INSIDE YARDAGE IN THE SECOND HALF.
PURPLES’ NICK GRAHAM RUSHES FOR 100 YARDS, TWO TDs; FALL BREAK ON THE HORIZON
Bowling Green High School’s football team heads into Fall Break with plenty of promise.
The Purples remain a work in progress, as far as veteran BGHS coach Mark Spader is concerned, but they head into Fall Break with a sense of momentum.
Bowling Green’s defense kept Warren Central out of the end zone, and the Purples overcame a sloppy first half to motor to a 49-0 victory over the outmanned Dragons on an Indian Summer night at Joe Hood Field.
Bowling Green improved to 3-4 overall and 2-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 5A, 2nd District, while first-year Warren Central coach Kenny Davidson’s squad dropped to 1-6 and 0-2, respectively.
Both teams will get a break from the practice field for several days before their season resumes in mid-October.
“I still think that we have a ton of potential,” Spader said, “but that can be a very bad word. We had a lot of self-inflicted problems in the first half, but we need to start a lot better. We made a lot of mistakes, too many penalties, lack of execution in the kicking game … We have to come back after Fall Break and get ready for a good Greenwood team, a team that always gives us their best shot.”
IS FLANKED BY PURPLES TEAMMATES
NICK GRAHAM (LEFT) AND ZHY’ELL BYARS.
ZHY’ELL BYARS (No. 26) AND
THE BGHS DEFENSE FINISH THE JOB.
HIS SQUAD AFTER THE LOPSIDED VICTORY.
Bowling Green led 21-0 at halftime, but it was an uneven first half for both squads. The third quarter began with sophomore Bowling Green quarterback Anthony Davis find Ja’Courie Woodard for a 44-yard completion, on a crossing pattern, before senior running back Nick Graham scored for the second time in the game.
Graham found the end zone from eight yards out, and Kip Walden’s extra point pushed the lead to 28-0 with 9:26 left in the third quarter. On the next play from scrimmage, Bowling Green’s Jett Reynolds, a talented sophomore, intercepted a pass from Warren Central’s LaTavyon Dunn before returning the ball to the WCHS 6-yard line.
Reynolds would then score on a 1-yard run, with 7:09 left in the third quarter, and the KHSAA mandated running clock was put in motion for the rest of the game.
“It’s every week, it seems like, we’ll put in a good quarter, maybe put in a good half,” Warren Central coach Kenny Davidson said. “But we’ve got to get off to better starts. Our boys will come back on October 11, and we’ve got to find a way to cut down on the penalties. Get our guys to play with confidence.
“We just have to believe in ourselves, to put it all together. I’ve got to be better. We’ve got a lot of football in front of us.”
HAS HIS HANDS FULL BRINGING DOWN
BOWLING GREEN’s NICK GRAHAM.
WILL RESUME DISTRICT PLAY AGAINST
GRAYSON COUNTY ON OCTOBER 16.
The slow start, for both squads, may have been illustrated by the first play from scrimmage.
The snap from center sailed over BGHS quarterback Anthony Davis’ head, and he had trouble running it down before taking a 29-yard loss on the play.
The Bowling Green defense, however, took control on the Dragons’ first series. A relentless pass rush, led by junior lineman Zhy’ell Byars, forced a fumble that the Purples recovered on the 1-yard line. Bowling Green’s Nick Graham scored on the next play, with his first rushing touchdown of the night, and the Purples still led 7-0 at the start of the second quarter.
Byars, a powerfully built 5-foot-7 lineman, was usually too much for the Warren Central offensive line. He’s missed the bulk of the season with a knee injury, but figures to be a key cog in the Purples’ defense down the stretch.
“(Byars) is full of energy, he plays hard,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said.
Byars believes the Purples can do a better job of playing to their potential down the stretch.
“We just have to play physical, get out there, put pressure on the quarterback,” Byars said. “We know we can play a lot better. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
FINDS THE END ZONE FROM 1 YARD OUT.
IS IN HIS SECOND YEAR AS A STARTER.
FOR THE DRAGONS OFFENSE.
The Purples used some misdirection on their sixth touchdown of the night, with Cole Dorsey scoring on an 8-yard run with about three minutes left in the third quarter. BGHS freshman quarterback James Wilkins took most of his team’s snaps in the fourth quarter, and Wilkins found Jason Baird Rice over the middle on a crossing pattern, before Rice broke away for a 70-yard TD reception with about five minutes left in the game.
BGHS senior Nick Graham, a sophomore on the Purples’ back-to-back state champion squad in 2024, believes it’s up to his class to set the tone when the team returns from Fall Break.
“We’ve got to get better, every day,” Graham said. “The seniors, we have to lead … that’s something we have to do.”
Graham rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, while the Dragons finished with less than 100 yards total offense.
LOOKS FOR TEAMMATE REID GATHRIGHT
ACROSS THE FIELD IN THE SECOND HALF.
WHEN IT’s TIME TO COME BACK
FROM THE DOG SITTER’s …