By Jim Mashek – Sporting Times Reporter
Mark Spader likes to challenge his Bowling Green High School football team in September.
The third-year BGHS head coach has no problem scheduling the likes of KHSAA Class 6A state champion Trinity, St. Xavier or Owensboro High School, a longtime rival just 70 miles or so up the Natcher Parkway, now known as Interstate 165.
“Owensboro is our oldest rivalry,” Spader said as darkness set in after Tuesday’s practice at BGHS. “It’s a healthy rivalry. People on both sides get fired up. All-time, we’re up with 40 wins, 39 losses and two ties …”
On Saturday, those numbers will change a little bit.
Bowling Green plays for its first KHSAA Class 5A state championship since back-to-back state titles in 2015 and 2016, as the Purples (9-2) tangle with unbeaten Owensboro High School. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. Saturday at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.
The Red Devils (12-0) are playing for their first KHSAA state title since 1986, when Owensboro won the then-KHSAA AAA state championship. The Red Devils are a familiar playoff opponent for Bowling Green, and Spader and OHS coach Jay Fallin have often scheduled one another for an early test in September.
“They’re a very good program,” Spader said. “When you talk to people in Bowling Green, even in the summer, during the spring, they wanna know. ‘Are we gonna beat Owensboro?’ They’re always going to be a tough opponent.”
The Red Devils pulled out a thrilling 28-27 victory over Frederick Douglass High School to advance to the championship game. Owensboro quarterback Gavin Winsett, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound junior, has completed 145 of 235 passes for 2,070 yards and 26 touchdowns. Winsett has been intercepted 10 times.
“He’s a dual-threat quarterback,” said Fallin, noting that Winsett has rushed for 408 yards and six TDs. “He’s probably at his best in the pocket, but Gavin has a great skill set. A leader. He’s gotten quite a few offers, including Louisville and Kentucky and other Power 5 schools in this part of the country.”
No one in their right mind would overlook BGHS senior quarterback Conner Cooper, either.
Cooper stunned the crowd at Covington Catholic last week, scoring on a brilliant 72-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Purples’ defense forced Colonels quarterback Caleb Jacob into five interceptions and a lost fumble, and Bowling Green went on to whip Covington Catholic 20-0.
“Conner’s play was just electrifying,” Spader said.
Bowling Green’s Dylan Echols had three of those interceptions against Covington Catholic, and Purples linebacker Rece Jones said the key to that game was getting a handle on Jacob and the Colonels’ passing game.
“We knew No. 5 (Jacob) was the key to their whole offense,” Jones said. “We used a ‘spy’ technique, sometimes. We just thought if we could take care of him, we’d win the game.
“Each week, especially in the playoffs, it seems like the defense comes to practice with more energy. Good intensity. We’ve had to deal with COVID-19, like everybody else. I feel like the team has done a good job of pushing through it.”
It was a long 4.5-hour bus ride back to Bowling Green from metro Cincinnati last week, but nobody seemed to mind.
“Everybody was in pretty high spirits,” Echols said with a smile.
Echols and Jones agreed the Purples’ 10-7 loss to crosstown rival South Warren on October 2 may have served as a turning point to the BGHS season. Since then, Bowling Green has won seven of eight games, the lone loss at the hands of defending 6A state champion Trinity.
“We knew where we had to get better,” Jones said.
Spader, for one, noticed. Particularly on the practice field.
“Our kids dialed it in back there,” Spader said. “After the Covington Catholic game, you worry about a letdown. But with the state championship in front of them, there’s been really good focus in practice. The seniors have kind of taken over the tempo.”
Cooper passes sparingly, compared to Winsatt, but he’s thrown for 1,686 yards and 13 touchdowns, while adding 428 yards and six scores on the ground. Javy Bunton leads the Purples with 926 yards rushing, with 19 touchdowns, while Owensboro counts on 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior Ethan Avery (630 yards rushing, 9 TDs).
“We have a few kids who can play both ways,” Fallin said. “But like Bowling Green, we generally play two-platoon football. Of course, that can change in the playoffs.”
BGHS senior offensive tackle Jackson Littlefield looks at Saturday’s game as the ultimate challenge.
“It’s been one of the craziest years, of anybody’s career,” Littlefield said, “but we’ve been able to overcome it all. The only correct way to finish is with a win at Kroger Field.”
The Purples get that chance on Saturday.
