Purples roll in opener against Bullitt East
Published 11:16 am Sunday, August 23, 2026
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Bowling Green’s Zyrek Burton (3) runs the ball in their game against Bullitt East Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Zavier Rice (23) catches a long pass over Bullitt East’s Brayden Walsh (9) Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Jett Reynolds (6) is picked up and carried by a few Bullitt East players during their game as Bowling Green tries to cross the line for a touchdown Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Mason Dew (52) blocks a Bullitt East player as Bowling Green’s Nick Graham (4) runs down the filled for a long run Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Zyrek Burton (3) runs down Bullitt East’s Will Egan (10) as he throws on the run iSaturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Jett Reynolds (6) carries the ball downfield as Bullitt East’s Chase Frakes looks to make a tackle in their game against Bullitt East Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Anthony Davis (7) sets his eyes down field and looks to attempt a pass in their game against Bullitt East Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Anthony Davis (7) runs down field and looks to gain yards against Bullitt East Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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Bowling Green’s Chance Carrigan (20) celebrates in the end zone after the scores a touch down in their game against Bullitt East Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
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The Bowling Green Purples celebrates after being crowned 2026 Rafferty’s Bowl champions Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026 in the Rafferty’s Bowl at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky. (Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
(Tyler Mayhew/Special to the Daily News)
The Bowling Green football team opened the season in impressive fashion, rolling to a 34-7 win over Bullitt East in the Rafferty’s Bowl on Saturday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
Bowling Green (1-0) used a big special teams play right before half to take control then iced it with a dominant run game, earning a season-opening win in the Rafferty’s Bowl for the first time since 2022.
“Our seniors set a goal of winning the Rafferty’s Bowl,” BG coach Mark Spader said. “Since I’ve been head coach we haven’t won too many of them, so that was quite a hurdle to get over. I’m proud of how we created some adversity for us in the first half, but that blocked punt was really big to get us going. We got dialed in at the half. Got everybody’s heads right. Came out and took care of business in the second half.”
The Purples had chances to score on the first two possessions, but came away empty both times. On the opening drive, BG got into the red zone but turned it over on downs. On the next possession, the Purples marched 72 yards on 11 plays before Bullitt East intercepted Anthony Davis in the end zone.
Bullitt East (0-1) converted that turnover into points with an 80-yard drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Will Egan to Evan Butler to take a 7-0 lead with 9:48 left in the half. Bowling Green needed seven plays to answer, with Zyrek Burton breaking free and tip-toeing down the sidelines for a 25-yard score that tied the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the half.
The Purples stayed on the ground on the next drive with Nick Graham’s 3-yard run capping a nine-play, 57-yard drive that gave BG the lead for good late in the first half.
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The special teams provided the exclamation point on the first half, with Ayden Wickware blocking a punt and Tayden Green recovering for the 21-yard scoop-and-score to extend the margin to 21-7 with eight seconds remaining in the half.
“We’ve been working like that since the summer,” Wickware said. “I missed the first one, so I had to go get one. We’ve been working on that in practice. When I blocked it I knew it was going to be a great score right there.”
Bowling Green returned the second-half kick to the Chargers’ 25. Two plays later, Graham scored his second rushing touchdown from 18 yards out to allow the Purples to take complete control. BG added a final rushing touchdown from Chance Carrigan in the fourth to cap the scoring.
“It feels good,” Graham said. “We were just playing football, having fun. We watched enough film, we won this in the film room. We knew we (had) it.”
Bowling Green finished with 325 yards of offense, 225 on the ground. Graham ran for 91 yards, Burton had 46 yards and Carrigan added 38 yards.
“It’s been a conscious effort all through the spring and summer that we were going to run the ball better,” Spader said. “I am so proud of our guys for continuing to do that.”
Defensively, the Purples held Bullitt East to 232 yards, forcing a pair of turnovers in the second half.
“Still some ups and downs there, but we’ve got guys flying around,” Spader said. “We’ve got a bunch of people working in and out of the game. I think we are much stronger up front with our defensive line and our linebackers are starting to settle in. They had a lot returning. They are going to have to carry us a little bit, but our offense is moving along as well.”
Bowling Green returns to action on Friday, playing at Louisville St. Xavier.
BCHS 0 7 0 0 — 7
BGHS 0 21 7 6 — 34
Second quarter
BE — Evan Butler 26 pass from Will Egan (Easton Hughes kick), 9:48
BG — Zyrek Burton 25 run (Kipton Walden kick), 7:02
BG — Nick Graham 3 run (Walden kick), 1:27
BG — Tayden Green 21 return blocked punt (Walden kick), 0:08
Third quarter
BG — Graham 18 run (Walden kick), 11:08
Fourth quarter
BG — Chance Carrigan 2 run (conversion failed), 4:36
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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