Jim Mashek

BOWLING GREEN CLAIMS DISTRICT TITLE; BAILEY BECOMES PURPLES’ ALL-TIME PASSING LEADER IN ROUT OF GATORS

Deuce Bailey and the Bowling Green High School football team celebrated another KHSAA district championship in style on Friday night.

Bailey guided the relentless Purples offense with precision, throwing four touchdown passes and letting the Bowling Green defense do the rest, in a solid 48-13 victory over crosstown rival Greenwood High School on a chilly evening at El Donaldson Stadium.

Bailey, a 6-foot, 170-pound junior quarterback, became the Purples’ career passing leader in the opening moments of the game, surpassing Devin Hayes’ mark of 6,493 yards established in 2014.

Bailey was on point in this one, completing 22 of 26 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns. The Purples’ veteran QB now has passed for an amazing 6,803 yards in his career, overtaking Hayes, a 2014 BGHS graduate, in the record books.

“Deuce isn’t the kind of kid who’s going to pay much attention to records,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “I’m real proud of him. It seems like he gets a little better every week, going back to his freshman year. He was really sharp tonight.

“I think we kind of woke up in the second half. Greenwood is well coached, and they always play really hard. Thankfully, we kept our composure and got the win.”

Bowling Green improved to 7-2 overall while completing its KHSAA Class 5A, 2nd District schedule with an unblemished 3-0 record. Greenwood dropped to 6-3 and 1-2, respectively, but the Gators are a capable team with plenty of team speed.

Bowling Green took a 20-6 lead into halftime, and Greenwood opened the third quarter by driving the length of the field before senior GHS quarterback Cam Smith scored on a nifty 18-yard touchdown run. Suddenly, the Gators trailed by just a touchdown, but that’s when the Purples kicked it into another gear.

The Purples’ leading receiver, junior wideout Trevy Barber, beat the Greenwood defense on a crossing pattern and scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bailey with 8:04 left in the third quarter. Bowling Green’s Braden Widener, who kicked two field goals in the first half, added the extra point and the Purples were again comfortably in front, 27-13.

Bailey found BGHS teammate Evan Tuck at the flag in the left corner of the end zone later in the third quarter, lofting a 41-yard touchdown pass that made it 34-13. From there, the Purples were content to grind it out, scoring on Montez’ Trussell’s pick six with a minute left in the third quarter before Tuck pulled in his second TD catch of the night, a 27-yard scoring strike to account for the final margin.

“Our kids fought extremely hard. The one thing you did see, we did not have a lot of depth on defense,” Greenwood coach William Howard said. “When you have a lot of kids playing both offense and defense, like we do, that can take a toll in the second half. Especially the fourth quarter.

“Deuce Bailey is an outstanding high school quarterback. He moves the ball around, makes good decisions. He’s got a really good arm.

“We couldn’t sustain drives tonight. That’s what you have to do, to win, when you’re playing against a dynamic offense like we did tonight.”

The Purples are now 34-0, all-time, against Greenwood, which opened its doors in 1990.

Bowling Green’s Trey Graham found a big hole and skirted down the left sideline for a 23-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, but the Gators’ Tel Tel Long got his team on the scoreboard by breaking through the BGHS defense and finding the end zone from 49 yards out with 4:35 left in the half.

The Gators missed the extra-point try, however, and Bowling Green’s Braden Widener kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 20-6 heading into halftime.

It was another noteworthy night for the Bowling Green offensive line, which gives Deuce Bailey ample time to throw the ball, time and again, while opening holes for the Purples’ talented trio of running backs — Javen Huddleston, Jaxen Smith and Trey Graham.

BGHS offensive guard DeMarcus “Hollywood” Elliott, one of the veterans in the Purples’ offense, said his team’s success on the ground was a big part of Deuce Bailey’s landmark passing game. Elliott is a 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior guard looking at college options for the 2024 season.

“We just work hard in practice,” Elliott said. “We really wanted to emphasize running the ball in this game. Being physical. We were able to execute up front, and Deuce just kept making plays.”

Bailey had all sorts of time in many passing situations, including his 16-yard scoring strike to Trevy Barber early in the second half.

The Purples’ Ethan Warder had a diving interception in the third quarter, and Bailey made the Gators pay on the next play from scrimmage, hitting BGHS teammate Matthew Klein over the middle for a scoring pass that covered 41 yards. Moments later, Montez Trussell struck for his pick six, intercepting Cam Smith’s pass in traffic before scoring on a 37-yard return.

The second half simply belonged to the Purples.

Bailey excels at moving the pocket and throwing on the run, but that usually wasn’t necessary against the Gators. The junior BGHS quarterback will get one last chance in regular-season play in next week’s marquee game with the tradition-rich St. Xavier Tigers (6-3 overall), who will make the trip from Louisville with former Bowling Green coach Kevin Wallace.

“That’s going to be a playoff atmosphere and a really good test for our kids,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “I know I sound like a broken record, but we’re still a work in progress. We’ve still got some things to work on, to clean up. But we could clinch home field for the playoffs, at least for a couple weeks, so that’s big in the grand scheme of things.”

Bailey was a man in demand after the game, climbing the steep El Donaldson Stadium steps to do interviews with radio stations and the Sporting Times streaming service, and he shared some moments with his family before returning to the locker room.

Bailey took a recruiting trip to the University of Illinois, a Big Ten school in Champaign, Illinois, on Saturday. He plans to visit the University of Kentucky next week, and also excels as a point guard/shooting guard for the Bowling Green boys basketball team.

Bailey is the Purples’ career passing leader, and he’s a L-O-N-G way from being done. He learned some valuable lessons in his freshman year, when he supplanted teammate Spencer Newman as the BGHS quarterback three games into the season. The Purples went 6-6 that season, twice falling to arch-rival South Warren High School — the eventual KHSAA Class 5A state champion — before bouncing back as the Class 5A state runner-up last year.

Bowling Green’s Evan Tuck, a senior wide receiver, had a night to remember with five catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

Bowling Green, South Warren and Greenwood were all ranked in the Courier-Journal’s statewide Class 5A poll this week, with the Purples sitting at No. 1, ahead of Highlands and South Warren. Bowling Green stunned South Warren last week, 36-29, on a 40-yard “hook-and-lateral” that went for the winning score with six seconds left in the game.

“I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” Bailey said. “I’d say we have to be more consistent, offensively, going into the playoffs. (The record) means a lot, but I’m just trying to leave my legacy here.

“Next week’s game with St. X will be big. It’s going to be all about effort, effort.”