Late score pushes Owensboro Catholic past Bowling Green
Published 12:26 am Sunday, August 24, 2025
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Bowling Green senior Logan Johnson (7) slides into the endzone for a touchdown in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green senior Ethan Kirkwood (1) gets tangled in the entry banner before the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green sophomore Kale Phelps (91) practices kicks during warm up before the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green senior Montez Trussell (8) dives and misses Owensboro Catholic senior Nick Sims (17) in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green senior Malik Coburn (9) closes his eyes for a moment during warm up before the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Owensboro Catholic senior Nick Sims (12) and Bowling Green senior Montravion Graham (5) both watch the ball pass in a missed pass in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green senior Ethan Kirkwood (1) cheers on freshman Zyrek Burton (18) after Burton lands a touchdown in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green sophomore Kyle Sledge (23) smiles to his team after regaining a fumbled ball in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green junior Nick Graham (26) gets to his feet as his team reacts to Owensboro Catholic sophomore Noah Grant’s (23) unsportsmanlike behavior in the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
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Bowling Green senior Jaxon Strautman (4) stares off while sitting on the field after the Purples’ 23-17 loss to the Owensboro Catholic Aces at Bowling Green High School on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Gabi Broekema for The Daily News
In a battle of state heavyweights, the Bowling Green football team came away battered and bruised with Owensboro Catholic delivering the knockout blow in a 23-17 win over the Purples in the Rafferty’s Bowl on Saturday at Purples Stadium.
Owensboro Catholic (1-0) used a drive late in the fourth quarter to surge in front and hold off the Purples in a battle between the 2A state runner-up and 5A champion last season.
“It was what I thought it would be,” BG coach Mark Spader said. “They’re not used to losing games. We’re not used to losing games. It was a battle back and forth. After the game, we are all shaking hands. It’s great respect for each team. That’s what I expected coming in. They haven’t lost a lot of games over the last two or three years and we haven’t either. It wasn’t a pretty game. We both did things that were detrimental to each other, but they were able to do what it took at the end and take the lead.”
After both teams turned it over on their first possession, Owensboro Catholic drove 71 yards in eight plays with Dremail Carothers connecting on a 27-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Maddox midway through the first quarter to make the score 6-0.
BG’s Andru Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 62 yards to set up the Purples at the Owensboro Catholic 28 — a play that Mr. Football candidate Trevy Barber suffered an upper body injury and did not return.
Bowling Green (0-1) was able to take advantage of the short field, with Zyrek Burton running it in from nine yards out and Oliver Gonzales adding the extra point to make the score 7-6 late in the first quarter.
The Purples’ special teams extended the lead to 14-6 in the second quarter with a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone by Logan Johnson.
“We needed that,” Spader said. “We were already a piece down coming into it offensively. We lost two more pieces during the game, so we were scrambling a little bit there to pull things together offensively.”
The Aces scored right before halftime on a 46-yard field goal with 11 seconds left by Andrew Garfield that hit the crossbar and bounced in to make the score 14-9.
Bowling Green answered with a 10-play, 43-yard drive to open the second half that ended with a Gonzales field goal, but the Purples offense stalled from there with two three-and-outs. Spader said Barber’s absence was felt as the game went on.
“Of course, we are talking about Trevy Barber,” Spader said. “It’s the life of high school football. Next man up. We talk about it. I like to think people are ready, but they are not always ready.”
Owensboro Catholic added a second touchdown catch by Maddox late in the third, cutting the lead to 17-15. The Purples looked on the verge of sealing the win early in the fourth. Kyle Sledge recovered a muffed point and BG scored on the next play, but the touchdown was negated due to a penalty. The drive would stall and end in a missed field goal, opening the door for Owensboro Catholic.
The Aces marched 66 yards on five plays, with Miles Edge’s touchdown run giving Owensboro Catholic the lead with 1:29 remaining. Running back Jude Evans then connected with Carothers out of the backfield on the two-point conversion to extend the advantage to 23-17.
Bowling Green got the ball into Owensboro Catholic territory, but Jaxon Strautman fumbled the ball on a quarterback keeper on fourth-and-1 to end the comeback bid.
“Every week during practice we come out and give our all,” Sledge said. “We battled until the very end. There is a lot of stuff that me, myself and a lot of other guys, a lot of plays that we wished we had back. If we could have redone it, we would have redone it to the best of our abilities. They played a great game. We’ve got to be better.”
Owensboro Catholic outgained Bowling Green 330-153. Nick Graham finished with 47 yards rushing for the Purples, while Montravion Graham had four catches for 46 yards.
Bowling Green returns at action at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, hosting St. Xavier. The Tigers are coached by former BG coach Kevin Wallace, who has announced he is retiring following the season.
“We’ve got a short week and we’ve got to see who is healthy,” Spader said. “They had a commanding win over Owensboro. They are an impressive team, but our kids are going to fight. They hate to lose. We’re Purples. We love to win. I can’t imagine we’re not going to prepare this week and go to war with them.”
OCHS 6 3 6 8 — 23
BGHS 7 7 3 0 — 17
First quarter
OC — Xavier Maddox 27 pass from Dremail Carothers (kick failed), 5:20
BG — Zyrek Burton 9 run (Oliver Gonzales kick), 2:41
Second quarter
BG — Logan Johnson recovers blocked punt in end zone (Gonzales kick), 7:49
OC — Andrew Garving 46 field goal, 0:11.2
Third quarter
BG — Gonzales 29 field goal, 8:23
OC — Maddox 22 pass from Carothers (pass failed), 2:51
Fourth quarter
OC — Miles Edge 9 run (Carothers pass from Jude Evans), 1:29
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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