PURPLES FALL TO 3-4 ON THE SEASON
Caden Veltkamp kept the South Warren High School football team on the attack.
Jake Jackson and the Spartans’ defense finished the task at hand.
Veltkamp threw three touchdown passes, two of them to fellow South senior Mason Willingham, as the Spartans rolled to a 36-7 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green High School on Friday night.
South Warren improved to 5-1 overall while winning its district opener, and Bowling Green has lost three consecutive games for the first time since 2002. The Purples take a 3-4 record into their open date before resuming district play against Greenwood on October 15.
“We’re definitely going to see (Bowling Green) again,” Veltkamp said when it was over. “But we’re getting better, week to week. We plan on seeing those guys again (in the KHSAA Class 5A playoffs).”
Bowling Green, the defending KHSAA Class 5A state champion, was outplayed throughout but trailed only 14-7 at halftime. Freshman quarterback Deuce Bailey rolled to his right and threw the ball across the entire width of the field, finding teammate Nat Love in the far corner of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 left in the first half.
Veltkamp’s second touchdown pass to Willingham put the Spartans in front 20-7 midway through the third quarter, and Bailey and the Purples’ offense continued to go nowhere against the South Warren defense.
“Our defense played really hard,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “When they swarm to the football, like they did tonight, it’s hard to sustain drives. When our defense gets some confidence, you can see it on the sideline. They get rolling and get the ball quickly.”
Jackson, the Spartans’ senior defensive tackle, joined forces with fellow tackle K.J. Hardesty and South Warren defensive ends David Hudson, Trenton Leach and Grant Gouvas to dominate the line of scrimmage against the outmatched BGHS offensive line.
“The past two years, (Bowling Green) took us out in the playoffs,” Jackson said. “We studied a lot of film this week. When we came out for warmups, I was staring, at every one of them. Yeah, it was an intimidation thing.”
Hardesty said the Spartans wanted to collapse the pocket and force Bailey to the perimeter, and the South Warren secondary was equally effective.
“We knew (Bailey) was a running quarterback,” Hardesty said. “We wanted to force him wide, into the contain. We knew what we had to do, as a defense.”
Jackson got in on the fun on offense, too, scoring on a 1-yard run for the Spartans’ final touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Eldar Dervisevic closed the Spartans’ scoring with a 33-yard field goal with 2:57 left in the game.
That’s when the public-address system played House of Pain’s 1990s anthem “Jump Around,” sending the Spartans’ student section into a tizzy.
It was one of Veltkamp’s finest moments as the South Warren quarterback. The 6-foot-5 senior has committed to play college football for his hometown team, Western Kentucky University, and he made quite an impression on Brandon Smith, a former WKU quarterback himself.
“Caden did a good job with his decision making, getting the ball to his receivers,” Smith said. “He was very efficient out there. We had some guys running downhill, but we’ve still got to do a better job of finishing drives.”
South Warren has won four straight, all by double digits, after its 27-20 loss to Hendersonville (Tennessee) on August 27.
“We made their corners bite on everything,” South Warren wide receiver Avrin Bell said. “We knew what we had to do to make some plays, but we’ve got to be more efficient in the red zone.”
South Warren plays host to McCracken County on Friday night. The Mustangs (1-6) were beaten by Daviess County 51-20 in their last game.
