It was more of the same in the rematch between Bowling Green and Owensboro, with the Purples beating OHS 48-14 in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday at El Donaldson Stadium.

Bowling Green (9-2), which forced six turnovers in a 48-21 victory over Owensboro on Sept. 8, forced five turnovers Friday and got five touchdown passes from Beau Buchanan to advance to face Greenwood in the second round Nov. 10.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” BG coach Kevin Wallace said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I thought we played with great effort and made a lot of big plays. Hopefully, we have to see if we came out of it healthy. We got a little banged up there. This time of year you have to be lucky enough to be healthy.”

Bowling Green used a pair of special teams plays to take a 14-7 lead after one quarter, then steadily pulled away from there.

Ziyon Kenner’s punt return to the Owensboro 36 set up the Purples’ first score, a 1-yard touchdown run from Vito Tisdale.

Owensboro (4-7) answered with an 18-play, 80-yard drive that took almost eight minutes off the clock. The Red Devils converted two fourth downs, punching it in on a 5-yard touchdown run by Zeke Brown to tie the score 7-7.

The tie was short-lived, with Tisdale taking a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff and racing 74 yards for a score.

“(Ziyan) set up the first touchdown with a punt return and we knew they weren’t going to kick the ball deep,” Wallace said. “We tried to set some people in some places where we thought the ball might go. Vito just made an incredible play. It wasn’t much about the blocking. It was more about his athletic ability.”

Owensboro coach Jayson Fallin said the kick return was ultimately one of the biggest plays of the game.

“We worked all week on kickoffs because we know what Vito is capable of,” Fallin said. “We worked on trying to kick it in a situation where he doesn’t end up with it and sometimes it doesn’t work out that way. He did what he does. Great players make great plays and he’s a great player. One of the biggest momentum killers in football is a kickoff return for a touchdown. We struggled to get back in it after that.”

The Purples added two touchdown passes from Buchanan before the half to extend the lead to 28-7. Buchanan hit Nash Hightower in stride between two defenders on a 26-yard slant for the first score, then found Dazhon Blakely open in the flat for a 20-yard touchdown with 1:07 left in the half.

Bowling Green scored twice in a 63-second span to open the second half and put the game away. Buchanan and Hightower hooked up on another slant, with Hightower going untouched for a 52-yard touchdown after the defender fell down. After the BG defense forced a turnover, Buchanan and Blakely hooked up for the second time to make the score 41-7.

Owensboro got a 35-yard touchdown run from Imonte Owsley on its next possession, before Buchanan’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Kenner capped the scoring.

“We just do what we usually do,” Buchanan said. “We had a good week of practice and just tried to go out and win to the best of our abilities. It helped a lot playing them earlier in the year, knowing their tendencies and stuff like that.”

Bowling Green outgained Owensboro 352-194.

Buchanan finished 15-for-17 for 280 yards.

“I thought he played really well,” Wallace said of Buchanan. “There were some things in our reads that maybe hurt us at times, but we will continue to get better at that. To get a dominant win here in the first round against a really talented team, I am really happy about it.”

Blakely ran for 69 yards. Kenner had seven catches for 127 yards, while Hightower had four catches for 99 yards.

Zeke Brown ran for 88 yards for the Red Devils, while Owsley finished with 76 yards rushing.

“Everybody played until the very end,” Fallin said. “That is something we empathize – pride and playing hard until the very end and they certainly did that. I am proud of them for that.”

OHS 7 0 7 0 – 14

BGHS 14 14 13 7 – 48

First quarter

BG – Vito Tisdale 1 run (Dalton Major kick), 7:42

OHS – Zeke Brown 5 run (Grayson McFarland kick), 0:07

BG – Tisdale 74 kick return (Major kick), 0:00

Second quarter

BG – Nash Hightower 26 pass from Beau Buchanan (Major kick), 7:56

BG – Dazhon Blakey 20 pass from Buchanan (Major kick), 1:07

Third quarter

BG – Hightower 52 pass from Buchanan (run failed), 11:42

BG – Blakey 16 pass Buchanan (Major kick), 10:39

OHS – Imonte Owsley 35 run (McFarland kick), 5:56

Fourth quarter

BG – Ziyon Kenner 22 pass from Buchanan (Major kick) 8:49{&end}