scored on a two-point conversion to put the Spartans in front, 29-28, with 34 seconds left in the game. Bowling Green’s Trevy Barber turned a quick screen into a 30-yard reception on the left sideline, and the Purples used a timeout to set up the winning play.

Bailey again fired to Barber on the left sideline, but in one swift movement, he lateraled the ball to trailing BGHS teammate Trey Graham, completing the stunning 40-yard scoring play in the final seconds. Button passed for 278 yards and three touchdowns, while Bailey hit 21 of 32 passes for 376 yards and four touchdowns.

Bailey became Bowling Green’s career passing leader last season, and he’s tangled against Button and the Spartans on the basketball court in each of the last three seasons.

South Warren coach Brandon Smith, a former WKU quarterback, sent Gavin Spurrier and Caden Veltkamp to the college ranks, and Button will soon follow suit.

“Bryce’s work ethic has been unmatched,” Smith said. “You love coaching those kind of guys … I’ve always been a big believer if you’ve got an offensive line, and you’ve got a quarterback, you’ve got a shot …

“We’ve got to find some kids at the skill spots, so let’s see how that develops.”

South Warren made significant improvement last season, finishing 9-3 overall, but the Spartans were bounced in the second round of the KHSAA Class 5A playoffs, falling at Owensboro High School, 53-22.

Bowling Green went 12-3 last year, while winning the school’s eighth state championship. The Purples dominated their first four postseason opponents, and used a stingy defense and Bailey’s poise in the pocket to defeat Cooper High School, 28-14, in a rainy KHSAA Class 5A state championship game in Lexington.

“Deuce Bailey has a great grasp of our offense,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said, “and he’s a student of the game. He had a ‘baptism under fire’ as a freshman, but he’s come a long, long way. Deuce has a presence out there, the mindset you’re looking for in a quarterback.”

We’ll be seeing plenty of Deuce Bailey, Bryce Button and Dane Parsley over the next few months. They’ll get one last chance to leave their mark on the record books, and more. It’s going to be compelling stuff, to be sure.