2025 Rafferty’s Bowl – Nightcap!

2A Owensboro Catholic Aces (0-0) vs 5A Bowling Green Purples (0-0)

Located at Bowling Green High School at 7:30 pm Central                              

Streaming:         Home | Sporting Times                 

GOOD MATCHUP TO END THE OPENING WEEKEND OF THE 2025 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SEASON!!!!

Rafferty’s Bowl Intro

The Rafferty’s Bowl has another year of strong teams continuing its trend as one of the better opening weekend bowl events around.  This night cap features 2 State Championship contending hopefuls in the Owensboro Catholic Aces (2A) and the Bowling Green Purples (5A).  That being said, both teams will have to form new identities as both will now be operating without the services of generational four-year stars at QBs (Brady Atwell for OCath and Deuce Bailey for Bowling Green).  

All Time Series:  Bowling Green leads 20-8.  I thought that was a lot of games for these 2.  They started playing on September 28, 1951 (BG 7-0) and played annually in September through the September 17, 1964 game at OCath (BG 25-6).  That’s half the games right there and the series record at that time was a 7-7 tie.  They restarted the series on September 29, 1978 and played annually 13 more years to September 22, 1990 (BG 31-10).  The most recent matchup was a lone game at Kentucky Wesleyan College (in Owensboro and typically the Aces home field) the second game of the 2009 season on August 28, 2009 (BG 45-6).  The last OCath win in the series was October 1, 1982 in Bowling Green (Final Score OCath 34 – BG 14).

Owensboro Catholic Aces – 2023 & 2024 Class 2A State Runner-Ups

Brady Atwell Sendoff – Brady Atwell (2 time – 2A Player of the Year) began his Aces career backing up then Senior QB Lincoln Clancy in the 2021 Season.  But that didn’t stop him from getting on the field as he started at LB and was 4^th on the team his freshman year with 70 tackles.   Atwell finished at OCath with 11,631 passing yards, 153 TDs vs only 27 INTs.  He also ran for just over 2,000 yards and another 48 TDs (and more; see below).  He led the Aces to back-to-back 2A Finals appearances.  One of one player:

(21) Owensboro Catholic Football (@OCath_Football) / X

He is now playing baseball on the Hill for WKU and I’d say will likely be in attendance for this game! 

2025 Owensboro Catholic Aces Information

The Aces are led by the 2024 2A Coach of the Year (KY Football Coaches Association) Jason Morris starting his 8^th Season as the Aces head man with a 68 and 23 record.  With the face of the Aces program now moved on, it is nice to start anew with a younger QB who learned under Atwell.  JR QB Dre’mail Carothers comes on the scene with a live arm and great athleticism after a solid summer scoring offers from at least EKU, UK and UofL.  While he lacks meaningful game experience, he is certainly capable to pick up the reigns and lead this Aces team.  And it appears he is doing just that:  (21) Ayden Crowley on X: "There is a new dealer for the Aces. Dre'mail Carothers takes over as QB1 for an Owensboro Catholic team that hasn't lost a regular season game since September of 2022. He says he's ready for the challenge. @hometeamfriday @OCath_Football @DremailC2027 https://t.co/bDWhVKX4Nt" / X

Carothers will have the Aces leading returning rusher back in SR Miles Edge (764 yards and 4 TD last season) along with upstart JR Shaiden Mitchell.  The Aces return their third, fourth and fifth leading WRs from last season including Sr Cameron Woodward (48 catches for 636 yards and 4 TDs) and Owensboro transfer Xavier Maddox (29 catches for 381 yards and 5 TDs).  I’m not as familiar with the Ace’s Oline, but players like FR John Paul Carrico (EKU and UofL offers) and Tristin French (KWU offer) should form a nucleus from which the Aces can develop. 

On defense, it looks like 7 starters return.  But 3 of the top 4 Aces tacklers graduated last year.  Miles Edge, the RB, was also the second leading tackler from last season at LB for OCath.  That is going to be a lot to ask of Mr. Edge against a team like Bowling Green IMO.  But OCath has other solid defensive players returning like SR DLine Caden Conkright, LB Jude Evans and DB Jude Cecil. 

