By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com

The title defense officially begins for the Bowling Green football team, which opens the Class 5A playoffs hosting Madisonville-North Hopkins at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Bowling Green (8-2) enters on a slightly different path as last season’s state championship team, which had home-field advantage throughout, but head coach Mark Spader said he sees some similarities in both squads and the 2020 title team as well.

“I hope Friday is a reflection of where we are at, that we may be arriving as a team at the right time,” Spader said. “(2020) was so dominant defensively, but last year was just dominant on both sides of the ball and special teams. We just pulled it together at the right time of the year. It’s a great measuring stick for a lot of guys in this locker room, a lot of them were part of last year’s team, but now it is up to them. We came out of the locker room every game last year and took care of business early in games and took control of games. That helped us have great success. If we can somehow get that rolling again this year, then we will have success.”

The Purples have a little more momentum than last season following a convincing 26-9 win at traditional Class 6A power Louisville St. Xavier to close the regular season. Bowling Green held St. X to 123 total yards, with Purples quarterback Deuce Bailey going 23-for-26 passing for 205 yards and three scores.

“I never try to put much on that game – win or lose – but I felt like we needed a win like that,” Spader said. “You can’t plan for it by any means. I was proud of our kids for going up there and doing everything we needed to do in every phase of the game to control the game. Any time you can get a road win at St. X, especially late in the season, that is big for your program.

“That’s a feel-good moment at the end of the regular season, but we flip the switch over. It’s now playoff time and we are just trying to survive it.”

The quest starts with a Madisonville-North Hopkins team that is 7-3 after closing with a 41-3 win over Murray last week. Quarterback Kanyon Johnson is a dual-threat, rushing for more than 1,000 yards. Running back Markezz M. Hightower is one of the top backs in the state with more than 1,400 yards rushing and 19 touchdowns leading into last week’s game against Murray.

“You finish second in the district and this is what you get, you get a really good team rolling in here with a veteran quarterback that is very athletic and handles their offense well,” Spader said. “My understanding is the leading rusher in 5A is in the backfield with him. They’ve got a really good offensive line. Their defense swarms around, plays great team defense. We are going to have our hands full.”

Spader said starting fast and battling the elements, with rain in the forecast for Friday, will be keys to success for the Purples.

“It will be wet conditions, but we have a beautiful turf field and people that keep things dry for us,” Spader said. “We will go out there and handle our business. That is one more type of adversity we’ve got to deal with, but our kids have to mentally work through that and execute and survive to live another week.”