#6 South Warren at #2 Bowling Green (5A Quarterfinal)

[Purple88]

Just over 24 hours till game time.... Can't wait!

 

The Purples and Spartans meet at El Donaldson Stadium tomorrow night at 7pm Central. Only the second meeting ever between the 2. With the forecast at a pleasant 57 degrees projected at gametime, plan on robbing a bank in BG as there will be a mass crowd at this game for sure. Here are my keys to the game:

 

For South Warren:

1. The South Defensive Line MUST put pressure on BG QB Beau Buchanon. No questions asked... Jacob Lacey must be a factor in this game. He is more than capable.

2. Play loose... Take chances... You MUST be creative with your playcalling. If you are predictable playcalling, you might as well set up in the stands with me because you can't win this way...

3. Try to run the ball. You scored last game on a 99 yard drive where you ran it most of the way. You must be successful to some degree on the ground tomorrow night in order to win and control clock.

4. South Warren's QB must be better than BGs QB tomorrow night. Plain and simple.

5. Be SMART in the kicking game. BG will make you pay big time if you are not. South's starting kicker will be back for this game so that should be BIG for South.

 

 

For Bowling Green:

1. Start Strong - if you come out of the gate strong tomorrow night you have to love the Purples chances to ROLL. BG scored the first TD last game and was poised to score again before a fumble at the 1 allowed South to drive 99 yards for their only TD of the regular season game.

2. Offensive Line Play - Can not let Lacey dominate the game from the defensive tackle position. He is capable. Send 2 or 3 to support this if you must.

3. Dominate Special Teams & Turnovers - BG has excelled here all year - Purples are a +23 turnover ratio on the season - continue that.

4. Injuries/Etc are no excuse - BG has some, but the players stepping in IMO are very capable. Will be interesting to see how South potentially attacks this.

5. Offensive Rhythm - BG has been on a roll in this department. If they are Friday night, even if South controls the clock, it will make it really hard on South Warren.

 

Prediction: I look for the first quarter to be a knock down, drag out kind of game with big hits and big plays with a close score. But what about the 2nd Quarter, against South in the regular season BG dominated this quarter and the game was basically over. Against an inspired Greenwood team, the Gators played their best Quarter of the season and led BG at the half 14-13. If you asked Coach Smith, if he'd take a 14-13 lead at halftime, he'd take it every time. I think it's a mix of those games and I look for BG to lead at half by 1 or 2 TDs.

Adjustments will be critical at halftime. BG has made a living out of making tremendous adjustments out of halftime and rolling in the second half. Last game vs South Warren, South didn't score after the first Quarter. I think South scores after the first quarter in this one, but unless an uncommon amount of turnovers exists, I look for BG to be too much in this one by the score of BG 34, South Warren 17. It will be a Great Atmosphere & Weather night Sports fans to take in a game!

[Killowatt59]

I am very interested to see what, if any changes SOUTH has been able to make for this game. I still say this comes down to BG's ability to protect Buchanan and BG's d-line ability to put pressure on Spurrier and contain Winn. BG got an A+ in these areas during the first meeting and it showed. Will the same ring true tonight? BG struggled last week against a pretty weak Greenwood team. So BG must come out a lot stronger that's for sure.

 

Also curious as to what the crowd will be like since Western is playing MTSU tonight. I still expect a good crowd regardless. I plan to get there fairly early. Last time our usual seats by the flag pole were gone.

[sports fan]

If not for a little game with Simon-Kenton at Trinity, I would like to be at this one. Go Purples!

[DragonFire]

I am very interested to see what, if any changes SOUTH has been able to make for this game. I still say this comes down to BG's ability to protect Buchanan and BG's d-line ability to put pressure on Spurrier and contain Winn. BG got an A+ in these areas during the first meeting and it showed. Will the same ring true tonight? BG struggled last week against a pretty weak Greenwood team. So BG must come out a lot stronger that's for sure.

 

Also curious as to what the crowd will be like since Western is playing MTSU tonight. I still expect a good crowd regardless. I plan to get there fairly early. Last time our usual seats by the flag pole were gone.