Bowling Green Purples – 2023 & 2024 5A State Champions

Deuce Bailey Sendoff – Deuce Bailey (2 time 5A State Finals MVP) moves on to Missouri State this fall.  Go Bears!!!  And they got a steal in my opinion!  In doing so, he leaves behind ultra-impressive career stats including:

Football – (2X State Champion – 2X MVP)

-          10,936 passing yards  -  130 passing TDs  -  1,164 rushing yards  -  19 rushing TDs

Basketball – (2025 State Runner-ups)

-          1,283 total points  -  104 total made 3PT  -  353 total rebounds

SO many plays made for the Purple and Gold, but none more important than on 4^th and 8 from the South Warren 20 yard line in the 2024 5A State Semi-Final on the Road midway through the 4^th Quarter leading 24-21 vs arch-rival South Warren and Bailey scrambles for THE critical first down, of which BG would go on to punch it in and also punch in their 3^rd straight 5A Final Game appearance ticket, which would turn out to be Back-to-Back 5A State Championships! 

(21) BGHS Football (@PurplesFootball) / X            Thank You and Good Luck – Deuce!!!

2025 Bowling Green Purples Information -

1,450 – What does that number mean to you sports fans?  That number is how many days it’s been since Deuce Bailey didn’t start a Bowling Green High School football game at Quarterback for the Purples!  Bowling Green comes into this game entering a New Era – the Post-Deuce Bailey Era.  Bailey set every major passing record at Bowling Green over his 4 seasons in Purple and Gold.  Those are TOUGH shoes to step into, but someone gets that opportunity.  And that someone will be Senior Transfer (from Lexington Frederick Douglas HS) Jaxon Strautman.  The 6’1” 195 lbs. signal caller comes to Bowling Green and steps into a pretty nice slot.  He has a roster loaded with known producing WRs and RBs and an Oline that I’m hoping will be pretty dang solid.  Strautman started at Frederick Douglas his SO and JR years where the Broncos played a really tough schedule going 17 and 10 the last 2 years falling in the State Semi-Finals at Trinity both years in competitive games.  This is a young man with big game experience.  The term I’ve heard most often is “serviceable” for the Senior, but I think he has a great opportunity to prove more than that this season at BG.  We shall see. 

Six offensive starters return from the 2024 State Championship Team.  Leading the way is WR1 SR Travey Barber (2024 First Team ALL-State Selection) and leading RBs SRs Jaxen Smith and Trey Graham return giving the Purples a VERY talented skill position core to work from.  The offensive line returns the left guard and left tackle.  The formation of the 2025 Purples Oline will go a long way in how far this team can go IMO.  I really like the new guys coming in, but you still have to gel as a unit.  That remains to be seen.  

This will also be BG’s first game with new “CO”- Offensive Coordinators.  Long Time Associate Head Coach/OC/Oline Coach Chris Seabolt has moved on to a district post.  Coach Seabolt was a stalwart who guided BG teams through many storms and was a critical member of BGs staff prior to this season. So, insert Coaches Jordan Leach (also QB Coach) and Bryon Lowe (also RB Coach), who will now form BGs offense and call the plays outright.  Will be interesting to see differences in this category for sure.

Defensively, 7 seniors depart from last year’s stellar defensive squad.  But the players who return are super solid, led by SR LB and leading returning tackler Montez Trussell, SR DE Malik Coburn, two-way star SR OLB Jaxen Smith and SR DB Dru Jones.  Defensive Coordinator Alex Strode has several holes to fill with players that will be relatively new to the varsity stage.  But this coaching staff has continually put the pieces together year after year and I expect this to be another great year for the Purples Jungle D.  And I’m high on a SO named Kyle Sledge, who will start at Free Safety and has a great deal of talent to add to this year’s secondary.

