PURPLES, SPARTANS BOTH CHECK IN WITH 6-1 RECORDS; MATCHUP PITS BGHS’ DEUCE BAILEY AND SOUTH’s BRYCE BUTTON AT QB

At long last, Bowling Green High School and crosstown rival South Warren have arrived at a crossroads.

It won’t end either team’s season, but it’s likely to go a long way in defining both squads’ narrative heading into the KHSAA football playoffs.

In a rivalry South Warren coach Brandon Smith has called “the best in the state,” Bowling Green (6-1 overall, 1-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 5A, 2nd District) will play host to the Spartans (6-1, 1-0) in one of the Commonwealth’s high-profile matchups on Friday night.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Bowling Green claimed the KHSAA Class 5A championship last December, stopping Cooper High School, 28-14, on a rainy night at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field. The Purples also were the Class 5A runner-up in 2022, one year after South Warren knocked off Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School, 38-26, for the Class 5A title.

The Purples and Spartans are ranked third and fourth, respectively, among Class 5A teams in Kentucky, according to maxpreps.com, but the rivalry will be changing a bit when South Warren moves to the Class 6A ranks for the 2025 season.

Alas, they’ll still keep playing, in a non-district matchup, in the not-too-distant future, in part because both South’s Brandon Smith, and Bowling Green’s Mark Spader believe in challenging schedules to prepare for the stakes of postseason play.

“We’ve already signed the contract,” Spader said. “It’ll be the fourth game of the season next year.”

Bowling Green has coasted to four consecutive victories since a hard-fought 38-22 victory over Bryan Station on September 6 in Lexington, and the Purples are coming off an open date to coincide with area schools’ fall break for the semester.

South Warren has manhandled two opponents, Greenwood and Louisville’s Moore High School, since its 35-7 setback at the hands of Louisville’s DuPont Manual High School on September 20.

Both teams appear reasonably healthy for Friday night’s showdown, a matchup which will feature two quarterbacks bound for NCAA Group of Five college programs. South Warren’s Bryce Button, the Spartans’ starter since the 2022 season, is committed to Eastern Michigan University in the Mid-American Conference, while Bowling Green’s Deuce Bailey is headed for Missouri State, which will join Western Kentucky and the rest of Conference USA for the 2025-26 school year.

Spirits have been high in practice at both campuses this week.

“Once we got into our routine, I think we’ve been just fine,” Button said.

“I’ve loved our preparation this week,” Bailey said. “We’ve had a good week of practice, getting after each other. South’s defense is very well coached.”

Bowling Green coach Mark Spader and South’s Brandon Smith acknowledge that the rivalry tends to bring out the best in one another. Bowling Green swept two games against the Spartans in 2022, on its way to a KHSAA Class 5A runner-up season, and last year, the Purples needed an amazing trick play to stun the Spartans, 36-29, in regular-season play.

After Button’s quarterback sneak for a touchdown put South in front, 29-28, with 34 seconds left in the game. The Purples would pull it out on the tried-and-occasionally-true “hook-and-ladder” play, when Bowling Green’s Trevy Barber caught a sideline pass from Bailey before pitching the ball to trailing running back Trey Graham, who scored on a play covering 30 yards with 14 seconds left.

“Everybody’s fresh. You don’t have to worry about ‘motivation’ for a game like this,” Spader said. “These kinds of games, you’ve got to weather the ups and downs … This game has generated a lot of interest across the state since South Warren joined our district in 2017.

“They’ve won two state titles (2018 and ’21) and we’ve won two state titles (2020 and ’23), and a runner-up finish two years ago.”

South Warren coach Brandon Smith, who has compiled a 114-22 career record at the school, said the Spartans will be challenged in the secondary.

“I think we’ve gotten better this season, I really do,” Smith said. “(Bowling Green has) a lot of talent … I think we’ve practiced well. Nobody needs any ‘extra motivation’ for a game like this.”

Button gave way to backup QB Camden Page in the second half of last week’s rout of Moore, and he’s completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,409 yards and 21 touchdowns. He’s been intercepted five times. Bailey, meanwhile, also took a seat for the second half in the Purples’ last game, a 49-14 rout of Christian County on October 3 in Hopkinsville.

Bailey has 65 percent of his passes for 1,690 yards and 25 touchdowns, with three interceptions, and both quarterbacks are adept at running the ball, too.

Bowling Green holds an all-time edge in the series, 7-5.

“We’ve already assured ourselves of at least one home playoff game,” South coach Brandon Smith said. “A lot will be sorted out when we play again Friday night.”