Bowling Green freshman quarterback Grant Gillispie looks over the defense as his offensive line prepares for liftoff, making room for four BG backs to cover 171 yards on the ground in the first half. (Photo by Mandy Pasley)
TOLEDO — Bowling Green football coach Shawn Kiss got everything he asked, and more, out of his Bobcats during a 35-8 non-league win at Woodward Friday.
Plus, now that teams are realizing the Bobcats have a strong ground game, Kiss got a firsthand look to see how teams are preparing for that.
“We came out and we executed. We came out and played hard,” Kiss said. “They packed the box, which gave us a good look at what that looks like offensively and stuff. I thought our defense played well.
“We took care of business and that is what we needed to do. We came out healthy and we’ll move on to Napoleon next week, which is a big game.”
BG senior slotback and defensive back Rhett Winger added, “Everyone did their job, everyone did their part, and we got the win.”
The Bobcats, 5-3, have now won four of five games, and are just two points away (24-22 loss to Clay) from winning five straight, while Woodward remains winless in eight contests.
But now, BG must sight its eyes on Northern Lakes League foe Napoleon at Buckenmeyer Stadium next Friday. To have any chance of winning an NLL Cardinal Division title, a win is a must for the Bobcats.
“It feels good (Friday’s win), but we’ve got to win next week, too,” Winger said. “That’s the one that matters now, so we’ve got to keep going, get after it throughout the week and win next week.
“It’s a challenge but I think we’re ready for it (Napoleon). We’ve been preparing for it all season. We have a good chance of beating them. I’m confident in what we can do.”
Kiss says the team’s mindset has come a long way since the Bobcats opened the season losing to Otsego, 41-7. He saw it this week in preparation for the Woodward game.
“They did a great job of mentally working at it all week in practice. We haven’t had a bad practice in a long time,” Kiss said.
“After that week one game where we just kind of dropped a dud, we took a long look in the mirror, and we talked about how we really prepare for games.
“They are going to come in tomorrow morning locked in and be ready to go for Napoleon. We’re going to put together our best effort and we’ll get that one.”
In the win over Woodward, BG scored all 35 points in the first half, racking up 171 yards on the ground and freshman quarterback Grant Gillispie was 3-for-3 through the air for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
Gillispie threw a 40-yard TD strike to sophomore tight end Aiden Rohleder and a 35-yard TD pass to senior wide receiver Joey Kline, plus a six-yard pass to senior slotback Jackson Shafer.
BG senior slotback Ja’ceous Shannon had nine carries for 77 yards, including his longest run of 39 yards that set up his own three-yard TD run.
Shafer had six carries for 64 yards, including carries of 15, 16, and 22 yards, and a 12-yard TD run. Senior tailback Brogan Pasley had six carries for 23 yards, including a five-yard TD run and senior back Jamison Horst had two carries for seven yards.
BG junior kicker Alex Wiseman-Esparza was 5-for-5 in conversion kicks, plus he booted two kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.
Meanwhile, the BG defense not only shut out Woodward in the first half, but the Polar Bears’ offense failed to cross the midfield stripe. The Bobcats held Woodward’s rushing attack to 11 yards on 11 carries and passing attack to 22 yards.
Highlighting the BG defensive effort were interceptions by BG senior defensive back Brennan Howard and junior linebacker Antwon Lawrence.
Woodward did score with no time left in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Jaden Fell, then scored on a two-point conversion pass from quarterback Jayden Thompson to receiver Robert Robinson.
With BG’s starters on the sideline, Woodward mounted a seven-play, 35-yard drive to close the game, but it took three plays for the Polar Bears to score from the one-yard line.
“The young guys almost got a good stop there at the end — we were close,” Kiss said. ‘We get to build a little more toward the future and see some of those younger guys. We got a lot of our seniors in tonight, which is really good, too.”
The Polar Bears were honoring 12 senior football players on Senior Night, including Marquan Young, who is considering Bowling Green State University as one of three schools to play collegiate rugby, and Nico Johnson, who hopes to play college basketball next year.
