5A PLAYOFFS – ROUND 3 – Regional Finals

Bowling Green (6-6) at Atherton (11-1)

The Purples head to Louisville for the second and last time in 2025 looking to even their Bourbon City record as they take on the high-flying Ravens of Atherton in the Regional Final Round of the 5A Playoffs.  These teams have only met once, and it was last year in the same round of the playoffs with BG winning 44-20 in Bowling Green.  But these are different teams, and it will surely be a different game in a different venue. 

For Atherton, they really haven’t been challenged all year outside of a September 12^th loss to DuPont Manual 33-21 and have dominated in their 11 wins by a 446 to 26 score.  Wowza!!!  Of Atherton’s 12 opponents to date, 1 (North Oldham) is still playing in the playoffs.  For Bowling Green, it has been a topsy-turvy year losing 5 of their first 6 games.  Of BGs 12 opponents, 6 (OCath, St.X, Scott County, South Warren, CAL, and Franklin County) are still playing in the 3^rd round of the playoffs.    

Atherton Ravens Information (TP94 Rating: 64.94)

Head Coach Anthony White is a very fine football coach, who is now the all-time wins leader in Atherton’s football team history.  Congratulations Coach White!  Great accomplishment!  The Ravens have a strong defense and have had a goal all year to get to the State Finals this season.

The Ravens have 2 QBs that seem to have very similar numbers and likely both used in most games.  SO QB Lamar Sistruck Jr has nearly 1,000 yards passing with 13 TDs vs only 2 INTs on the year.  JR Deairus Smith has just over 800 yards and 10 TDs vs 3 INTs on the year.  SR DuZye Grundy is a very hard running RB with great speed and elusiveness that leads the Ravens rushing attack with over 900 yards rushing and 13 TDs.  JR WRs Garyon Hobbs is a special player and plays both ways and his WR partner Jason Briscoe refused to be tackled in Thursday’s game vs Jtown to score an impressive long running TD.  He also has great speed and athleticism.  Hobbs and Briscoe lead the Ravens receiving corps with nearly 1,000 yards and 13 TDs on the year.

But the Ravens hang their hat on the defensive side of the ball only giving up 59 points THE WHOLE YEAR!!!!  Wow!  But 33 of those were to Manual.  JRs ZaiVion Meads, Grayden Reid and Garyon Hobbs are D1 caliber players, and they lead the impressive defensive unit with about 160 tackles, 26 for loss and 10 sacks combined on the season. 

The Ravens schedule makes this team somewhat an “unknown” to me; meaning I’m not totally sure what to expect in a tight game should they ever get to one.  It’s fun beating teams 40 to Zero, but what about in a close game?  Fair question and I think we could find out here.  But the Ravens have great skills guys, great team speed and they will be a tremendous test for any team to take out.  

Bowling Green Purples Information (TP94 Rating: 66.77)

The Purples overcame a determined and well-coached Apollo squad tonight 52-27.  No win is guaranteed and to get the chance to survive and advance is what all teams are shooting for this time of year. 

How many Freshmen QBs do you know that have played against St X, at Scott County, South Warren, at CAL and at Franklin County?  I’d guess not many.  Freshman QB Anthony Davis (AD) has been super cool and collected in these trying games for the Purples.  I’m not sure what more you could ask of the young man, but as my friend @BillNye mentioned Bowling Green needs their other players to step up in these tough games to come and that is right now. 

How bout my man Trey Graham!  4 TDs tonight and just played with great determination.  The Purples rushing attack typically runs through the Graham Brothers Nick and Trey who have roughly 570 yards on the year with 5 TDs.  The Purples WR corps is seasoned with SRs Travey Barber, Hudson Nottmeier, Ethan Kirkwood and Jaxon Smith (who leads BG with 26 catches for 318 yards and 3 TDs).  All 4 made big catches tonight.  And I’d say this was likely the best the Oline has looked this season.    Very positive!

Defensively, SR LB Montez Trussell continues to lead BG with 80 tackles on the year with 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.  But it’s time to put up or shut up for this year’s version of the Purples Jungle D.  I think the front 7 played about as well as they have all year tonight.  But can they get the stops against a super talented Ravens team when they need it?  We shall see!

Game Preview

This exciting second game of the series is currently slated to kick off in Louisville!

UPDATE #3:  Thanks to @Tigerpride94 again!  GAME TIME is back at 7:30 pm Eastern Time!  