Next in line after Deuce Bailey from last season’s BG team to be missed may be now graduated kicker/punter Braden Widner (who will be kicking for Georgetown this fall – Go Tigers!!!) who gave BG a real weapon in that position.  In the 2024 State Championship game, Widner hit 3 clutch field goals, 4 touchbacks and 4 for 4 Xtra points.  BG will be breaking in a new kicker/punter so there will likely be some growing pains as some critical game experience is needed to be gained for sure.  Early on it looks like Travey Barber will punt and SR Oliver Gonzales (also on the BG Soccer Team) will likely boot kickoffs and extra points.

2025 Rafferty’s Bowl Preview

With so many new faces on the field for this the opening game of the 2025 Season for both teams, I expect a lot of nerves and uncharacteristic plays to occur before the game settles down into one with more strategy-laiden structure. 

For OCath on offense, I look for Carothers to use his legs to make plays for OCath.  And I think he is capable of doing so, but I don’t know how consistent that will be against what I expect to be a good Bowling Green defense, even though you will have new defensive faces on the field this year.  How effective Carothers can be throwing the ball will also be important for OCath to keep the chains moving and their defense off the field.  And as I’ve said, Carothers is capable.

Defensively, I look for OCath to try and put as much pressure on Strautman as possible and see if they can get some early turnovers.

For the Purples, they will need to rely on an unproven Oline to give Strautman time and an opportunity to gel with his WRs during live action.  If BG asks their new QB to win the game by himself, I just don’t think that is what BG wants in this early matchup.  And frankly, Strautman shouldn’t have to when you have weapons like Barber and company on your side.  I look for BG to try to utilize their skill guys with easy passes and let them use their athleticism to make plays.  The ability or inability of BG to run the ball will also be something to keep tabs on, as the team with the most rushing yards in a game should have a great chance at victory.

Who wins the kicking game?  I don’t have a clue there, but will be another interesting facet to keep an eye on for this game! 

Who do you have in this great opening weekend game?

Wow!  Amazing @Purple88!

You never disappoint! Great work!

After having met both you and @Subway5024 , who will be representing OC, I must remain neutral. Two A+ rated guys. I am very interested in this game. Good luck to you both. 

88 - You are best, no question about it! Thank you and Go Purples!

Wonderful write up per usual @Purple88, it’s that time of year again and another job very well done as expected, a great afternoon read indeed. 

My first thoughts yesterday evening were not about the Purples lack of ability to move the ball down the field, I think a few hiccups early was expected transitioning to a new QB that is taking the reigns from a D1 QB who has ran the show for many years. Their defensive penalties were hard to watch though and add onto the fact they are still developing a new guy into the system on the other side of the ball the Purples can’t afford to extend drives the way they were. On the flip side of things they showed a lot of aggressiveness, and while they lacked some discipline, I’d put that front 7 up against anybody in the state. That’s where I see the Aces falling into some trouble, if the pocket is clean Carothers is definitely capable of lighting the Rafferty’s bowl on fire, unfortunately for Catholic I don’t see that being the case. 
 

I want to see the Purples run the ball more efficiently, it’s hard to get a consistent run game out of shotgun though if the QB isn’t a threat. With it being a scrimmage it’s hard to dictate whether or not he will be able to make those plays in order to keep the defense honest, and that’ll be my biggest question come Saturday. Keep it simple, get your playmakers the ball in space and I see no issues on why this won’t be another explosive year, the OL looked respectable, as I have to expect the Catholic DL won’t be near as dangerous as the one they saw last night.

I like the Purples to win by a few scores, the defense will stifle the Aces and the offense will do enough to get a win thanks to some advantageous field position the defense creates. As far as the kicking game goes though the Purples can’t punt let alone get a clean snap back to the punter, that’ll be something to watch for as well and could create a some problems.

Purples 35 Aces 7

I don’t think BG will be quite as good as they have been the last two years I mean there has to be some drop off when you lose a player like Bailey. But I still think they will have enough to beat OC 28-10.

Bowling Green 28-14.

The Park City Daily News was Bowling Greens daily newspaper from 1920 to 2019.  In 2019, it officially turned over to the Bowling Green Daily News.  So, the pdf article below is copy (not the best - sorry and you'll probably need to magnify it too) of the September 20, 1951 article about the first game these two teams ever played.  Bert Borrone wrote the article for the Park City Daily News.  Love the old semantics used back in day when I read articles like this:

"half-spinners through the middle" and "low-slung little half back" were a couple favorites out of this article.

