It was a feast or famine Week 3 in northern Kentucky for high school football. Of the 12 games played, only one was decided by less than 17 points.

While the contenders continued to flex their muscles (Cooper, Highlands, Beechwood), others took a step back. Another Friday that pits a lot of top 10 matchups on this list should help continue to create more clarity on who reigns supreme in NKY. We’ve got No. 1 Cooper playing at No. 9 Campbell County, No. 2 Highlands playing at No. 4 Ryle, No. 3 Beechwood playing at No. 7 Simon Kenton, No. 5 Covington Catholic traveling to No. 8 Dixie Heights and No. 6 Newport Central Catholic taking on No. 10 Conner.

Can someone shake things up this week?

Rankings, big school top five, small school top five, 200-yard passing club, 100-yard rushing club, 100-yard receiving club, defensive and kicking standouts all below.

LINK nky Top 10

  1. Cooper (3-0, defeated Ryle 21-14) Previous Week 1: A dominant first half and five forced turnovers helped the Jaguars finally get the Battle of Union back on their side. Quarterback Cam O’Hara was impressive. Under pressure, out of the pocket, whatever he needed to do, he made all the throws. The defense showed up big once again. Campbell County and Great Crossing up next before the showdown at Highlands on Sept. 27.
Highlands running back Deven James had two rushing touchdowns in the Bluebirds 34-0 victory over Campbell County. Photo provided | Jenna Richey

2. Highlands (3-0, defeated Campbell County, 34-0) Previous Week 2: The defense continues to impress, Mario Litmer got some things going in the passing game and the Bluebirds are churning out nearly six yards per carry in the run game. A tough test at Ryle this week.

Beechwood running back Chase Flaherty had nearly 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns in their victory over Dixie Heights. Photo provided | Brandon Wheeler

3. Beechwood (3-0, defeated Dixie Heights, 41-20) Previous Week 4: The Tigers continue to show their balance in the passing and run game, passing for 289 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 260 yards and two scores as they blew away Dixie Heights. They’ve got two more tests until they get district play underway, at Simon Kenton and Covington Catholic the next two weeks. They win those two, they have to be feeling pretty good about what their RPI will look like come November.

Ryle’s defense was swarming on Friday night against Cooper. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

4. Ryle (2-1, lost to Cooper, 21-14) Previous Week 3: Despite four turnovers, the Raiders were getting the ball back in a 14-14 game with under a minute to play. Then a fifth turnover on a muffed punt finally did them in. The Raiders defensive front can take them far if they can start getting things going more offensively. They’ve tallied 15 tackles for loss and nine sacks in the first three games. Week two of the four-week gauntlet of a schedule continues this week against Highlands.

CovCath’s Dylan Gaiser (9) ran for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Photo provided | Marc Figgins

5. Covington Catholic (1-2, defeated Simon Kenton, 42-3) Previous Week 6: The Colonels broke into the win column in a big way over the Pioneers. Running for 408 yards and intercepting four passes, Friday night’s performance is one that can go a long way for a young team looking to build some confidence. Two big ones on deck with Dixie Heights and Beechwood before district play begins.

6. Newport Central Catholic (3-0, defeated Scott, 55-26) Previous Week 9: Two straight dominant performances gets the Thoroughbreds a boost in the rankings. Emmanuel Miles was perfect in the passing game on Friday, hitting on all eight of his passes for 232 yards and five touchdowns. The next three games will let us know how good NewCath really is: Conner, Campbell County and Raceland before district play begins.

Simon Kenton’s offense struggled with turnovers in the loss to Covington Catholic. Photo provided | Marc Figgins

7. Simon Kenton (2-1, lost to Covington Catholic, 42-3) Previous Week 5: It was a rough night for the Pioneers in Park Hills on Friday. Four turnovers and allowing over 400 rushing yards will come with the end result. They’ll need to regroup quickly with Beechwood coming to town this week.

Dixie Heights totaled 386 yards of offense in the loss to Beechwood. Photo provided | Brandon Wheeler

8. Dixie Heights (1-2, lost to Beechwood, 41-20) Previous Week 7: Moving the ball wasn’t an issue with 386 total yards in the loss to Beechwood, but stopping the opponent was, surrendering nearly 500 yards of offense. CovCath up next in the battle of the Colonels.

Campbell County’s Garyn Jackson finds what little running room the Camels had. Photo provided | Jenna Richey

9. Campbell County (1-2, lost to Highlands, 34-0) Previous Week 8: The Camels were without their starting quarterback on Friday and it showed as they committed five turnovers and barely cleared 200 yards on the evening. It doesn’t get any easier this week as Cooper comes to pay a visit.

10. Conner (2-1, defeated Lafayette, 38-0) Previous Week 10: The Cougars stay in the top 10 after a dominant victory over Lafayette. The Generals were held to 122 yards of offense while the Cougars racked up amassed 339 yards offensively.

