In a game full of big plays, Owensboro’s comeback effort ultimately fell short due to untimely turnovers and the Red Devils suffered a 42-28 defeat against rival Bowling Green at Rash Stadium on Friday.
The high-energy contest wasted no time providing excitement, with both teams scoring a touchdown on their opening drives. Purples quarterback Deuce Baily carried it in from 6 yards out, while the Red Devils answered at the other end with a 2-yard touchdown carry by Dereon Crowe.
Crowe later gave OHS their only lead of the game in the second quarter when he caught a blocked field goal attempt and returned it 96 yards to put the Red Devils up 14-7.
The Owensboro offense then largely stalled and the defense couldn’t get off the field for much of the second and third quarters. The Purples went on a 21-0 run over the final 7 minutes of the second quarter, then pushed their lead to 42-14 heading into the fourth.
“We had a lot of guys not handling the heat too well, through no fault of their own because of cramps and just getting too hot,” said OHS head Coach Jay Fallin. “We ended up playing some people that probably aren’t quite ready, and all of a sudden it was 28-14 at halftime.”
While the Purples looked to be running away with the game, the Red Devils turned things around and threatened to erase their deficit. Evan Hampton scored from 5 yards out with just under 11 minutes to play, then OHS recovered an onside kick and scored again on a 10-yard touchdown reception by Crowe about 2 minutes later.
The Red Devils forced a fumble on their own 36-yard line with 6 minutes to go, but quarterback Trevor Delacey threw an interception a couple of plays later. OHS forced another fumble, this time on their own 24, with just more than 3 minutes to play. They drive ultimately ended in another interception at the BG 11-yard line, and the Purples were able to run out the clock.
Despite the result of the game, Fallin applauded the heart and resilience of his team during the final quarter.
“We had a lot of heart in the second half; especially at times when it was 42-14 and it looked like it was gonna be over quickly,” he said. “There’s no such thing as a moral victory, but I thought we chose to dig deep and continued to fight. When you’re as young of a team as we are, you’re gonna have nights like tonight. I think we showed promise, and we just gotta get back to the drawing board and get back to work.”
The Red Devils take to the field again on Friday with a road contest at Daviess County. Both teams are 0-2.
