AND THE SPARTANS WILL FACE APOLLO.
WARREN EAST TANGLES WITH JOHN HARDIN IN RADCLIFF; ALLEN COUNTY-SCOTTSVILLE, RUSSELLVILLE OPEN POSTSEASON WITH HOME GAMES
You sense it, once the KHSAA closes regular-season play with non-district games in the first weekend of November.
Everything picks up.
The stakes, the crowds, the intensity, the RIVALRIES, and then finally, the matchups.
Football practice becomes a laboratory for high school football coaches in the Commonwealth, after Halloween, because everyone is shooting for the ultimate goal, a chance to compete for one of Kentucky’s six state championships at Kroger Field in Lexington.
In South Central Kentucky, there’s one returning state champion, the Bowling Green High School Purples. There’s another squad that took the same title in 2021, Brandon Smith’s South Warren Spartans. Russellville seems poised to make a run in the KHSAA Class 1A playoffs for the first time since its runner-up finish three years ago, and longtime contenders such as Allen County-Scottsville, Logan County and Warren East will be scattered about, with the Patriots playing host to Nelson County in Scottsville on Friday night.
And don’t look past Franklin-Simpson, a tradition-rich program that is competing in the KHSAA’s Class 3A tournament before moving back to 4A next season. Or the talented Barren County Trojans, in Class 6A, but a team that has to go on the road to face rugged Henderson County.
South Warren will join Barren County’s KHSAA Class 6A district next year, leaving behind one of the fiercest rivalries in the state with Bowling Green High School. There’s still a chance they could play again this season, and they’ll keep playing one another when South Warren leaves for 6A, in a non-district game next September.
PURPLES TEAMMATES WORK ON
SOME TIMING PATTERNS IN PRACTICE.
WILL OPEN THEIR KHSAA 5A TITLE DEFENSE
AGAINST MADISONVILLE-NORTH HOPKINS.
SQUAD IS ON THE ROAD AT GRAVES COUNTY.
ANOTHER HOME PLAYOFF GAME
WITH A WIN OVER APOLLO.
Storylines are everywhere, once they start playing for keeps, and that’s what launches on Friday night.
Greenwood High School, for instance, has to make the long road trip to face Graves County in Mayfield, leaving on chartered buses shortly after lunchtime Friday. Last year, the Gators had won three of their last four games, heading into the playoffs, before opening KHSAA Class 5A postseason play at Graves County.
The Eagles defeated Greenwood, 22-7, last year before getting blown out by Bowling Green, 51-3, in the second round of the playoffs. Greenwood coach William Howard is particularly impressed with Graves County quarterback Kaden Gregory, who has passed for 1,638 yards and 20 touchdowns this season while throwing just five interceptions.
On the ground, the Eagles like to share the wealth, with running backs Cole Kautzman (836 yards rushing, nine touchdowns) and Dennis Marrs (642 yards, eight TDs) leading the way. On defense, Graves County relies on the likes of Kace Tubbs (a team-high 92 tackles, seven for losses) and Jacob Sutton (55 tackles, a team-high 11 sacks).
“They’re about 50/50, 60/40 running the ball on offense,” Howard said. “The quarterback is very good … We’ve got to establish the run, on offense. We’re extremely banged-up, at the skill positions, so we need to maintain a balanced attack.
“Defensively, we’ve got to stop them from making big plays, and containing the quarterback in the passing game.”
GRAVES COUNTY ON FRIDAY NIGHT.
THE BALL SPARINGLY THIS SEASON.
ADDRESSES HIS TEAM AFTER PRACTICE.
IS ON THE ROAD AGAINST HANCOCK COUNTY.
Greenwood is 5-5 overall after last week’s 49-20 loss at Union County, is led by senior running back Caden Schwarzkopf (1,022 rushing yards, five touchdowns) and Freland Jackson (265 rushing yards, 12 TDs). If the Gators can knock off Graves County, they’ll be squaring off against the winner of the South Warren-Apollo game at Spartan Stadium.