Also, this Purples team was coached by El Donaldson, who the Purples stadium was named after from 1970 to 2020.  Lastly, I love that that put the "Lineup" in the paper.  Don't see that anymore.

PCDN 1951 OCath.pdf

On 8/16/2025 at 4:58 PM, theguru said:

Wow!  Amazing @Purple88!

Nobody does it better!

57 minutes ago, Purple88 said:

Lastly, I love that that put the "Lineup" in the paper.  Don't see that anymore.

PCDN 1951 OCath.pdf 1.02 MB · 2 downloads

Yes, certainly an old school throwback. Another favorite in the old papers was at the end of the year when the Courier-Journal would print their all-city (or county) team and list each of the players addresses. Definitely different times!

So BG outscored Male and Paducah Tilghman in significant rebuild mode won 28-14…maybe 21-7 in varsity competition?  New Catholic QB can put some on the money - I did see some hudl of him just throwing floaters up to evade a rush - I think one that was picked and 1 that wasn’t that should  have been.  Catholic is always a tough team, but sometimes stuggles to put it in the end zone against better teams.  They can usually move it somewhat down the field in these tough games but sometimes get locked up in the RZ.  That all changed with Atwell who could barrel his way for most of the short yardage TD’s

Not sure the new guy can do that - don’t know, but Atwell was one of a kind.  I don’t see a BG team that will allow much in close and most likely won’t give up deep bombs.  BG will have athletes, namely Barber who if I’m playing my KY HS fantasy team is WR1.  I think BG will score plenty and will not give up much to OC.

 

Purples 35-7 with Catholic taking on one late against backups.

Happy for a new season with a lot to unpack and figure out!

I think this match up will provide some quality experience for both sides. OC is clearly swinging above their weight class, but you would be a fool to think they aren't going to try and come in much like LCA did a couple years ago and leave it all out there against the Purples. Catholic is not your typical 2A team, has D1 talent and to not take them seriously would be a mistake. 

As for me personally, obviously the most important thing is winning the game, but I would be naive to ignore that we have some offensive woes to address and kinks to figure out. Establishing the run game is priority number one for me, that alone sets up Strautman for success in the present and future.  Number two would be seeing another perimeter threat, other than Barber, step up for this group and add meaningful contributions. The game plan for opponents is clearly going to be to take Travey away. I realize that is easier said than done, but when you play teams with great coaching and quality athletes that can match up it can become difficult when you're solely relying on one individual in the passing game.

Defensively, I love the aggressiveness shown in the scrimmage against Male, but the discipline displayed (or lack thereof) needs to be a full stop. Three roughing the passer calls, numerous DPIs, etc. really hurt this group. Extending drives to great opponents, especially with free gifts like that, will always come back to bite you in the rear. 

As far as a prediction, I'll take the Purps in a 28-7 type game. I don't expect it to be clean and there will likely be some adversity. I hope that is the case truthfully. The way this schedule sets up, the more tests the better. I'm pumped for kickoff!

Go Purples!

 

Surprised Ocath isn’t getting a few more votes. BG will be a step slower than the last few years with their star QB gone. Has Ocath improved from last year?

26 minutes ago, Scottcountyred said:

Surprised Ocath isn’t getting a few more votes. BG will be a step slower than the last few years with their star QB gone. Has Ocath improved from last year?

I think everyone still sees the 2024 Purples out there.  BG will be a work in progress to a degree for a while at least.  Like the KSR list, I don't think BG is 4.  I think they are down from that.  They got that ranking based on the 2024 team's efforts.  But MOST preseason rankings on most sites (NOT BGP) are based off last season.

As for the OCath question, I'll let OCath people weigh in, but going from a seasoned generational QB like Brady Atwell to anyone is asking a lot to maintain the heights he led OCath to.  Just my opinion.  And I really like Dre'Mail Carothers.  Super athlete.