Jim Mashek

SOUTH TURNS BLOCKED PUNT INTO CRITICAL SCORE; SPARTANS WILL PLAY HOST TO NORTH BULLITT IN KHSAA CLASS 5A QUARTERFINALS

They had a quiet confidence about the assignment in front of them.

South Warren High School’s football team, playing on the artificial turf at Warren Central after heavy rains left a quagmire on their own field, scored quickly and never trailed in a methodical 35-14 victory over visiting Graves County in second-round play of the KHSAA Class 5A playoffs on a chilly Friday night.

The Spartans’ Bryce Button ran the two-minute offense to perfection in the final minute of the first half, and Camden Page’s second touchdown of the night — taking a blocked punt into the end zone late in the third quarter — sent South Warren to its seventh consecutive victory, and a 5A quarterfinal matchup against North Bullitt High School, back on its own stomping grounds, Friday night.

South Warren earned its 11th victory against a single defeat while Graves County finished its season at 9-3. The Eagles eliminated Greenwood, 21-9, in first-round play last week in Mayfield.

“There’s eight (5A) teams left, and we’ve got a chance to be in the final four,” veteran South Warren coach Brandon Smith said when it was over. “It seems we couldn’t get in much of a rhythm, offensively, even though we had some chunk plays in the first half. Every year in the playoffs, you always have a game that comes down to special-teams play.

“Our kids did a good job of finding a way to win.”

The dream postseason matchup — South Warren vs. Bowling Green, one last time before the Spartans move up to Class 6A — remains a distinct possibility, as the Purples took care of business on the road, beating Owensboro High School 27-14 at Rash Stadium. BGHS (10-2) returns to its home field to tangle with Louisville’s Atherton High School (10-2) next week, with the winner to face either the Spartans or North Bullitt over the Thanksgiving weekend.

No one in the South camp was talking about the Purples on Friday night, however, as the Spartans take aim at the fourth KHSAA state championship in school history.

They’ve been able to stay focused on the task at hand, even with the stakes on the rise.

“You’ve got to find a way to get over the hump,” Button said. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to find a way to win.”

That was the message Graves County coach Tyler DeBernadi had for his team after the game.

“We played extremely hard,” DeBernadi told Will Muiter of the Paducah Sun as both teams headed toward the Joe Hood Field House. “We fought for four quarters … In our program, we’re going to fight, no matter what the situation is, no matter what the score is, and our kids did that.”

Graves County trimmed its deficit to 14-7 with 1:19 left in the first half, when senior quarterback Kaden Gregory found his team’s leading receiver, Lincoln Acree, for a 14-yard touchdown pass. Bryce Button and the Spartans responded with a quick scoring drive themselves, and Button got the ball to junior wideout Camden Page — Page is Button’s backup, too, and the projected starting QB for the 2025 season — for a 14-yard TD pass with just 17 seconds left in the half.

“We made big plays when we needed them,” Page said. “I think we’re good enough to win a state championship.”

The Spartans hit a little lull in the formative stages of the second half, but the South Warren defense remained resilient. The Eagles were on the move when Gregory was hit in the pocket, and South Warren linebacker Brody Enslow came up with an interception to keep his team comfortably in front.

Then, bang.

South Warren sophomore Xander Stanke broke through the Eagles’ protection to block a punt from the Spartans’ end zone, and Page fielded the ball on a clean hop and scored on a 4-yard return to make it 28-7 with 2:47 left in the third quarter.

That was that, and the Spartans could afford to play it close to the vest the rest of the way.

“Defensively, we did a good job,” South coach Brandon Smith said. “They nickeled and dimed us at times … We went with tempo, late in the first half, and Bryce (Button) did a good job of moving the ball around, finding the open receiver.”

South Warren junior Kayden York, who takes snaps on both sides of the line of scrimmage, had a big night with the Spartans ground game. York carried the ball 19 times for 115 yards and the game’s first touchdown, a 5-yard dash to the pylon on South’s opening drive of the night. South’s Jake Carter caught a 51-yard TD pass from Button — his team-leading 11th scoring grab of the season — with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

“I give all the credit to my offensive line,” York said.

It’s a stout unit — tackles Kyler Lyons and Malik Butler, guards Cameron Bell and Parker Smith and center Ethan Patterson — that has given the Spartans an edge for most of the season, and that was certainly the case in this game.

Graves County QB Kaden Gregory fired a 16-yard TD pass to teammate Ty Cavette in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, but Button and the Spartans answered again, with Button finding the versatile Colton Veltkamp for a 22-yard scoring pass with 8:14 left in the game. South’s Alen Alic added his fifth PAT of the night, and the Spartans could turn their focus to next week’s showdown against North Bullitt, back on their home turf.

Win that game, and South Warren will stay home to play for a berth in the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game, possibly against their archrival from across town, the Bowling Green Purples.

Plenty of intrigue, any way you slice it.