SPARTANS FIND THEIR MOJO IN SECOND HALF AGAINST BOWLING GREEN
South Warren defensive tackle Jake Jackson admitted he spent a lot of time over the summer months thinking about the Spartans’ 41-24 loss to Bowling Green High School in the KHSAA Class 5A football playoffs last November.
Jackson, a rugged run defender who knows how to collapse the pocket, too, is in his third and final season as a South Warren starter. He also knows South Warren is likely to see Bowling Green in the second round of the playoffs this year, too, because Greenwood is still trying to climb its way onto the plateau that’s been enjoyed by the Spartans and Purples over the last decade.
And a little confidence can go a long way in high school football. Jackson understands. Other veteran players do, too. That’s why high school coaches lean on their seniors, because physically speaking, it’s a demanding game.
“When came out for warmups, I was staring, at every one of them,” Jackson said. “Yeah, it was an intimidation thing.”
That was the mindset of the Spartans in their 36-7 dismantling of the overmatched Purples on Friday night, but it doesn’t mean Bowling Green can’t turn the tables on its fierce rival 10 miles down Nashville Road in six weeks or so.
A lot can happen in the interim. And both teams know it.
South Warren’s black-and-silver color scheme is much like the one you’ll find with the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and 35, 40 years, and three towns ago, the Raiders walked as good a game as they talked in winning two Super Bowls over the course of four seasons.
College teams with other uniform colors will sometimes don the black threads in hopes of gaining a mental edge, and Western Kentucky University wore them while giving Indiana of the Big Ten all it could handle just eight days ago at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
While football is a game of speed, strength and aggression, it’s also often won and lost between the ears. BGHS coach Mark Spader knew beforehand that the Spartans had a physical advantage over his team, and South Warren had the upper hand throughout the first half on Friday night.
Still, it was only 14-7 at halftime.
Bowling Green suddenly had a bounce in its step on the way to the locker room, no two ways about it. The Purples were fortunate it was that close, but the bottom line is it WAS THAT CLOSE.
And a lot can happen in football over the course of a few weeks. Injuries, a little luck, a bad call or two. You name it.
Spader is breaking in a freshman quarterback, Deuce Bailey, because he gives the Purples their best chance to win right now. He moved one of his best players, senior Tyler Moore, back to his more natural position of inside linebacker after Moore toiled at running back through the first six games of the season. Even though Bowling Green was getting outplayed, even though they were losing to their archrival, it’s not like the Purples don’t know how to win football games.
Lest we forget, Bowling Green won the seventh state championship in school history just a few days before Christmas last year. The Purples won with defense and toughness and resourcefulness. They had the intangibles going their way in a 17-7 victory over Owensboro High School in the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.
The outcome was never in doubt, at least in the second half. Owensboro scored its seven points in the last two minutes of the game.
South Warren’s players had to think about it over the next few months, but Brandon Smith’s Spartans have shown that kind of mental edge in winning their last four games, all by double digits, since their 27-20 loss to Hendersonville (Tennessee) on August 27.
South Warren quarterback Caden Veltkamp is headed to play for WKU, his hometown team, after his high school career is over. His father, Jason Veltkamp, is the Hilltoppers’ strength and conditioning coach. Caden Veltkamp showed a lot of class in going out of his way to embrace several Purples players during the handshake line after the game Friday night. He takes nothing for granted and puts in the time, on the practice field, in the film room, you name it.
Veltkamp’s presence gives the Spartans a big advantage over most of their opponents.
On Friday night, that included the Purples.
Veltkamp didn’t have his best game, but he certainly had a good one. He made a point to acknowledge the play of fellow South senior Mason Willingham, who had two touchdown receptions against the Purples. Willingham filled in for Veltkamp when his teammate injured his right wrist during the 2019 season, and he’s proven to be a valuable cog in the Spartans’ arsenal.
And Veltkamp expects to see the Purples again this season.
“We’re definitely going to see (Bowling Green) again,” he said. “We plan on seeing those guys again.”
Spader has an open date this week to tinker with his Bowling Green offense, and he’s already made the move to Bailey at quarterback. The Purples need to improve their pass protection, without a doubt, but they’re not going to be the kind of team that throws the ball all over the place.
Not this year.
All of which suggests to stay tuned, because South Warren won the regular-season game 10-7 last year before the Purples found their mojo when it counted in November.
South Warren players like Caden Veltkamp, Jake Jackson, Avrin Bell and Trenton Leach understand that reality.
Likewise, Bowling Green’s Tyler Moore, Jeremiah Lightfoot, Davis Moran and Nat Love.
No telling what’s on the horizon.
Which is why South Warren’s Brandon Smith is right.
This is the Commonwealth’s best rivalry, in high school football. Until further notice.
