INDIANAPOLIS – Traveling more than three hours to face off against Indiana’s top-ranked and undefeated Warren Central, Bowling Green knew it was going to have a challenge on its hands.

Knowing that, however, the Purples probably didn’t know that this would be arguably the toughest opponent they’ve played all year. Warren Central led by 48 at halftime and handed Bowling Green its first loss of the season 62-14.

“They’re everything I knew, we knew, they were going to be,” Purples coach Mark Spader said. “I just wish we could’ve put a better foot forward. … We can get some good out of this but I think we made a really good team look that much better.”

It was a memorable senior night for Warriors running back Romeir Elliott, who finished with 431 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards and seven total touchdowns against a Purples defense that gave up just 74 points total prior to this game.

Warren Central coach Jayson West said he was happy with his team’s mentality coming in against the unfamiliar opponent.

“When you play a program like that, that’s got all those state championships, they’re well coached and they’ve got a culture to it, it’s exciting for us,” West said. “That’s what we want. For us, it’s a good end of year test to go into the playoffs and see what we’ve got to improve upon.”

The Purples’ first score came from a 98-yard touchdown run from junior Evan Spader in the second quarter. The score came, however, when Warren Central already established a 41-0 lead. Bowling Green found the end zone just once more when sophomore tight end Jordan Dingle caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Beau Buchanan to cap off a fourth-quarter drive.

Still, it came down to the defense for Bowling Green, which allowed 667 total yards and nine scores. Comparatively, the Purples had 144 yards on offense, with senior running back Jamil Smith leading the way with nine rushes and 47 yards.

Whether it was missing tackles or players being out of position, Spader said there will be plenty of film to watch and lessons to be learned as his team moves forward.

“I still have no regrets coming up here,” he said. “I think there’s a good experience you can get out of anything and, you know, our program’s not used to having too many nights like this.”

Spader said the positive will depend on how the Purples’ season ends up. Next week, Bowling Green takes on undefeated South Warren, a team that beat the Purples in the regional championship last season.

“That’s kind of been fuel for us throughout the winter and spring and throughout the season,” Spader said. “We’ve avoided talking about it for weeks but now we can finally talk about South Warren and that’s what we’re going to go to work for this week.”

Scoring Summary

Bowling Green – 0 7 0 7 – 14

Warren Central (Ind.) – 21 34 7 0 – 62

Scoring Plays

WC – Romeir Elliott 11 run (Jason Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 3 run (Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 40 pass from Jayden George (Ramirez kick)

WC – David Bell 2 pass from George (Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 16 run (Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 87 run (kick fail)

BG – Evan Spader 98 kick return (Dalton Major kick)

WC – Montrez Stanley 45 pass from George (Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 49 run (Ramirez kick)

WC – Elliott 45 run (Ramirez kick)

BG – Jordan Dingle 4 pass from Beau Buchanan (Major kick){&end}