Purples outlast Apollo in 63-38 shootout
Published 1:52 pm Saturday, November 7, 2026
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Bowling Green’s Reid Gathright (1) celebrates after scoring during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Bowling Green’s Ayden Wickware (19) defends Apollo’s Brody Jones (13) during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Bowling Green’s Nick Graham (4) runs over Apollo’s Brayden Burger (25) during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Apollo’s Eli Williams (0) and Brody Jones (13) defend Bowling Green’s Jett Reynolds (6) during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Bowling Green’s Anthony Davis (7) makes a pass during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Bowling Green’s Kipton Walden (85) kicks off during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Bowling Green’s Embree Dotson (10) defends Apollo’s John Milburn (24) during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Apollo’s Brayden Mattingly (2) and Gunnar Hendricks (44) defend Bowling Green’s Nick Graham (4) during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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Apollo’s Thomas Barnett (17) defends Bowling Green’s Jett Reynolds (6) on a touchdown during Bowling Green’s home game against Apollo High School on Friday
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The conventional wisdom about the first round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association playoffs is it probably shouldn’t exist.
Mismatches, blowouts, forfeits — largely a waste of time.
But there are always at least a few exceptions to that first-round thinking — Bowling Green got to host one when Apollo came visiting Friday night for a Class 5A playoff matchup. The Eagles landed plenty of huge blows and hung around until late in the third quarter before the Purples pulled away for a 63-38 victory.
Bowling Green running back Nick Graham piled up 250 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries and Purples quarterback Anthony Davis passed for 191 yards and three scores to lead the charge.
Apollo (5-6) countered with a massive passing night by senior Maxwell Johnson, who completed 23 of 41 passes for 420 yards and five touchdowns — and the Eagles still lost by 25 points.
“In no way are we very pleased with our game, but we’re winning and moving on and we get a chance to come in tomorrow and look at our mistakes,” Bowling Green coach Mark Spader said. “We have another week to live.”
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The Eagles struck first after recovering a Purples fumble at their own 34-yard line. John Milburn’s 5-yard touchdown run put Apollo up 7-0 with 8:07 left in the first quarter.
Bowling Green (7-4) answered with an 81-yard scoring drive. Graham ripped off a 50-yard run two plays in, then ended the eight-play march with a 9-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 7.
Apollo needed just two plays to retake the lead as Johnson found Ty Lillpop for a 59-yard touchdown strike.
The Purples came right back with a score as Davis connected with Reid Gathright on a 12-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 14-all with 2:02 left in the first.
Then Bowling Green started to separate — a little. After the Purples forced a turnover on downs at their own 28, Graham broke loose on the first play of the ensuing drive for a 72-yard touchdown run that gave BG its first lead at 21-14 with 9:43 left in the second quarter.
“Both running and passing … when we put it in the air, they took care of business,” Spader said. “I’m proud of all of our running backs. Once again, it was running back by committee, but Nick just seems to be the bell cow — picking up big first downs and keeping us moving. That’s a senior running back right there.”
Apollo answered with Johnson’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Brody Jones, but Bowling Green’s Ayden Wickware blocked the extra-point attempt to help his team maintain a lead it would never relinquish.
Davis found Knee for a 59-yard completion on the Purples’ next drive, and one play later Jett Reynolds was in the end zone on a 4-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 28-20 with just 54 seconds left before halftime.
That was plenty of time for Johnson, who moved his team 82 yards in five plays — the last a 5-yard touchdown pass Eli Williams as the final second ticked off the clock. The Eagles needed a two-point conversion to tie, but BG’s Embree Dotson picked off the pass to preserve the Purples’ 28-26 lead at halftime.
Bowling Green got first shot on offense to start the second half, and Davis made it count with a brisk three-play drive ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Issac Wilson. The Purples then recovered an onside kick, but had to punt that possession away.
Apollo surged back with an 83-yard scoring drive that Johnson finished off with a 7-yard TD pass to Milburn. The conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving the Purples ahead 35-32 with 4:18 left in the third.
“Max is really good,” Spader said of Johnson. “We knew we were going to have a handful with him — a senior quarterback coming in here trying to extend his career. He’s a top player. He was everything I expected.”
A dazzling kick return by Tayden Green brought the ball down to Apollo 11, and the Purples cashed in with Davis finding Gathright again on a 10-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 42-32.
The Purples came up with another defensive stand to force a turnover on downs, and on the next play Davis popped another TD pass to Wilson a 30-yarder that pushed the lead to 18 late in the third.
BG then recovered another onside kick — the drive ended with an interception, but cost Apollo time and momentum. The Eagles went three-and-out on the resulting possession, then Graham delivered the knockout blow with an 18-yard touchdown run that made it 56-32 with 6:04 to play.
Apollo landed another haymaker with Johnson finding Lillpop (three catches for 133 yards) on a 44-yard touchdown pass with 4:43 to play, but the Purples came right back as Zyrek Burton covered all 53 yards of a three-play scoring drive with three runs — the last an 18-yard touchdown run that set the final score with 3:45 to play.
Bowling Green piled up 363 rushing yards and 191 passing in the win to outgain the Eagles 554-490 in total offense.
The Purples will host Madisonville-North Hopkins — a 22-14 winner against Grayson County in the first round — in a Class 5A state playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13.
AHS 14 12 6 6 — 38
BGHS 14 14 21 14 — 63
First quarter
AHS — John Milburn 5 run (Uziel Munguia kick), 8:07
BGHS — Nick Graham 9 run (Kipton Walden kick), 5:22
AHS — Ty Lillpop 59 pass from Maxwell Johnson (Munguia kick), 4:31
BGHS — Reid Gathright 12 pass from Anthony Davis (Walden kick), 2:02
Second quarter
BGHS — Graham 72 run (Walden kick), 9:43
AHS — Brody Jones 2 pass from Johnson (kick blocked), 3:13
BGHS — Jett Reynolds 4 run (Walden kick), 1:00
AHS — Eli Williams 5 pass from Johnson (pass failed), 0:00
Third quarter
BGHS — Issac Wilson 23 pass from Davis (Walden kick), 10:55
AHS — Milburn 7 pass from Johnson (pass failed), 4:18
BGHS — Gathright 10 pass from Davis (Walden kick), 1:37
BGHS — Wilson 30 pass from Davis (Walden kick), 0:54
Fourth quarter
BGHS — Graham 18 run (Walden kick), 6:04
AHS — Lillpop 44 pass from Johnson (pass failed), 4:43
BGHS — Zyrek Burton 18 run (Walden kick), 3:45
About Jeff Nations
Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News
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