We gave you the 50 greatest sports icons from NKY last summer. Since we had so much fun with that, we’re bringing you another list of the 50 greatest things this summer…The 50 greatest prep sports teams from NKY.
Each day for the next 50 days, we’ll release one of the area’s 50 greatest prep sports teams. It starts June 22 and runs into August. This is not a ranking 1-50, it’s just a collection of the 50 best sports teams ever assembled.
We’ll preface this by saying you may or may not agree with all 50 and that’s fine. Sports editor Evan Dennison assembled a panel of dedicated and longly-tenured NKY sports fans to weigh in and give their takes on who should be on the list. I trust those people because of their history and knowledge of the game in NKY. We compiled numerous lists and identified the most certain candidates for inclusion.
Some of the traits we sought in these teams were state championships (almost certainly a requirement), dominance, and standout players and coaches. We may have cheated a little by lumping some dominant teams together that achieved numerous consecutive state titles, but that gives a few more teams an opportunity to be recognized.
I hope you enjoy this, as sports are slow in the summer. This list serves as a way to remember the past a little and keep you entertained daily as it continues.
Another note, while we respect and give coverage to golf, tennis, wrestling, bowling, track and field and cross country, we consider those individual sports, so any teams from those sports will not make the list.
Here we go!
1975 Ludlow football
When a restaurant opens nearly 50 years after a football season and is named in honor of that team—1975 – Burgers Shakes and Fries, now closed—it’s a testament to a legacy that has never faded.
The 1975 Panthers finished 12-1 and captured the Kentucky Class A State Championship with a 7-6 victory over Heath at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. The title remains Ludlow’s only football state championship.
The Panthers dominated throughout the season, recording four shutouts, winning nine games by double-digit margins, and outscoring opponents by an average of 18 points per game. Along the way, they defeated larger schools, including Dixie Heights, 14-7, for the program’s first victory over the Colonels since 1965.
The offense revolved around All-State halfback and team captain Jim Lokesak, who rushed for 2,001 yards and led Kentucky with 179 points. In the championship game, Lokesak rushed for 119 yards, scored Ludlow’s only touchdown, and kicked the game-winning extra point. Quarterback Nick Scharf and offensive lineman Matt Jones joined Lokesak as team captains. Scharf and Jones were later inducted into the Ludlow High School Hall of Fame, while Jones also earned induction into the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.
First-year head coach Randy Reese orchestrated the historic season. He’s the youngest coach to win a Kentucky football state championship and the only coach to capture a state title in his first season at a school. Reese was named Kentucky High School Coach of the Year in 1975 and later won two more state championships at Paris before being inducted into the KHSAA Dawahares Hall of Fame in 2023.
Ludlow’s title remains the school’s only football state championship and was its only team state championship in any sport for nearly a quarter-century.
Here’s the rundown of the 50 greatest NKY prep sports teams day by day:
Day 1: 1998 Highlands Football
Day 2: 1963 Holmes Baseball
Day 3: 2019 Covington Catholic football
Day 4: 2021 Notre Dame Academy Girls Soccer
Day 5: 1960 Highlands Football
Day 6: 1980 Villa Madonna Volleyball
Day 7: 1976 Lloyd Memorial Football
Day 8: 2009 Holmes Boys Basketball
Day 9: 1991 Beechwood Football
Day 10: 1954 Newport Catholic Baseball
Day 11: 1982 Highlands Football
Day 12: 2019 Ryle Girls Basketball
Day 13: 1987 Boone County Football
Day 14: 1981 St. Henry Volleyball
Day 15: 2021 Beechwood Football
Day 16: 2002 Covington Catholic Baseball
Day 17: 1957 Highlands Football
Day 18: 2006 Ryle Softball
Day 19: 1975 Ludlow Football
Day 20: 1979 Notre Dame Volleyball
Day 21: 1977 Bellevue Football
Day 22: 2015 Holy Cross Girls Basketball
Day 23: 1970 Highlands Football
Day 24: 2013 Notre Dame Soccer
Day 25: 2011 Highlands Football
Day 26: 2015 Covington Catholic Soccer
Day 27: 1997 Beechwood Football
Day 28: 1994 Highlands Girls Basketball
Day 29: 2017 Covington Catholic Football
Day 30: 1978 Holmes Boys Basketball
Day 31: 1996 Highlands Football
Day 32: 1981 Simon Kenton Boys Basketball
Day 33: 1946 Holmes Football
Day 34: 2014 Covington Catholic Basketball
Day 35: 1951 Bellevue Football
Day 36: 2021 Highlands Boys Basketball
Day 37: 1940 Newport Baseball
Day 38: 2018 Covington Catholic Basketball
Day 39: 2022 Notre Dame Volleyball
Day 40: 2005-06 Highlands Girls Soccer