Purples advance to 5A State Championship Game

Bowling Green vs Southwestern KHSAA 5A State Semifinals
Published: Nov. 25, 2022 at 11:10 PM CST

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Bowling Green advanced to the KHSAA 5A State Tournament Championship Game after beating the Southwestern Warriors 47-20 in the semifinals matchup Friday night.

Coming into the game, the Warriors have never scored a point against the Purples. That changed tonight but it didn’t matter in the end.

The Purples made their impression early after a Deuce Bailey 42-yard run set up BG in the Warriors’ redzone. A few plays later Javen Huddleston ran it in from the one-yard line to give Bowling Green an early 6-0 lead.

Three minutes later, Bailey hit the freshman Trevy Barber for a 39-yard touchdown pass that kept the Purples rolling.

Southwestern couldn’t get anything going offensively, which made it easier for Bowling Green to keep adding points to the board. Near the end of the first quarter, BG recovered an onside kick and then Bailey found Easton Barlow for the 41-yard touchdown, putting this game in jeopardy for Southwestern.

The Warriors would finally find the endzone after a 16-play drive that took nine minutes off the clock to make it 26-6 Bowling Green.

The Purples put the dagger through the Warrior’s heart when Huddleston ran 90 yards to the house for six more.

By the time the 4th quarter started, the running clock was on. Bowling Green ended up taking this one 47-20.

The Purples advance to the 5A State Championship for the second time in three years. They will play Frederick Douglass next Saturday at Kroger Field at seven p.m. CT.