Jim Mashek

BOWLING GREEN’s TREVY BARBER GRABS FOUR TOUCHDOWN RECEPTIONS; SHORT TRIP DOWN NASHVILLE ROAD AWAITS PURPLES

Bowling Green High School’s football team wasn’t content to take a big lead into halftime in its KHSAA Class 5A quarterfinal game against Louisville’s Atherton High School on a chilly Friday night at the BGHS Stadium.

No, instead, the Purples put the pedal to the metal, flooring it with three separate scores in the final two minutes, to ensure a running clock for the second half and a break for some of Bowling Green’s bruised and battered front-line players.

BGHS senior quarterback Deuce Bailey, a contender for Kentucky’s prestigious “Mr. Football” award, completed 15 of 21 passes for 262 yards and SIX TOUCHDOWNS — that’s right, count ’em, SIX — in the Purples’ resounding 44-20 victory over Atherton.

In just a half.

That’s something seventh-year BGHS coach Mark Spader was trying to process as the jubilant Purples filed into their locker room, with Bowling Green motoring into a rematch against crosstown rival South Warren High School with a berth in the KHSAA Class 5A championship game on the line.

Spader shook his head a couple times and tried to give credit where it was due. The Purples improved to 11-2 overall and they’re very much alive in their bid to repeat as state champions, with an even bigger test on the horizon.

“I’ve been saying it since the summer. I’m just going to enjoy this last season with Deuce,” Spader said. “I’ve really enjoyed having a chance to coach him. He’s a fine young man, a great leader … And now, Purple Nation will be talking about playing South Warren, but that’s who we’re actually going to play.”

In six days.

At South Warren.

The Spartans (12-1 overall) earned the home-field advantage through their thrilling, come-from-behind, 28-24 victory over Bowling Green on October 18. South Warren senior linebacker/tight end Colton Veltkamp had a monster game, and scored the decisive touchdown, in the Spartans’ first victory over Bowling Green since the 2021 playoffs.

The last time South Warren happened to win the KHSAA Class 5A state championship.

Cast the details aside, for a moment, and consider that this is what most everyone wanted. It’s what most everyone expected. And now it’s a reality.

It’s Armaggedon, boys and girls. Or something in that direction.

Remember, in high school football, perspective counts.

Survive and advance.

Find a way to win.

Pick a cliche’, any cliche’ …

South Warren vs. Bowling Green is gonna happen. Again. Winner goes to Lexington, to play for a state championship. Loser can take pride, in an outstanding season, but it’ll be a MAJOR letdown, nonetheless.

“That’s what we’ve battled, focusing on Atherton, and not South Warren, because everybody kept saying it was inevitable,” Spader said. “But (overall No. 1 state ranked) Boyle County goes down tonight, Manual’s at home, Male’s at home … it’s high school football, and it’s just a week at a time.”

Somebody find a sun dial, this is gonna take some time.

“We’ve gotta look at next week as another team in our way,” BGHS senior safety Ethan Warder said when it was over.

Warder is just one of the Purples’ defensive stars. Junior linebacker Montez Trussell has collected 14 sacks and is Bowling Green’s overall tackles leader. Ryan Watt and Brandon Gurley have emerged as top-flight pass rushers. Senior co-captain Grayson Newman, a defensive back, is a tough, instinctive player and he came up with the blocked punt that bounced past the end line for a safety with 1:55 left in the first half, the play that put the Ravens on the skids.

“We were able to get out and play ‘fast,’ early, and not let up throughout the game,” BGHS junior wideout Trevy Barber said via text message on Saturday morning.

Boyle County, the KHSAA Class 4A powerhouse and four-time defending state champion, saw its 68-game winning streak come to an end on its home field Friday night, with the Rebels dropping a 31-28 decision to Covington Catholic. Great Crossing, the new school in Scott County, knocked off Louisville’s Dupont Manual High School, 26-21, last week in Louisville. Male High School, as Spader noted, lost at home, against Ballard, 23-17.

