MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
South Warren (Bowling Green, Ky.) Spartans have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Spartans ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Covington Catholic 20-16 in the
KHSAA Class 5A state championship contest on Friday, November 30 marked the completion of an incredible 15-0 season — and earned South Warren an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
South Warren's defense finished what the Spartan offense started, allowing Brandon Smith's club to claim its first state football title since 2015 at Kroger Field in Lexington, and its second state football championship overall. Gavin Spurrier's arm carried the Spartans to a 13-0 advantage in the first quarter, after he connected with Jantzen Dunn and Caleb Lloyd on scoring strikes of 43 and 11 yards respectively. Cameron Harrison then added a two-yard run in the third quarter to put South Warren up 20-0 with little more than a quarter left.
But, Covington Catholic responded with a 58-yard scoring strike and a run of 77 yards to crawl back into the contest in the third and fourth quarters respectively. The Spartans took an intentional safety with 1:08 left, allowing the Spartan defense to strut its stuff after Covington Catholic misfired on a couple of throws towards the end zone.
Spurrier completed 17 of 30 passes for 237 yards and a couple of scores, while Harrison led the Spartan ground game with 80 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Tanner Gallahair reeled in four receptions for 83 yards and Dunn caught two balls for 60 yards and the score. Trey Teague led the defense with seven and a half tackles, including three for negative yardage, while Clayton Bush added seven stops. Rowdy Shea and Gallahair each recovered a fumble, while Marquis Boley picked off a pass. South Warren opened postseason play with a 48-0 win over Apollo. Then, following a 55-21 triumph over Grayson County, the Spartans kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 44-7 win over Owensboro. South Warren bumped South Oldham from state championship contention with a 31-10 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Covington Catholic.
Smith's squad opened the season with a 49-17 win over Hopkinsville. Then, following a 39-22 triumph over Warren Central, South Warren knocked off Franklin-Simpson 36-14 to open the season 3-0. The Spartans did not lose all season and outscored their opposition 624-145. South Warren posted four shutouts on the year and held 11 foes to 14 points or less, while scoring a season-high 59 points in a shutout of Central Hardin.
Having won every contest in 2018, the Spartans set themselves up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only is South Warren the top-ranked team in
MaxPreps' Kentucky Class 5A Rankings, the Spartans are the best squad in all of
Kentucky. South Warren is ranked 188th in
MaxPreps' National Rankings!
These incredible season achievements have earned the South Warren Spartans an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium for a school assembly as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, January 25 at 10:30 a.m.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.