Bowling Green senior running back Jackson Shafer looks for room during the Bobcats’ Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division football game against Napoleon at Buckenmeyer Stadium Friday night. (Jeffery Ratliff | Northwest Signal)
By Jeffery Ratliff
Northwest Signal
NAPOLEON — Bowling Green dominated the line of scrimmage, scoring on two long drives to start the second half and pulled away from Napoileon for a 24-14 Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division win Friday night at Buckenmeyer Stadium.
The Bobcats rushed for 397 yards and had three players with more than 100 yards rushing in the game.
Jackson Shafer led the way with 172 yards on 23 carries, while Jamison Horst had 117 yards on 13 carries and scored all three BG touchdowns. Ja’ceous Shannon added 108 yards on 18 carries.
Bowling Green coach Shawn Kiss said the Bobcats were efficient on the ground.
“We had the long drive to start the game, and then I kind of outcalled myself,” said Kiss, whose Bobcats averaged 7.1 yards per rush. “We knew we were dominating up front. In the second half, we got back to doing what we should have been doing all game.”
“They won the trenches, on both sides of the ball,” said Napoleon coach Tyler Swary, whose Wildcats had only 73 yards rushing. “The team who wins the trenches, wins the game.”
Napoleon opened the game driving the ball to BG’s 17-yard line, but a fumble by Trey Rubinstein was recovered by the Bobcats’ Aiden Rohleder.
BG drove 74 yards in 14 plays, overcoming three penalties, and chewing up more than 8 1/2 minutes off the clock. On fourth down at the Napoleon 15-yard line, Shannon gained 8 yards to pick up the first down, but fumbled the ball.
Lineman AJ Miller recovered for the Bobcats, and two plays later – on the first play of the second quarter – Horst ran it in from 2 yards away for a 7-0 lead.
“We started the game the way we wanted,” said Swary. “We drove down the field, but fumbled the ball away. They made a big play on third down and they were on their way. It was a couple of plays where we just didn’t execute.”
Napoleon answered midway through the second period, with George Eggers running for 44 yards to the BG 21 with 4:49 remaining before intermission. The Cats drew BG offsides on a critical fourth-down play to set up a 10-yard TD run by Eggers with 3:39 on the clock.
BG blocked the PAT kick and the teams went into halftime with BG leading 7-6.
The Bobcats established their dominance of the line of scrimmage right from the start of the second half, driving 82 yards in eight plays, including a 37-yard run by Horst that set up his 4-yard TD run two plays later.
After forcing Napoleon to punt after one first down, Bowling Green went 80 yards in eight plays, capped by a 30-yard TD run by Horst for a 21-6 lead with 1:43 left in the third period.
BG added a 20-yard field goal following a fumble by Espinoza at the BG 22-yard line.
Napoleon stayed in the game, as Espinoza found Parker Woods for a 57-yard pass play to the 1-yard line and Eggers ran it in from there. The two-point conversion pass to Rubinstein cut the lead to 24-14.
The Wildcats got the ball back in the final minutes, but an interception by Joey Kline with 42 seconds remaining sealed the win.
Kiss was pleased with his defense, which forced three turnovers.
“They have been playing good all year,” said Kiss. “We have been talking all season about getting two or three plays that flip the script. Our last two close games we have got those turnovers.”
BG attempted only two passes in the game, and did not complete either of them.
Espinoza was 14 of 24 passing for 206 yards. Woods had three catches for 104 yards. Eggers had 102 yards rushing on 13 carries and two TDs, while the rest of the team had negative-29 yards rushing on four carries.
Bowling Green is now 6-3 (2-1 in the Cardinal Division) and ends the regular season at home against Fremont Ross Friday, while Napoleon is now 4-5 (0-3 in the Cardinal Division) and welcomes Southview to close out the regular season Friday.
