Jim Mashek

PURPLES, RED DEVILS HAVE HIT THEIR STRIDE IN NOVEMBER

They’re familiar opponents, Bowling Green High School and its counterpart on the other end of the William Natcher Parkway, the Owensboro High School Red Devils.

They squared off in the last week of August, when the heat pushed the kickoff back to 8 o’clock before the Purples’ Deuce Bailey passed for 321 yards and five touchdowns, leading Bowling Green to a 42-28 victory at Owensboro’s Rash Stadium.

The Purples ran into Owensboro in the 2020 KHSAA Class 5A championship game, capping the topsy-turvy season during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bowling Green’s defense carried the day on a chilly December afternoon, 17-7, at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field in Lexington.

Now they’re back.

Back in the KHSAA 5A semifinals.

Scrappin’ for another shot at a championship.

“It’s two of the oldest school districts in Western Kentucky, two of the biggest independent school districts in Western Kentucky,” Owensboro coach Jay Fallin said, “And two of the more successful programs in the entire state … “

It’s a matchup that’s been anticipated since Owensboro toppled South Warren High School, 53-22, in second-round play of the 5A tournament on November 10 at Owensboro’s Rash Stadium.

The Purples (10-3 overall) will play host to Fallin’s surging Owensboro squad, which checks in at 9-4, in Friday’s 5A semifinal at El Donaldson Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The winner will move on to the KHSAA’s “Championship Weekend” starting Friday at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field in Lexington. Bowling Green would probably merit a slight favorite’s role, in part because the Purples have already defeated Owensboro, 42-28, in Week 2 of regular-season play.

But sixth-year BGHS head coach Mark Spader will tell you the Red Devils of November bear little resemblance to the team the Purples tamed during the dog days of summer. Owensboro has won eight of its last nine games, averaging 49 points per contest, in pursuit of the fifth state championship in school history.

But it’s been awhile — 1986, in fact — since the Red Devils have pulled off the feat.

“That game we played with Owensboro, it was sweltering,” Spader recalled. “They’ve added some new faces, here and there, since then, and their quarterback (OHS junior Trevor Delacey) has really improved. They’re the Owensboro Red Devils we’ve known over the years, the Owensboro Red Devils you’ll usually see in big games.”

A snap of cold weather has settled into the Commonwealth over the last few days, and it figures to be a cold, breezy night when the Purples and Red Devils resume their longtime rivalry at the BGHS campus.

And that’s fine by Spader and Fallin.

“We explain to our kids that this is the kind of weather championships are won in,” Spader said during Tuesday’s chilly afternoon practice. “You want to develop a little mental toughness … it’s why we start our winter workouts program in January …”

Fallin was quick to agree.

“We tell our kids, ‘You’ve got to earn your right to play in the cold,’ ” he said. “Going into the Round Two game, I don’t think many people expected us to win … I don’t think ANYONE expected us to beat South Warren by 31 points …

“I think we’re definitely playing our best football, right now. And I’d like to think that’s not by accident.”

Spader and Fallin both like to challenge their teams in non-district play, with the idea that it will better prepare them for the postseason.

The Red Devils will be coming back to Bowling Green next summer, but it’s the encounter at hand that will determine which team squares off with either Highlands High School (12-1) or Cooper High School (11-2), two squads from Metro Cincinnati that will tangle in the other KSHAA Class 5A semifinal on Friday night in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

Bowling Green has shown significant defensive improvement over the last two months of the season.

The Purples have overcome some significant injuries while establishing an aggressive style of play defensively, led by junior linebacker Jayden Axson (a team-high 82 tackles, seven for losses, two fumble recoveries and an interception), junior cornerback Grayson Newman (81 tackles, three interceptions, a team-high three fumble recoveries and two defensive touchdowns) and senior strong safety Wick Dotson (62 tackles, two interceptions).

The Purples’ players selected Dotson, Newman, junior BGHS quarterback Deuce Bailey and senior offensive lineman DeMarcus “Hollywood” Elliott — you’ll see him take some snaps on defense, too — as permanent team captains at the dawn of the playoffs.

BGHS coach Mark Spader has been pleased with their leadership, as well as the entire 15-man senior class, during the crunch time of the postseason. The Purples were able to create a running-clock situation — a lead of 36 points or more — in all three of their playoff victories, routs of Owensboro’s Apollo High School (48-6), Graves County (51-3) and Louisville’s Fairdale High School (51-14).

The Red Devils have been equally dominant against Ohio County (67-0), South Warren (53-22) and Louisville’s Atherton High School (43-7), and they certainly have the Purples’ attention.

“They are a very good team on offense,” BGHS defensive back Wick Dotson said. “They have a very impressive running back (in 190-pound sophomore, Evan Hampton). I think if we can limit him we will have a good night. Should be fun.”

Hampton has carried the ball 127 times for 1,356 yards and a team-high 24 touchdowns, and he gets more than a little help from his friends, teammates Deion Winstead (737 yards, 13 TDs) and QB Trevor Delacey (433 yards, six TDs). Delacey has shown improvement throwing the ball, while passing for 2,099 yards and 22 touchdowns.

He’s been intercepted 11 times.

The Purples have had some subtle defensive changes over the course of the season, such as moving senior Max Buchanon from outside linebacker to defensive end, and creating a starting role for linebacker Montez Trussell, who’s only a sophomore. They’ve got role players, like undersized defensive tackle Jordan Green, who leads the team with 15 tackles for losses, and defensive backs such as A.J. Woodard and Hudson Nottmeier.

Bowling Green has become an aggressive defensive squad, one that got back to the basics in the chill of the air Tuesday evening, hitting the blocking sleds and working on staying low underneath the chutes.

All the while, Deuce Bailey and the Purples’ offense have hit an assembly-line pace. The 6-foot, 185-pound Bailey has completed 206 of 294 passes (an impressive 70 percent) for 3,053 yards and 39 touchdowns. Bailey has been intercepted just four times in 13 games, and his numbers very well could grab more attention if he’d played in the second half in any of the Purples’ three playoff games.

Instead, he’s worked the sidelines with BGHS associate head coach Chris Seabolt and the other Purples offensive coaches while freshman quarterback Embree Dotson — yes, he’s the younger brother of Wick Dotson — has taken snaps with the Purples’ second offense.

It’s part of building a program, as Mark Spader and Jay Fallin can attest.

“Deuce is really good. We’ve seen him since he was playing at Bowling Green Junior High,” Fallin said. “He’s really poised in the pocket, and he’s got an excellent group of receivers.”

Bailey and the Purples went to the KHSAA Class 5A state championship game last year, only to fall to Lexington’s Frederick Douglass High School, 28-7. Frederick Douglass has moved on to the Class 6A ranks and is one of four 6A teams still practicing during Thanksgiving break.

Bowling Green just wants another shot at the eighth state championship in school history. The Purples have had laser-like focus on that goal for the entire season.

“I think we’ll be fine with the weather,” Bailey said. “Owensboro has a solid defense, all around, and they’ve got some guys who can get after it …

“Our preparation has been very good. I think that’s the key to winning.”