Purples cruise past Grayson County for region crown

Published 11:04 am Saturday, October 24, 2026

1/3

Swipe or click to see more

Bowling Green quarterback Anthony Davis looks downfield on a pass play. The Purples defeated visiting Grayson County 54-7 Friday, October. 23, 2026. The Homecoming game saw former Bowling Green head football coach, Kevin Wallace, inducted as the sixth member of Bowling Green High School’s Wall of Honor during halftime of Friday night’s football game. Before the start of the game, the Bowling Green High School Hall of Honor, Class of 2026: Doug Mefford, Class of 1981; Ashlee Wilson Quinn, Class of 2005; and Justin Tidwell, Class of 2006 were honored. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
(Joe Imel/Daily News)

2/3

Swipe or click to see more

Bowling Green running back Nick Graham scores. The Purples defeated visiting Grayson County 54-7 Friday, October. 23, 2026. The Homecoming game saw former Bowling Green head football coach, Kevin Wallace, inducted as the sixth member of Bowling Green High School’s Wall of Honor during halftime of Friday night’s football game. Before the start of the game, the Bowling Green High School Hall of Honor, Class of 2026: Doug Mefford, Class of 1981; Ashlee Wilson Quinn, Class of 2005; and Justin Tidwell, Class of 2006 were honored. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
(Joe Imel/Daily News)

3/3

Swipe or click to see more

Bowling Green’s Ayden Wickware recovers a fumble on a bad Grayson County snap. The Purples defeated visiting Grayson County 54-7 Friday, October. 23, 2026. The Homecoming game saw former Bowling Green head football coach, Kevin Wallace, inducted as the sixth member of Bowling Green High School’s Wall of Honor during halftime of Friday night’s football game. Before the start of the game, the Bowling Green High School Hall of Honor, Class of 2026: Doug Mefford, Class of 1981; Ashlee Wilson Quinn, Class of 2005; and Justin Tidwell, Class of 2006 were honored. (Joe Imel/Daily News)
(Joe Imel/Daily News)

The Bowling Green football team secured the top seed in the district and a home playoff game in the first round of the playoffs with an emphatic 54-7 win over Grayson County on Friday at Bowling Green High School.

Bowling Green (5-4 overall, 4-0 Class 5A, District 2) rode a perfect night from quarterback Anthony Davis and a dominant defensive effort to earn a third straight win and build off perhaps the best overall performance of the season in last week’s win at Greenwood.

“I’m really proud of being able to carry forward from last week,” BG coach Mark Spader said. “It was easy to talk about, can we have a great week of practice and come out of the gate and do what we needed to do. We did it again, so maybe we are on to something. I hope our kids can continue to buy into that. We are going to need it going forward.”

For the second straight week, the offensive was nearly flawless in the first half with touchdowns on every possession.

Nick Graham got it going with a touchdown run to put the Purples on the board, less than four minutes in.

A 23-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Davis to Xavier Rice made the score 14-0 late in the first quarter. Graham’s second touchdown run of the night capped six-play, 75-yard drive to push the advantage to 21 points midway through the second with Bowling Green extending the margin to 27-0 after Davis connected with his brother Arlando Davis on 22-yard strike with 2:40 left in the half.

Email newsletter signup

The defense got in on the scoring 38 seconds later, with Embree Dotson recovering a fumble by Grayson County quarterback Trigg Payne and returning it 14 yards for the touchdown.

“I just saw my teammates wrapped him up and the quarterback was really struggling,” Dotson said. “The quarterback tossed it out and the ball was real big. I knew I had to scoop it and score.”

Kicker Kipton Walden successfully recovered the onside kick for a second straight week to give the ball back to the Purples — a drive that ended with Davis finding Isaac Wilson for a 7-yard score to put the exclamation point on a 40-point half.

Davis finished 15-for-15 passing for 224 yards and three scores despite sitting most of the second half.

“We are really locked in at practice, locked in on our assignments,” Davis said. “Earlier games we had assignment busts, now we are really starting to lock in.”

Chance Carrigan’s touchdown run on the first drive of the second half made the score 47-0, with the defense getting another touchdown after Casen Edison snagged a pass with one hand in the backfield and raced 44 yards to the end zone.

Grayson County (7-2, 2-2) was able to avoid the shutout when Kadin Hanshaw busted a 55-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

The Cougars finished with 217 yards — 152 on the ground by Henshaw — most coming on the final two drives.

“The main thing is, their running back has set all kinds of records for them,” Spader said. “He is their bell cow. He gains a ton of yards on you. When our starters were in there, he got some of his but we were tackling and getting him down, making them earn everything. We had some great third and fourth down stops. I’m really proud of how our defense is progressing.”

Bowling Green wraps up the regular season hosting Franklin County at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.

“This is a big week for us as well,” Spader said. “We could help ourselves a little bit RPI-wise. Franklin County is a 4A measuring stick — a quality opponent. It’s a chance for us to prepare for a really good team before we go into the playoffs.”

GCHS 0 0 0 7 — 7

BGHS 14 26 14 0 — 54

First quarter

BG — Nick Graham 4 run (Kipton Walden kick), 8:13

BG — Xavier Rice 23 pass from Anthony Davis (Walden kick), 3:46

Second quarter

BG — Graham 6 run (Walden kick), 6:41

BG — Arlando Davis 22 pass from Anthony Davis (kick failed), 2:40

BG — Embree Dotson 14 fumble return (pass failed), 2:02

BG — Isaac Wilson 7 pass from Anthony Davis (Walden kick), 0:54.5

Third quarter

BG — Chance Carrigan 13 run (Walden kick), 6:45

BG — Casen Edison 44 interception return (Walden kick), 2:58

GC — Kadin Hanshaw 55 run (Evan Hasty kick), 0:52.6

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

More by Micheal