A beaten-up Christian County football team took the field at Bowling Green in the first round of the 5A playoffs, falling 29-7 to the Purples. The Colonels close the season on a 4-game losing streak to finish 4-7, the program’s first losing season since 2014. The first-round playoff loss is the first of Coach Steve Lovelace’s tenure, with the Colonels’ last loss at this stage coming in 2006.
The Purples improve to 9-2 and move on to a second-round meeting with Owensboro, who were 47-14 winners over Greenwood on Friday night. The Red Devils also stand at 9-2, including a 42-20 victory over Christian County at the Stadium of Champions.
Bowling Green opened the scoring with 5:13 to play in the first quarter, when quarterback Beau Buchanan hit Zakery Brassell for a 13-yard touchdown. The Purples stretched the lead to 15-0 after a 9-yard TD run by DeVito Tisdale, capping a 9-play, 91-yard drive with 6:53 left in the first half.
The Colonels had a golden opportunity to get on the board before the break when Byron Gee scooped up a Bowling Green fumble and returned it to the Purples’ 22-yard line. However, at 4th and 5 from the 17, Dante Abren’s pass was intercepted at the goal line by Jaylen Wardlow and the Purples led 15-0 at the half. Abren started the game in place of injured starter J’Lin Powell, who went down last week with an ankle injury and wasn’t able to go for the Colonels.
Four minutes into the second half, Buchanan found Scotty Brown for a 44-yard scoring strike to give Bowling Green a 22-0 advantage they would take into the fourth quarter. With just over 2 minutes to play, the Purples scored their final touchdown on a 3-yard run by Evan Spader. On the ensuing kickoff, Christian County’s Dorian Lones returned it to the Bowling Green 45. A short time later, Abren connected with JaDonavin McNeal with a short pass and he rumbled 32 yards to the end zone. Ben Settle’s extra point was successful for the final 29-7 score.
The Colonels finished with 7 1st downs on 51 total plays for 232 yards. Abren was 8-17 for 106 yards with an interception. Tyler West caught 4 balls for 79 yards and Nate McGregor had 2 catches for 17 yards. McNeal rushed 23 times for 125 yards, putting him over 1,000 yards for the season.
The Purples had 17 1st downs on 57 plays for 342 total yards. Buchanan finished 16-25 for 201 yards and a couple of touchdowns, with Brown his favorite target at 86 yards on 4 catches. They gained 141 yards on the ground on 32 attempts, led by Jamil Smith with 58 yards on 12 carries and Spader with 7 runs for 56 yards and a score.