Next up: Lloyd Memorial, Newport

Big School Top 5 (4A-6A)

  1. Cooper

2. Highlands

3. Ryle

4. Covington Catholic

5. Simon Kenton

Small School Top 5 (1A-3A)

  1. Beechwood

2. Newport Central Catholic

3. Lloyd Memorial

4. Newport

5. Bishop Brossart

Next up: Ludlow

200-yard Passing Club

Cam O’Hara, Cooper: 25-for-41, 356 yds, 2 TD

Clay Hayden, Beechwood: 14-for-22, 289 yds, 4 TD

Rio Litmer, Highlands: 15-for-21, 238 yds, TD

Mason Fields, Dixie Heights: 14-for-31, 234 yds, TD

Emmanuel Miles, Newport Central Catholic: 8-for-8, 232 yards, 5 TD

Brady Lee, Simon Kenton: 16-for-27, 216 yds

100-Yard Rushing Club

Dylan Gaiser, Covington Catholic: 14 rushes, 210 yards, 3 TD

Chase Flaherty, Beechwood: 31 rushes, 189 yds, TD

Cash Harney, Covington Catholic: 8 rushes, 126 yards

100-Yard Receiving Club

Grayson Harris, Simon Kenton: 10 rec, 162 yds

Luke Erdman, Beechwood: 5 rec, 146 yds, 3 TD

Isaiah Johnson, Cooper: 7 rec, 123 yds, TD

Jaidan Combs, Cooper: 7 rec, 121 yds, TD

David Anderson, Dixie Heights: 6 rec, 108 yds

Defensive Standouts

Aven Bohms, Simon Kenton: 11 tackles

Max Neal, Dixie Heights: 10 tackles

Braylon Thornberry, Holy Cross: 10 tackles

Jacob Yates, Campbell County: 9 tackles, sack, interception

Lamiego Mutongwiza, Dixie Heights: 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack

Aiden Dowds, Campbell County: 9 tackles

Tyler Morehead, Dixie Heights: 9 tackles

Ryker Campbell, Cooper: 8 tackles, 2 interceptions

Jacob Savage, Ryle: 8 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, sack

Brody Aylor, Beechwood: 8 tackles, tackle for loss

Elijah Depperschmidt, Campbell County: 8 tackles, tackle for loss

James Cusick, Beechwood: 8 tackles

Tucker Ober, Simon Kenton: 8 tackles

Brayden Schoborg, Simon Kenton: 8 tackles

Brody Waddell, Beechwood: 7.5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, .5 sack

Lockland Carmichael, Campbell County: 7 tackles

Spencer Brandenburg, Ludlow: 7 tackles

Isaac Mason, Campbell County: 6 tackles, fumble recovery

Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial: 6 tackles, fumble recovery

Nicholas Krallman, Covington Catholic: 6 tackles, sack

Dylan Lee, Ryle: 6 tackles, tackle for loss, sack

Dominic Storer, Dixie Heights: 6 tackles, .5 sack

Landon Brown, Simon Kenton: 6 tackles, tackle for loss

Cameron Mandel, Bishop Brossart: 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack, interception return for TD, fumble forced

Isaac Brown, Cooper: 5 tackles, tackle for loss, interception

Dax Bolen, Cooper: 5 tackles, interception

Dillon Smith, Ryle: 5 tackles, 2 sacks

Beau Faul, Ryle: 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack

Jordan Pendleton, Bellevue: 4 tackles, 2 interceptions

Kaleb Cole, Newport Central Catholic: 4 tackles, INT return for TD

Tate Kruer, Covington Catholic: 4 tackles, interception

Camrin O’Donnell, Lloyd Memorial: 4 tackles, interception

Elijah Collins, Lloyd Memorial: 4 tackles, fumble forced

Derrick Fortner, Bellevue: 4 tackles, sack

Mason Baas, Newport Central Catholic: 4 tackles, sack

Landon Lorms, Ryle: 4 tackles, fumble forced

Shane Willike, Bishop Brossart: 3 tackles, interception

Landon Geyer, Bishop Brossart: 3 tackles, sack

Carson Evans, Ludlow: 3 tackles, sack

Aiden Dance, Newport Central Catholic: 3 tackles, sack

Mason Krentz, Scott: 2 tackles, fumble recovery for TD

Aiden Robinson, Scott: 2 tackles, fumble recovery

Zach Brooks, Covington Catholic: 2 tackles, interception

Tyler Copeland, Lloyd Memorial: 2 tackles, fumble recovery

Austin Alexander, Cooper: 2 tackles, sack

Landon Kraft, Newport Central Catholic: 2 tackles, sack

Torin Bryant, Highlands,: 2 tackles for loss

Jacob Wimzie, Holmes: 2 tackles for loss

Adam Surrey, Highlands: 2 interceptions, 1 INT return for TD

Keegan Gulley, Bishop Brossart: interception, fumble recovery

Dominic Gregory, Highlands: 2 fumble recoveries

Ben Colwell, Newport Central Catholic: sack, interception

Quinten Tischner, Bishop Brossart: sack, fumble recovery

Braylee Fredrick, Bellevue: Fumble recovery

Gabe Williams, Highlands: Fumble recovery

Ryan Handorf, Ryle: fumble recovery

Cameron Vice, Scott: tackle for loss, fumble forced

Brady Guard, Covington Catholic: interception

Henry Atkins, Covington Catholic: interception

Chris Meyer, Newport Central Catholic: interception

Amari Rodgers, Bellevue: sack

Austin Castrucci, Bellevue: sack

Carson Clark, Cooper: sack

Maxwell Newman, Highlands: sack

Jace Wiloughby, Highlands: sack

Kickers Need Love, Too

Louie Collopy, Newport Central Catholic: 7/8 PAT

Colson Lair, Beechwood: 5/5 PAT

Max Runge, Bishop Brossart: 5/6 PAT

Ryan Urti, Covington Catholic: 4/5 PAT

Eyler Tibbs, Cooper: 3/3 PAT

Logan Nickelman, Highlands: 2/2 PAT, 2/3 FG

William McElheney, Holy Cross: 1/1 FG

Tyler Cleveland, Simon Kenton: 1/1 FG

Missing stats from: Conner, Dayton