In Bowling Green’s season-opening win last week against Central Hardin in the Rafferty’s Bowl, the Purples struggled mightily in one area – capitalizing on red zone opportunities.
Fast forward one week and Bowling Green has shown significant improvement in that said area, as it found ways to finish and dominated from start to finish in a 44-7 dismantling of Pleasure Ridge Park on Friday night at El Donaldson Stadium.
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“We came off the field last week and felt like we left a lot out there on both sides of the ball,” first-year Bowling Green coach Mark Spader said. “I thought we had a sustained effort – something we didn’t have last week.”
The Purples – which improved to 2-0 under Spader – built a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and added 23 more points to their side of the scoreboard in the third to put PRP (1-1) away and never look back.
Bowling Green running back Vito Tisdale produced another dominating outing for the Purples, carrying the ball 14 times for 125 yards and a touchdown while also reeling in four receptions for 113 yards and another score.
Alongside Tisdale, quarterback Beau Buchanan completed 17-of-26 passes for 280 yards and a pair of TDs, while wide receiver Harrison Riggs caught six passes for 79 yards and a TD. Marcus Carter (24) and Jamil Smith (26) combined for 50 yards and two more scores to round of the Purples’ offense.
“We came out as a team,” Riggs said. “Wednesday’s practice we came together and that was one of our best practices. Against PRP tonight we had to come together and drive down the field like we had to and do what we had to do.”
Bowling Green returns to action next Friday against former coach Kevin Wallace and St. Xavier. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
Bowling Green was the aggressor in the first half.
After the Purples’ first two drives of the night ended in punts, Bowling Green turned a series that was once halted by penalties into an impressive scoring drive. Following back-to-back losses of yards, the Purples dug into their bag of tricks to record their first touchdown.
On 3rdand 37 deep into its own territory, Bowling Green used the classic hook-and-ladder play to find the end zone. Looking for a receiver, Buchanan tossed a short pass to a covered Dezmond Wilson – who then saw Tisdale approaching from the left side and made a successful toss to him.
Receiving the toss from Wilson, Tisdale then sprinted 71 yards down untouched down the left sideline to give the Purples a 7-0 lead at the end of the opening quarter.
“As soon as it shaped up, he exploded,” Spader said of the play.
Tisdale recorded his second score of the night on a three-yard run near the midway point of the second. On 3rdand Goal at the PRP one-yard-line, Tisdale received a handoff from Buchanan and punched it in to make it 14-0 at the 7:33 mark.
Bowling Green pushed its lead to 21-0 just two minutes later on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Buchanan to Riggs. The tight end’s scoring reception came just after he reeled in a 26-yard toss to put the Purples in the red zone.
PRP finally answered just before the end of the quarter, capping a lengthy drive with a three-yard TD run from Cashawn Beasley. Despite the score by the Panthers, Bowling Green still took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Purples completely dominated in the third quarter.
“This week we focused in on ‘0-0’ at half(time) and know that we need to keep on playing hard and shut ‘em out,” Evan Spader said.
Leading by a pair of scores, Bowling Green tacked on a 35-yard field goal from Eli Burwash at the 8:19 mark to make it 24-7. Soon after, Carter took a handoff from Buchanan and crossed the pylon from 12 yards out to move the Purples’ lead to 30-7 with 4:49 left in the period.
With under two minutes remaining in the third, Smith tacked on another Bowling Green touchdown. After Tisdale had a 14-yard TD run called back due to a personal foul call, Smith took a carry for 11 yards before punching it in from seven yards out.
Smith’s score gave the Purples a comfortable 37-7 lead – minutes before their defensive unit stepped up.
After PRP couldn’t convert on third down and had to punt, Evan Spader fielded the punt and zig-zagged downfield for a 57-yard punt return TD. His score put Bowling Green up 44-7 – and that score remained the same over the course of the final 11:43.
“I just think we had an excellent week of practice,” Mark Spader said. “We kind of pulled it together here and things went our way. I think we did things in all phases of the game. It was a lot of fun.”