 

 

I have looked at these games between these teams through the lens of the 2011 matchups between Bowling Green and Warren Central. Those games carried a huge amount of hype as well, particularly the first meeting. I've never seen the El as packed as I saw it for the October meeting of those two teams. I'm not exactly certain how full the earlier meeting this year was between South and BG, but from photos it didn't look as full as that game in 2011. Which I bring up to say that when those teams met again in the region finals that year, you'd have expected the same crowd, but it was significantly smaller. Well attended, sure, but you could see plenty of spaces in the bleachers on both sides. That was despite the first game being quite competitive, and BG entering at 12-0 and Warren Central at 11-1. They also had the night to themselves locally. I feel like everyone is going to be surprised how not full tonight will be. I'm sure it'll be a decent crowd given the two fanbases, but when you consider the beating of the first game plus WKU playing at home against their biggest rival, don't expect it to be jam packed like the first one was.

[DragonFire]

I've seen a few references to Bowling Green not playing well a week ago. Yes, I think it was surprising they allowed so many points to Greenwood, and if we are going to say a unit didn't play up to their potential, it was the defense. The Greenwood gameplan was clearly to keep the ball away from the Purple offense, and that allowed the success they had. Offensively, nothing was wrong with the Purples whatsoever. They hit big plays, short plays, ran the hurry-up effectively, etc. They possessed the ball four times in the first half. They scored touchdowns on two of them, turned over on downs deep on another (which, after BG's defense forced a stop directly led to the second touchdown), and punted one time. Admittedly, the poor punt on that one attempt led directly to Greenwood's field position to set up the TD. But didn't I see they had something like 400+ yards on less than 40 plays? BG played just fine IMO. Greenwood played their gameplan to perfection until BG simply asserted their will.

 

I see much the same happening here. I cannot buy the idea that South can slow the Purple offense. Bowling Green hasn't scored less than 28 points since their losses to PRP & St. X, and that 28 point effort was in a downpour during a game that didn't matter whatsoever. Other than that, they've scored 42+, including dropping 43 on South. BG went for nearly 400 yards last time, and that was without really even attempting to run the ball. Buchanan threw as many TDs as incompletions (five). I believe the Spartan staff is one of the best, but they're up against possibly THE best outside of Louisville (some wouldn't even make that qualifier). I think South finds a way to be more competitive than last time, but I don't see this being any closer than the Greenwood game was.

[Purple Nation]

Hope you alright dragon fire. I think it is fair to say that South will not turn the ball over 5 times tonight. I also think it is safe to say that Bowling Green it's not surprised to see South Warren again tonight. I think all the Bowling Green coaching staff knew that South was going to be Christian County. Coach Spader and his defensive staff will be prepared tonight to slow down the win kid. Bo Buchanan for Bowling Green has been absolutely remarkable. If they were to win the game tonight the Bowling Green quarterback statistically speaking will be better than Devin Hayes and Clark pain in their junior year campaigns. No one before the season begin would have ever imagined that. Buchanan will not throw as many touchdowns as Jesus did his junior year but throwing zero interceptions with nearly 2500 yards after tonight it's pretty impressive. I think if Bo Buchanan has an above-average game regardless of how the teams play Bowling Green wins. Really looking forward to tonight. I agree the crowd will be down somewhat but the excitement and atmosphere will be very high.

[BIG BLACK JACK]

Hope you alright dragon fire. I think it is fair to say that South will not turn the ball over 5 times tonight. I also think it is safe to say that Bowling Green it's not surprised to see South Warren again tonight. I think all the Bowling Green coaching staff knew that South was going to be Christian County. Coach Spader and his defensive staff will be prepared tonight to slow down the win kid. Bo Buchanan for Bowling Green has been absolutely remarkable. If they were to win the game tonight the Bowling Green quarterback statistically speaking will be better than Devin Hayes and Clark pain in their junior year campaigns. No one before the season begin would have ever imagined that. Buchanan will not throw as many touchdowns as Jesus did his junior year but throwing zero interceptions with nearly 2500 yards after tonight it's pretty impressive. I think if Bo Buchanan has an above-average game regardless of how the teams play Bowling Green wins. Really looking forward to tonight. I agree the crowd will be down somewhat but the excitement and atmosphere will be very high.

 

Buchanan throwing more TDs than Jesus. I've read it all!

[Purple Nation]

Buchanan throwing more TDs than Jesus. I've read it all!

 

Funny. The joy of voice text. Never voice text and drive down the road at same time. My apologies.

 

Halleluia!