A trip to Kroger Field and a spot in the Class 5A state championship is on the line when South Warren hosts Bowling Green in the 5A semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m.

District foes since 2017, the Spartans and Purples will meet one more time in the postseason before South Warren moves up to 6A next season. It will be the sixth postseason meeting between the two schools, with Bowling Green holding a 3-2 advantage. Both teams have won a pair of 5A state titles since 2017, with the Purples the defending champion and South Warren’s last state title in 2021.

“I’m sure from a fan’s standpoint there have been some very exciting games,” Bowling Green coach Mark Spader said. “From each of our teams it has been gut wrenching at times. It’s gonna close out our district series, where there is a lot on the line. We are going to continue playing, but (South Warren coach Brandon Smith) put it best — when it doesn’t have the implications that it has now, who knows if it is going to have the same feel to it because right now at this moment it means so much. We both want to win a state championship and there is only one of us that is going to come away victorious on Friday.”

South Warren (12-1) is hosting by virtue of a 28-24 win at Bowling Green last month. The Spartans rallied from 10 points down with 11 minutes left, but needed two defensive stands in the last three minutes to secure the first win against Bowling Green since 2021.

“I don’t think either team left feeling great about how they executed,” Smith said. “It wasn’t that long ago, but it was. You adapt, figure out what you do well and make little tweaks here and there. For the most part we still are what we are and do what we do. That’s what you have to lean on this time of year.”

Spader said he expects another crazy game on Friday.

“I think this is for both sides too, when we play each other sometimes it gets so sloppy,” Spader said. “There’s uncharacteristic things that happen in the game that neither one of us do in games previous to it. For some reason whenever our two schools get together, just some crazy things happen. There are very few blowouts. It’s always a close game. It’s always hard fought.

“(That last meeting) we came away with hurt feelings and a lot of stuff to work on. Anytime you play a really good team, particularly when you lose, you find your warts and you go back to work.”

Since that loss, Bowling Green has won five straight — the latest a 44-20 win over Atherton last week.

“When you get humbled like that it makes you turn inward,” Spader said. “Our kids went to work and did exactly what I thought they would do. We’ve got a veteran team with some really good seniors. We’ve gone back to work and they’ve responded.”

Smith said the Purples haven’t changed much in the past month.

“They’ve made a few tweaks here and there, but they are a really good team,” Smith said. “They don’t need to change a whole lot. It’s the same (as us), they do what they do and they do it really well. It’s really hard to stop. They’ve made a few changes, but it has been working for them.”

He added that win was big for his team’s confidence. The Spartans have won by 21 points or more in the five wins since beating Bowling Green — including a 42-7 win over North Bullitt last week.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces and a lot of young players,” Smith said. “I think we pulled a lot of confidence out of that game. I’ve seen that show up since in how we practice and how we prepare and how we execute. Confidence, especially among high school kids, is a big deal. I think we have played more confident since that last game.”

Both coaches agreed that turnovers and special teams will be the key to victory on Friday.

“The two things I think show up in big games we really did not do well,” Smith said. “We lost the turnover battle last time. We turned it over and we really didn’t play well on special teams. We overcame those things, but it is hard to do that. It doesn’t happen very often and it is hard to do it against really good teams. Those two things have to be at the top of the list — and your line play in big games has a lot to do with it as well.”

The winner will face the winner of Cooper and Highlands for the 5A title at 7 p.m. CST on Dec. 7 at Kroger Field in Lexington.