Joe Imel/Daily News Bowling Green's Tevin Barksdale tries to split two defenders in their 17-0 loss to visiting Trinity at Bowling Green High School.

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Limiting three-time defending state champion Trinity to 17 points might be enough for a team to celebrate a moral victory.

That wasn’t the case for Bowling Green on Friday.

Despite holding the Class 6A No. 2 Shamrocks to less than 300 yards, the Class 5A No. 2 Purples couldn’t make a dent offensively. As a result, Bowling Green left a muddy El Donaldson Stadium field with a frustrating 17-0 setback.

“We’re not into moral victories,” Bowling Green coach Kevin Wallace said. “This is not a program that is into moral victories. We wanted to win a football game. We knew it would be difficult. We knew it was really uphill, but I’m extremely disappointed in the way that we played.

“Can we grow from it? Sure. I thought we grew from the game last year, but we have to pick up and go to next week and play North Hardin.”

Bowling Green (1-1) was held to 73 yards of total offense as Trinity snapped the Purples’ 21-game home winning streak. The shutout was also the first for the Purples since a 9-0 loss to Hopkinsville on Nov. 9, 2002.

Bowling Green entered the game without senior lineman Austin Yates, who was injured during practice this week, and lost senior Taylor Shipley to an injury early in the game.

Without two of its most experienced players to anchor the line, the Purples finished with 69 yards rushing and just four yards passing.

“We already have great limitations offensively. And then when we lose our two best offensive linemen, including our best one, it certainly makes life a little bit tougher against a team like that,” Wallace said.

Trinity (1-0) had more yards on its opening drive, marching 80 yards on 11 plays. The key play came on a third-and-eight at the Trinity 36, when Rocks QB Cameron Smyth’s pass was tipped. But Scott Radcliff caught the ball while lying on the ground near midfield.

Six plays later, Smyth’s one-yard sneak gave Trinity a 7-0 lead.

“Any time you move the chains it’s big,” Trinity coach Bob Beatty said. “He slipped, but he made a great catch.”

Smyth and Radcliff struck again in the second quarter.

With Trinity facing second-and-long near midfield, Smyth avoided a heavy blitz from the BG defense and got free long enough to connect with Radcliff on a 43-yard touchdown pass that made the score 14-0.

“(Smyth) has a set of wheels,” Beatty said. “Sometimes he makes me pull my hair out, but he can avoid (the rush). Bowling Green is the type of team that they are going to bring a lot of pressure at you from every angle. That’s their game plan and it’s an excellent game plan.”

Trinity added a 19-yard field goal by Cooper Bohn midway through the third quarter, but the Shamrocks were held in check the rest of the way by the Bowling Green defense.

“We played hard and I compliment our defense, but I think the field conditions probably hurt (Trinity), too,” Wallace said. “It was a very difficult situation to get any kind of footing on this field. That might have worked to our advantage a little bit.”

Smyth finished the game 17-for-24 for 196 yards, while Tim Phillips had 76 yards on 17 carries for Trinity.

“I thought we had a great game plan going in,” Trinity coach Bob Beatty said. “We had a great opening drive. We mixed it up well. It’s a good learning experience. There’s some positives, but there are also some game management things we have to get better at.”

Tevin Barksdale had 63 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Purples, who finished the game with just three first downs.

“I feel like the defensive played as a team,” Trinity senior linebacker Jordan Whiting said. “We understood their offensive scheme. We knew they weren’t so strong as far as the pass goes, so we just stepped it up as far as the run goes.”

Bowling Green will return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays at North Hardin.

THS 7 7 3 0 - 17

BGHS 0 0 0 0 - 0

First quarter

THS - Cameron Smyth 1 run (Cooper Bohn kick), 6:23

Second quarter

THS - Scott Radcliff 43 pass from Smyth (Bohn kick), 7:15

Third quarter

THS - Bohn 19 field goal, 7:47