South Warren (9-1 overall) has won five straight since a non-district loss to a powerful DuPont Manual squad, 28-7, at midseason. The Spartans used a brilliant all-around effort from senior linebacker/tight end Colton Veltkamp to stun archrival Bowling Green, 28-24, on October 18 at BGHS.
“I think we’re in the right frame of mind,” South Warren senior quarterback Bryce Button said. “We’re not super caught up in being a No. 1 seed, whether we’re playing our best ball at the right time. I’d say the position we’re in, we don’t have to worry about being overconfident, our underestimating our opponent.”
THREE KHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
ETHAN PATTERSON, IS READY
TO LEND A HAND IF NEEDED.
TO THE KHSAA’s CLASS 6A NEXT SEASON.
BRIEFLY BEFORE FRIDAY NIGHT’s GAME AGAINST M-NH.
Veteran South coach Brandon Smith, who has won three KHSAA state titles with the Spartans, cautioned his squad just the same, after Thursday’s practice.
“Apollo is very good, you can see that, on tape,” Smith said. “They’re going to come in here ready to play, with nothing to lose.”
Bowling Green (8-2 overall) is coming off an outstanding performance, a 26-9 victory over St. Xavier in Louisville, the Purples’ first triumph over the Tigers and former BGHS head coach Kevin Wallace in 2020. Senior BGHS quarterback Deuce Bailey, a Missouri State commit, has had a sensational season in his fourth year as the Purples’ starter.
Bailey has passed for 2,305 yards and 30 touchdowns, with just five interceptions, and he was on top of his game against St. X. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Bailey completed 23 of 26 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns in the memorable victory, and he’s handled the expectations for being the starting quarterback for a defending state championship team.
HUSTLE TO RETRIEVE THE WATER BUCKETS.
WON TWO KHSAA CLASS 5A STATE TITLES SINCE
SINCE SUCCEEDING LEGENDARY COACH KEVIN WALLACE.
“A game like that, against St. X, that’s big for your program,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “But you’ve got to turn the page, fast. (Madisonville-North Hopkins) has an experienced quarterback (Kanyon Johnson) and one of the toughest running backs in the state, Marquezz Hightower.”
Hightower has rushed for a team-high 1,405 yards and 19 touchdowns, and the Maroons take a 7-3 overall record into postseason play.
In the KHSAA’s top classification, Class 6A, Warren Central (3-7) is on the road to face McCracken County (5-5). The Dragons will return to Class 4A for the 2025 season. Barren County (8-2 overall), a 30-22 winner over Allen County-Scottsville last week, faces a Henderson County squad that has struggled on defense for much of the season. The Colonels are 4-6 overall.
Brad Hood’s Allen County-Scottsville squad, meanwhile, is returning to Patriot Stadium for a first-round Class 4A matchup against Nelson County (2-8 overall). The Patriots have a durable running back in 215-pound Chase Ross, who has rushed for a team-high 1,113 yards and 17 touchdowns. Defensively, AC-S has individual standpoints in senior linebacker Jackson Morris, with a team-high 115 total tackles, and Edy Chavez, who leads the Patriots with eight sacks.
The KHSAA’s 4A classification is LOADED with quality teams, such as four-time state champion Boyle County (10-0 overall), Franklin County (10-0) and a familiar opponent for 4A squads in South Central Kentucky, Paducah Tilghman (10-0). Logan County (4-6 overall) has had an up-and-down season under veteran LCHS coach Todd Adler, but the Cougars are no strangers to postseason pressure. They’ll be on the road to face Bardstown (7-3), while Warren East (6-4) squares off with John Hardin High School (8-2) in Elizabethtown.
In Class 3A, the Glasgow Scotties (5-5) are on the road to tangle with Union County (8-2), while Franklin-Simpson (5-5) travels to Loganport, on the banks of the Ohio River, to toil against Hancock County (8-2). And in Class 1A, Russellville looks to be a team on the rebound as the Panthers (5-5) open the playoffs against Bethlehem (5-5) at historic Rhea Stadium. Former UK defensive back Mikie Benton guided the Panthers to a state championship game appearance in 2021, falling to Pikeville, 30-27.
AT THREE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
PRACTICES ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON.
