Jim Mashek

BGHS DEFENSE DOMINATES AGAIN; NEXT UP, FAIRDALE

Bowling Green High School’s gifted junior quarterback, Deuce Bailey, was one of the last Purples players to emerge from the locker room Friday night after a dominant performance in the KHSAA Class 5A playoffs.

Bailey passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, on a fourth-and-goal play from the Graves County 4-yard line in the second quarter, as the Purples plowed through the visiting Eagles, 51-3, on a chilly night at El Donaldson Stadium.

Bowling Green is intent on getting back to Lexington’s Kroger Field foranother shot at the school’s eighth state championship, and sixth-year BGHS head coach Mark Spader’s Purples squad is halfway there.

Simply put, the boys from BGHS are rollin’.

“The whole mind-set tonight was to start off fast, to get after (Graves County) early,” Bailey said when it was over.

The versatile 6-foot, 170-pound quarterback was on top of his game, and he watched from the sidelines in the second half in street clothes. BGHS freshman QB Embree Dotson — the younger brother of Purples strong safety Wick Dotson — directed a brisk scoring drive in the fourth quarter, capping the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Purples receiver Ethan Kirkwood.

Bowling Green’s defense surrendered just 72 yards all night, and Graves County couldn’t punch out a single first down until a personal four against the Purples got the Eagles to midfield midway through the second quarter.

By then, it was 37-3 and the Purples had pretty much nailed down their eighth victory in nine games. Bowling Green (9-3 overall) will play host to Louisville’s Fairdale High School (7-5) in a regional championship game next Friday at El Donaldson Stadium.

Crosstown rival South Warren and Scott County were eliminated on Friday night, meaning the Purples will be playing at home in the state semifinals if they can take care of business against Fairdale. Owensboro overwhelmed the visiting Spartans, 53-22, on its home turf — the ancient Rash Stadium on Owensboro’s Fredericka Street — while Scott County got blown out, too, dropping a 49-21 decision to Boone County’s Cooper High School.

The path to Kroger Field goes through Rockingham Avenue.

“(Graves County) had our attention, but we really had an excellent week of practice,” BGHS coach Mark Spader said. “We’re hosting a regional championship game next week, and maybe that’s expected around here, but that’s a big deal.

“We wanted to play fast, and we did. Our defense had some big takeaways, and we had a lot of explosive plays on offense.”

Graves County finished its season with an 8-4 record. Bowling Green’s defensive front beat the Eagles at nearly every turn, and the Purples bolted to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter.

“We had good offensive balance tonight,” Spader said. “There have been times when we’ve had trouble running the ball, but Javen (Huddleston, the Purples’ senior tailback) has made it back (from injury). We’re getting a little healthier on offense.”

Huddleston was the catalyst of the Purples’ ground game in 2022, rushing for a team-high 1,184 yards and 16 touchdowns. Bowling Green reached the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game, but Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School flattened the Purples, 28-7, at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

These Purples just want another shot at a title.

“Not having to travel, that’s a big plus,” BGHS senior defensive back Wick Dotson said.

Bowling Green needed just five plays to drive the length of the field for a touchdown in its first possession. Deuce Bailey found BGHS receiver Trevy Barber in the left corner of the end zone and hit him in stride, a couple steps from the end line, on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Braden Widener added the first of six extra points — the Purples were foiled on one two-point conversion, when they were trying to establish a running clock — and the Eagles could do nothing about it.

Bowling Green was equally efficient in its second series.

The Purples capitalized on good field position, and Huddleston punched out a critical first down on a third-and-four play, before Bowling Green’s Trey Graham scored on a 3-yard run. Widener added a 31-yard field goal before the end of the first quarter, and the Eagles trailed, 17-0.

Graves County return man Cole Katzman fielded a short kickoff and found a seam for a 62-yard return on the right sideline, at which point the Purples’ defense came to life. The Eagles settled for Oscar Carillo’s 31-yard field goal in the final minute of the first quarter, and they never got a whiff of the end zone the rest of the night.

Not only that, the Purples scored just moments later.

Javen Huddleston reeled off a 17-yard run before BGHS teammate Deuce Bailey slipped the ball to running back Jaxen Smith on a swing pass to the left flat. Smith made a decisive cut upfield and scored on a 28-yard touchdown reception, and Huddleston scored on a 2-yard TD run himself with 11:04 left in the first half. Huddleston took a handoff from Bailey in the pistol formation and beat the Eagles’ pursuit to the pylon in the right corner of the end zone.

“That’s probably the most complete game we could have played,” BGHS defensive back Wick Dotson said. “We’ve got to play that way the rest of the season.”

Dotson is certainly doing his part. He intercepted a tipped pass at the BGHS 17-yard line — a high pass over the middle skipped off Eagles receiver Brayden Woodward’s fingertips — before finding a seam on the right sideline to score on an 83-yard return.

It was the second touchdown of Dotson’s splendid BGHS career, and the first pick six.

“The ball was a little overthrown and it was the perfect ‘tip drill.’ It landed right in my hands,” Dotson said with a smile. “I’m pretty slow, but I had some teammates …”

(Dotson offered an introspective critique of his 40-yard dash time and did everything he could to share the credit.)

Deuce Bailey had his 4-yard scramble for a score in the second quarter, finding an inside seam on a fourth-down play for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.

Nearly all of the Purples’ starters were spectators for most of the second half, and they celebrated wildly when Ethan Kirkwood caught Embree Dotson’s 4-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter, as well as backup defensive back Drew Isenberg’s deft interception on the right sideline.

Isenberg, of course, is the ace left-hander/outfielder/first baseman of the Purples’ baseball team and a popular teammate.

“We’ve got some depth,” BGHS quarterback Deuce Bailey said, “and you always want to be there for guys like that. That’s part of building a team …”

Leave it to BGHS team philosopher DeMarcus “Hollywood” Elliott — the 6-foot-5, 305-pound senior offensive guard is getting plenty of snaps on defense, too — to put it all in perspective. Elliott, Bailey, Dotson and BGHS defensive back Grayson Newman are serving as team captains in postseason play.

“Deuce has grown a little bit every week of the season. You can see it,” Elliott said. “I felt like we had good prep, and we wanted to come out fast. That’s the big thing, striking early …

“On to the next one.”