For the 40th consecutive game, the Bowling Green Purples came away with a victory. BGHS beat Apollo 49-7 in the first round of the playoffs to continue the streak. The key to the win was the Purples’ two running backs, Blake Pillow and Blue Tisdale. On senior night, the two seniors scored a combined five touchdowns and led Bowling Green to their 11th straight playoff win.
Pillow and Tisdale have been creating havoc throughout the season, but the two came together to have one of the better games in the two players’ careers. Tisdale scored the first touchdown of the night for BGHS, putting the Purples up 8-0 to begin the game. Pillow took over after that, running for two touchdowns and receiving another. “I played alright,” said Pillow. “He (coach Kevin Wallace) wanted to see what we could do real quick, we wanted to score quick.” The reason the Purples wanted to score quickly was to get a running clock by halftime.
They succeeded by the end of the first quarter, leading 36-0. Tisdale scored again to make the score 43-0 at the half, and to give himself two touchdowns on the night. The two scores for Tisdale gave him 51 total touchdowns on his career.
Along with the ground attack, the Purples’ defense was a dominant force. BGHS allowed 84 total offensive yards against Apollo, and created three turnovers. One of the BGHS takeaways was an interception returned for a touchdown by senior defensive back Logan Paris.
The defensive front for the Purples held Apollo to only 30 rushing yards on the night, and sacked the Eagles twice. “The defense came out and played our Jungle D as always,” said senior defensive lineman McKenzie Proctor.
The win was relatively simple compared to the Purples’ 26-25 win over Blackman (TN) last week, but BGHS has already begun to look forward to next week’s game. “We’re just trying to win these next four and win another state championship,” said Paris. Pillow and Tisdale led the way in a game that lasted an hour and 28 minutes, and had a running clock by the end of the first quarter. The win was just the first stop on the road to a third consecutive state championship for BGHS, “We’re just taking this game by game, and we’ve got to prepare for them,” said Pillow. The Purples will take on Christian County next week at home. This is the second straight season the Purples will pay CCHS in the playoffs, winning 31-17 in 2012.