As Spader likes to say, “It’s high school football …”

And lots of things can happen.

Which is why Bowling Green quarterback Deuce Bailey and the Purples offense wanted to leave nothing to chance.

It’s been a long season. The Purples decided to hold out starting right tackle Zach Jordan, because of an injury concern, but fellow BGHS junior Chris Cohron stepped in and did a fine job in Jordan’s stead. Spader said Jordan is expected to play against South Warren.

Bailey used his feet to extend plays. His timing, particularly with BGHS junior receiver Trevy Barber, was on point. Bailey found a wide-open Barber in the back of the end zone to open the scoring, on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 8:57 left in the first quarter, and the Ravens never recovered.

Bailey needed eight plays to guide the Purples to their second touchdown, a 25-yard scoring pass to Barber on a quick slant with 2:49 left in the opening quarter. Senior BGHS placekicker Braden Widener added the second of six extra points, and it seemed Atherton was getting the point.

The Purples wanted to win, and win quickly. They had a running clock down at South Warren, too, in the Spartans’ 42-7 rout of visiting North Bullitt High School …

Atherton would score next, on senior running back Michael Curry’s spectacular 69-yard touchdown run, which trimmed the Purples’ lead to 14-6. BGHS senior defensive back Ethan Warder, however, blocked the extra point, which was all the impetus Deuce Bailey and the Purples’ offense needed to get back on the field to take care of some business.

“Deuce is Deuce. I’ve loved watching him grow up, in our program,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said.

The Purples’ offense converted a fourth-and-1 situation into a first down on senior running back Jayden Axson’s 3-yard burst through the teeth of the Atherton defense, and before long, Bailey had found Trevy Barber again, for a score, this time a 6-yard TD pass with 10:05 left in the first half.

BGHS junior linebacker Montez Trussell and the Purples’ defense kept making plays, getting the ball back to their offense, at which point Bailey and Co. were clearly ready to go to work.

Bailey unleashed a 44-yard touchdown pass to Barber, this time on a deep pattern in the middle of the field, to extend the Purples’ lead to 28-6 with 2:25 left in the first half. The Purples’ Ryan Watt recorded a sack before BGHS safety Grayson Newman blocked the punt that went for two points and a safety to make it 30-6.

Bailey then hit BGHS senior running back Jaxxen Smith, in stride, for a 44-yard touchdown pass, before the Purples’ Ethan Warder intercepted an Atherton pass to create one last scoring opportunity before halftime.

Sure enough, Jaxxen Smith got open for another touchdown catch, this one covering 25 yards, at which point Deuce Bailey stepped aside for BGHS backup QB Embree Dotson. Freshman quarterback Xavier Isable took some snaps in the second half for the Purples, too.

Michael Curry, the Ravens’ rushing leader, and Atherton teammate AIden Wilson had scoring runs in the game’s final nine minutes, almost exclusively against BGHS backup and junior-varsity players.

“Against our varsity, (Curry) zinged us that one time (in the first quarter) and we all saw what he can do,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “But for the most part, we keep him hemmed in. Guys did their job on defense and Coach (Alex) Strode and those guys put together a good game plan. Really kind of kept them hemmed up.”

Deuce Bailey and Trevy Barber, teammates on the football field and the basketball court for as long as they can remember, will be remembered for THEIR four touchdown connections in a game that helped make the Bowling Green-South Warren rematch a reality.

The winner of next week’s game at Spartans Stadium will face either unbeaten Cooper High School (13-0) or Highlands High School (11-2), another talented squad from Greater Cincinnati, in the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game.

That’s on December 7, in an 8 p.m. game, Eastern Standard Time, at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field, in Lexington.

“We’ve just got to go out, and play our game,” BGHS offensive lineman Mekhi Axson said. “That’s what we’ve got, in front of us, and we’ll be ready to go to work.”