It happened. And this time it mattered.

Christian Winn was unstoppable, Beau Buchanan was fallible and for the first time in a long time a Warren County public school took down the Purples.

Little brother isn’t so little now. South Warren was the aggressor this time.

Led by Christian Winn’s three touchdowns and a physical defense, the Spartans pulled off the upset and defeated Bowling Green 28-21 at El Donaldson Stadium in the Class 5A Region 1 final Friday night.

“Everyone else feels like the little brother to Bowling Green and we didn’t want to fit that mold,” Winn said. “We came out and gave it to them.”

The Purples had no way of stopping Winn, who barreled his way to 180 yards on 34 carries for three touchdowns. His 3-yard touchdown run with 6:38 left in the game put the Spartans (11-2) ahead and Bowling Green (10-3) couldn’t escape pressure to get the equalizer.

Purples quarterback Beau Buchanan was intercepted three times after entering the game having not thrown a pick all season. Bowling Green’s offense stalled on three drives and Buchanan was sacked five times.

South Warren’s win ensures there will be a new state champion in Class 5A after Bowling Green won the last two. The Spartans have evened the series after the two programs met for the first time on Oct. 20 – a 43-7 Purples victory.

“That game really changed the mindset of our whole team,” Spartans junior defensive tackle Jacob Lacey said. “We went back to the roots of our program with smashmouth football and a physical game and that’s what we made it tonight.

“We worked our butts off all year and nobody believed in us except us and we knew we could do it. We came out and executed and if you execute, you can win any game you want to.”

The loss is only Bowling Green’s 14th ever against a Warren County school with the last one coming against Warren Central in 2010.

“It was a bad night,” Purples coach Kevin Wallace said. “You have to be at your best when you play at a high level. South Warren was at their best and they certainly played with great effort and belief in themselves. I’ll take the blame for it. We weren’t at our best and that’s my responsibility.”

Both teams opened the offense up after a first half where turnovers swung the momentum back and forth. Buchanan’s first two interceptions of the year contributed to six combined turnovers between both teams.

South Warren missed two field goal attempts, with Alex Cohron’s second try getting blocked to end the first half in a 7-7 tie.

Bowling Green tried committing to the run with Dazhon Blakey going for a 32-yard run to open the third quarter and eventually capitalizing on a 13-yard run to put the Purples ahead 14-7.

South Warren tied it on the ensuing drive with Gavin Spurrier’s quarterback keeper, and Winn pushed the Spartans back in front with a bruising 26-yard run with 1:18 left in the third quarter.

Despite constantly facing pressure, Buchanan showed off mobility and took matters into his own hands for the tying score early in the fourth quarter.

Facing a fourth-and-8, Buchanan avoided a sack and scrambled up the middle and dove over the goal line for a 27-yard run that tied the game at 21.

After a Spartans punt, Bowling Green got the ball at its own 6-yard line looking to keep the momentum rolling. Instead, Buchanan was picked off by Greg Byrd on a screen pass at the 4-yard line. Winn punched in the winning score two plays later.

Bowling Green’s last realistic chance of tying came a yard short when Buchanan’s run on fourth down fell just short of the sticks for the Purples third turnover on downs on the night.

“The guys did a great job,” South Warren coach Brandon Smith said. “They executed the plan. The first time around (Bowling Green) did a great job, but we did a lot of things to help them and that hurt ourselves and if we just corrected that and slowed our emotions down that we could make it a game and we went out and did it.”

Bowling Green’s quest for a 14th region championship fell short and Kevin Wallace’s 300th win as a head coach will have to wait until 2018.

“Any time you don’t get to a level you feel like you should, there’s an emptiness and feeling of underachievement,” Wallace said. “We certainly underachieved tonight.”

BGHS 0 7 7 7 – 21

SWHS 7 0 14 7 – 28

First quarter

SW – Winn 6 run (Cohron kick), 7:54

Second quarter

BG – Kenner 24 pass from Buchanan (Major kick), 2:28

Third quarter

BG – Blakey 13 run (Major kick), 10:04

SW – Spurrier 1 run (Cohron kick), 7:22

SW – Winn 26 run (Cohron kick), 1:18

Fourth quarter

BG – Buchanan 27 run (Major kick), 11:14

SW – Winn 3 run (Cohron kick), 6:38{&end}