Bowling Green advances in 5A playoffs after 35-7 win over Madisonville-NH in KSR Game of the Week

The No. 15 ranked Bowling Green Purples advanced to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs after besting Madisonville-North Hopkins 35-7 on Friday night.

The victory wasn’t Bowling Green’s best showing — even head coach Mark Spader harped on focusing on the details in the postgame huddle. But the Purples gave themselves plenty of separation in the second quarter to finish on top.

Bowling Green has finished at the top of their district for the past few seasons. Tonight’s game was one of their biggest first-round tests in a few seasons. Though Madisonville showed spurts of really good offensive play, the Purples stepped up to the plate with huge performances from Deuce Bailey, Trevy Barber, Grayson Newman, and much more.

Bowling Green found the end zone first in a rush by Nick Graham. The sophomore running back read his line and found the gap to put the Purples on top 7-0. A few penalties got in the way of a couple touchdown breaks for Bowling Green, but the Purples’ defense forced huge stops to keep the Maroons at bay.

The Purples got a huge break when Bailey threw a 56-yard dime to senior receiver CJ Sweeney, giving them first and goal. Another handoff to Graham put the Purples ahead 14-0 late in the second quarter.

Bowling Green immediately regained possession in the ensuing kickoff, with a deep onside kick that put them at the opposite 25. From there, Bailey scrambled to find Barber wide open in the end zone, which gave the Purples a 21-0 lead within 30 seconds before the half.

“We saw a hole over there and we’ve practiced [the long onside kick],” Coach Spader added after the game. “Our special teams coach Clay Stephens made the call… that was big.”

Bowling Green received the kickoff to begin the third quarter and capped off a two-minute drive with a 37-yard reception run to the house by junior Jaxen Smith, boosting the lead to 28-0.

Madisonville showed signs of life later in the third. Their offense did everything they could to stay on the field, and they completed a long drive with a rushing touchdown by Markezz Hightower, bringing the score to 28-7.

The run game is what the Maroons do best, but it would be the first and final score of the night. A quiet fourth quarter on both sides ended with a huge touchdown reception from Bailey to Barber late in the fourth to go up 35-7. That pass would seal the deal, solidifying that the Purples move on to the next round.

.@DeuceBailey1 ➡️ @BarberTrevy dime!!! @PurplesFootball

Bowling Green – 35
Madisonville – 7
4Q, 1:39 pic.twitter.com/mA1SLjaUJI

— Piper McCoun (@PiperMcCounKSR) November 9, 2024

“We literally live a week at a time,” Spader said after the win. “We meet Saturdays to watch film and run, and I especially like this group and I’m always like, ‘Let’s promise that we’ll be back here next Saturday’… there’s a lot of love in our locker room and they want to go as long as they can.”

Bowling Green will travel to Owensboro next week for the second round of playoffs. The action will go down on Friday Nov. 15 at Steele Stadium.