 

UPDATE:  Thanks to @Tigerpride94 for confirming this game will be moved to Waggener High School's new turf field this Friday evening!  GREAT MOVE! 

The likely streaming services available for this game include:

Streaming:  - Sporting Times (stfanclub.com)

D93 Facebook Page:  (BG’s radio feed also has a Facebook Live Stream):   (3) Facebook

I saw Atherton back in August at a 7v7 in Jeffersonville, IN and they looked good back then.  But I hadn’t seen them otherwise all year, so I decided to go to the JTown game on Thursday.  The Ravens looked very good.  They refuse to be tackled easily.  They battle you.  They smother you on defense and have super athletes out in the secondary!

Bowling Green isn’t the same team today that fell to OCath back in August.  I really like the way this Purples team is playing in the playoffs.  No, they haven’t played the Packers and Cowboys, but they played the way old Purples teams have played in Rounds 1 and 2.  But this is a step up.  And Bowling Green will need to bring their best effort of the season to cage this Ravens team.  Plain and simple. 

A couple key questions: 

1.       Will Bowling Green be able to run the ball?  Only Manual has been able to do that this year on this tough Ravens defense.  It’s important for BG to be able to work some runs into their offensive scheme. 

2.       Atherton’s offense hasn’t played a tested defense like BGs in some time.  How will they respond should they find difficulty moving the ball, something that hasn’t been a problem since September? 

3.       Does one team have an advantage in the kicking game?  Well after Thursday, I would say it is nearly even. 

4.       Garyon Hobbs for Atherton and Travey Barber for Bowling Green are special players and will garner special attention from each opponent’s game plan.  I think both will play well.  Who else are critical to the success of their respective teams? 

The Regional Final Round isn’t about running clocks anymore; it’s about a good competitive game to see who gets to play on Black Friday, which is a big feather in a team’s cap!  It is with great disdain that I report I likely won’t be able to make this game due to a family event I simply can’t get out of.  I hate that and am hoping someone else can provide some score updates for this one!  It’s going to be a good one!

What say you?  Who wins this game and why? 

Early weather forecast for Louisville for Friday the 21st:

Rain during the day (around a quarter inch).  High 60 degrees.

Rain clearing at night. Lows during the game in the mid to low 50s.

From 3 to 6 pm about a 50% chance of rain.  By 9 pm about a 30% chance of rain.

So, bring your rain gear if you're going to the game.

Not sure Atherton has seen the type of pressure BG defense will bring and BG probably hasn’t seen a defense as good as Atherton’s since the South Warren game… Give me the guys in Purple simply because they’re more battle tested and playing their best football at the right time. 

Purples 21  Atherton 17

 

I have a feeling we’re going to get a Purples and Red Devil rematch from 2020. 

I think this will be a low scoring game and I'll go with BG in a close one since they are battle tested while Atherton has coasted through easy schedule. 

 

I think Atherton has the athletes and physicality to win.  Bowling Green has good players too and I'd say the BG coaching staff has an edge with experience and tradition.  I think if Atherton can stay disciplined and not beat themselves they can win.  This should be a really good playoff football game.  I'd say BG wins.

Edited November 15, 2025Nov 15 by theguru

Give me Atherton. BG giving up 27 to Apollo makes me think this game may be a shootout, and I’m not sure the BG defense can get enough stops. 

17 minutes ago, BIG BLACK JACK said:

Give me Atherton. BG giving up 27 to Apollo makes me think this game may be a shootout, and I’m not sure the BG defense can get enough stops. 

I feel like 13 of those points were due to BG calling the dogs off 

7 minutes ago, Devils Fan said:

I feel like 13 of those points were due to BG calling the dogs off 

I agree and Apollo is a top 10 5A team,  BG got 52 I think a little loss of focus and some backups contributed.  that said, I think Apollo has a very nice passing offense.  Not sure Atherton can stack up to the offense, but the Ravens have a much better defense.  I think can go either way, but give me BG’s experienced coaching staff with a great game plan and Barber and Graham turning the wheels.

BG 28-21

A Train baby!! Prove it! 

I’m going with Atherton. Bowling Green has played a tougher schedule clearly, but I don’t believe this season’s Bowling Green team is teams of recent and further past. Atherton is playing their toughest game they have played in a while but I think they can get it done defensively. Good luck to both teams.

Finally it gets real for Atherton!!

TP94 Power Ratings

Bowling Green    67.77
Atherton         65.03

BG by 7.