5A Grayson County (7-1) at 5A Bowling Green (4-4)

This will be the Cougars and the Purples 11^th all-time meeting with BG winning the previous 10.  They started playing each other when Kentucky went to 6 Classes in 2007.  They played 4 straight years until Grayson would move to 5A District 3 (teams closer to Louisville) after the 2010 season.  They would get reshuffled together again in 2015 and play 4 more times ending when Grayson would move over to 5A District 1 (Owensboro’s District) in 2019.  They resided in District 1 for 4 years and in 2025 when South moved up to 6A and Ohio County exited district play; the Cougars landed back in 5A District 2 again.  But what will the 27-28 Realignment hold for the Cougars?  Some projections I’ve seen show Warren East potentially moving up to 5A.  If that holds true, would Grayson be shuffled again.  If I’m the Cougars, I’d LOVE to go over to 5A District 4 (Fairdale’s District).  That would be a great spot for Grayson IMO!

Grayson County Cougars Information (TP94 Rating:  45.04)

Head Coach Bryan Jones is in his 8^th season in Leitchfield and has done a really fine job building the Cougars program.  The Cougars record since Jones has been the head man is 46 and 26.  They hosted playoff games in 2023 and 2024 going 10 and 2 and 9 and 3, respectively.  They would go 4 and 7 in 2025 going through some tough personnel issues but still fought well.  This season, Grayson's only loss was when they fell short at home vs a very good Barren County squad and that may push Grayson on the road for the playoffs UNLESS they can stand up here in BG on Friday night. 

SR RB Kadin Hanshaw is back in Grayson County Orange and making the most of his senior season.  The young man is very talented and has nearly 700 yards rushing on 92 attempts with 13 TDs and 4 2-point conversions!  Wow!  The Cougars are also led by 6’3” JR QB Trigg Payne who has completed 56 of 81 attempts for 772 yards and 6 TDs vs 2 INTs.  Very solid!  Defensively for Grayson, SR Kamden Cornwell and SO Aiden Stewart lead the team with both having about 60 tackles on the year. 

Bowling Green Purples Information (TP94 Rating:  61.09)

Bowling Green played their best game in two-year last Friday night at the Swamp at Greenwood High School in a convincing 45-7 win.  A piece of that is certainly the Gators are struggling and not close to their 2025 squad.  BUT, I observed significant improvement in pre-game enthusiasm, sideline film use, on-field enthusiasm, improved play calling, and much better focus from the beginning of the contest. 

Bowling Green’s defense has been much maligned this season, but I saw considerable improvement this week.  Is part of that Greenwood?  Surely, but high school football has a huge confidence component, and I witnessed significant improvement here.  Big shoutout to the players and coaches for continuing to grind over this tough period.  Let’s go!

Offensively, SR RB Nick Graham has been the standard this season and he played a great game at Greenwood with 4 TDs.  Additionally, this was a much better (probably the best) showing from the BG Oline.  Have to keep pushing here! 

Defensively, JR DT Zhy’ell Byars, playing in his 3^rd game back this season (due to injury) was a real spark plug for BG on that Dline.  He had multiple sacks and play disruptions and was visibly leading the charge, something that has been sorely missed this year.  Other defensive players including SR DT Taiyon Parker were visibly active in this game and played their best game of the season. Hoping BG can carry this momentum!

Game Preview

This game is for the 5A District 2 Championship.  Grayson County has a chance to pull out their first win over BG ever and go into the 3-way tie of 3 teams (Barren, Grayson and BG) at 3-1 district records.  I don’t know who would win that but guessing it would be RPI.  Currently, RPI plays out this way:  Barren County – 0.59539, Grayson County – 0.56853, and Bowling Green – 0.53224.  But if BG wins, the Purples clinch the #1 seed in 5A District 2. 

For the Cougars, just go for it; you have nothing to lose!  I look for a steady diet of Kadin Hanshaw runs.  He is a very talented RB.

For the Purples, this is an opportunity to improve execution and continue this late season momentum.  It will also be Homecoming so that’s a big night for the players also. 

For me, this game comes down to I expect a healthy dose of Hanshaw runs, but BG knows this and should be prepared.  What else Cougars?  That will determine a lot, I think.  Will Grayson’s defense load the box to try to stop Nick Graham?  We will see. 

Last season, Grayson County got a big punt return TD.  BG must do a better job in special teams against the Cougars.  But BG has had a good special teams season this year with FR K Kip Walden doing an incredible job and SO Returner Jett Reynolds a real weapon also.    

Who takes this Homecoming Game in Bowling Green?

On 10/17/2026 at 11:55 AM, Purple88 said:

Bowling Green played their best game in two-year last Friday night at the Swamp at Greenwood High School in a convincing 45-7 win.

Great preview, but BG's performance against CAL last year at CAL is pretty hard to top. Just had to throw that out there.