LEXINGTON — The Bowling Green boys’ soccer team survived a wild ride Saturday to claim its second state soccer crown with a 6-4 win over Scott at Henry Clay High School.

The Purples erased a two-goal deficit, using a four-goal second half to race past Scott in the highest-scoring state final in history.

Bowling Green earned its first title since 2006 in a physical contest that featured 36 fouls, 11 yellow cards and five red cards.

“The game was probably the craziest game I have ever been a part of,” Bowling Green coach Craig Widener said. “I have to give a lot of credit to Scott High School, who absolutely battled the entire time. They were an extremely physical team. In the first half, good lord did they finish. It was insane.”

Bowling Green (22-1-1) remains the only school outside Louisville and Lexington to ever win a boys’ soccer title.

“That was what our goal was, to beat these guys and keep it only us that has won it outside of Lexington or Louisville,” junior midfielder Blake Cleary said. “That was our whole goal. It is the best feeling in the world. This feels like a dream.”

The Purples allowed three goals the entire postseason before Saturday. It took Scott 32 minutes to equal that.

Scott pressured in the early stages, with two shots in the first three minutes.

Bowling Green failed to score off a corner kick in the 12th minute, despite several looks in front of the net.

The Eagles finally opened the floodgates in the 25th minute when Blake Schneider scored after the Purples’ defense was unable to clear.

It was the first of three goals in a three-minute span.

Cleary’s rocket from the left side tied it at 1-1 one minute later, but Scott’s Devin Morgan answered with a shot one minute after that to push the Eagles back in front 2-1.

Scott added one more goal before the half, a free kick from 25 yards out on the left side by Luke Treadway in the 32nd minute, to put the Purples in a two-goal deficit.

Bowling Green got a little momentum right before the half when Chandler Simpson found Exodos Bargblor right in front of the net for a goal that made the score 3-2.

“That was amazing because it showed us if we kept working hard, we could win the game,” Bargblor said.

Both teams had 10 shots in the first half, with the Purples holding a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal.

“Our halftime talk was one thing only, and that was the fact that we had 40 minutes left in the game,” Widener said. “We had to score some goals, and they took it to heart.”

Bowling Green made the most of Widener’s halftime speech.

Bargblor added his second goal in the 44th minute off a pass from Arif Smajolvic. One minute later, David Mason’s cross set up Gilio Aviles with a shot from 30 yards out to make the score 4-3.

The Purples weren’t done.

Cleary added his second goal of the night with a rifle from 20 yards out to extend the lead to 5-3.

Scott answered with Morgan’s second goal on a free kick in the 59th minute, but Bargblor completed the hat trick less than a minute later when he slipped past defenders to score off a free kick by Joel Jerez.

That was it for the scoring, but the final 19 minutes featured five red cards. Scott had three players ejected – Nathan Muench, Chad Evans and Treadway. Bargblor and Donald Aviles were ejected for Bowling Green.

“They took us out of our game for a while,” Widener said. “We had a hard time dealing with (the physicality) in the first half. In the second half, I wish we were a little smarter and we really weren’t. The boys stepped up and did what they needed to do.”

Bargblor was named MVP. Gilio Aviles and Cleary joined him on the all-tournament team.

“It was tough to sit and watch the end,” Bargblor said. “I kind of got caught up in the moment because I tried to help my teammate out. I got the red card, but it was worth it.

“Winning the state title is a big deal. I can walk everywhere and let everyone know I am a champion.”

— Follow prep sports reporter Micheal Compton on Twitter at twitter.com/mcompton428 or visit bgdailynews.com.