Each week, throughout the season, make sure to come here on Monday’s to check out the weekly standouts and 10 takeaways from Friday night.
We’ll highlight the 200-yard passers, 100-yard rushers, 100-yard receivers, defensive standouts and kicking standouts.
First and 10 (10 takeaways from Friday night)
— There’s a legit chance Dayton is going to have two running backs end the season with over 1,000 rushing yards. Malachi Kennedy has 818 rushing yards and Kaden Anderson with 638. With three regular season games left and the postseason, it’s trending that way. Oh yeah, the Greendevils are also 7-0 with a huge contest up on Friday when they host Newport Central Catholic. Dayton’s last win over NewCath came in 1998.
— Highlands-Elder. Shew, what a game. What a heavyweight fight is like. Back and forth, blow for blow. Despite the loss, the Bluebirds will still be the No. 1 team in 4A on my ballot. They’ve proven time after time this season they can play with anyone.
— The Kiyan Miller train rolls on. Despite Covington Catholic’s 28-20 loss to Cathedral (IN) on Friday, Miller ran for 163 yards and three touchdowns. That gives him 971 yards rushing and 20 rushing touchdowns on the season. Again, he’s just a sophomore…
— Beechwood’s Nathan Pabst and Tyler Fryman have now combined to score 35 touchdowns in seven games for the Tigers. Pabst is up to 20 touchdowns on the year, 15 for Fryman. They’ve done it in a variety of ways, too. Rushing, receiving, kickoff returns and interception returns.
— Dixie Heights’ Levi Gilliland is the next running back on the cusp of a 1,000 yard season. He’s up to 904 yards after Thursday’s 142-yard, four touchdown performance against Conner. He can thank his last four games. He has 724 yards and 11 touchdowns in the four-game stretch.
— Important district battles to look for this week: Bracken County at St. Henry (Thursday), Ludlow at Bishop Brossart, Simon Kenton at Campbell County, NewCath at Dayton, Great Crossing at Ryle.
— Shout out to former Cooper standout Isaiah Johnson for his first career touchdown at the college level, catching a 15-yard touchdown pass in Citadel’s 34-16 loss to East Tennessee State University. Johnson did a year of prep school after graduating high school and Saturday’s touchdown grab was his first career college reception. Standing at 6-foot-3, Johnson has bulked up to 210 pounds.
— Here’s your latest RPI check-in with three weeks left in the regular season:
6A: Ryle 14th, Simon Kenton 20th, Campbell County 21st
5A: Cooper 8th, Dixie Heights 26th, Conner 31st, Scott 36th, Boone County 37th
4A: Highlands 4th, Covington Catholic 13th
3A: Lloyd Memorial 6th
2A: Beechwood 1st, Walton-Verona 13th, St. Henry 17th
1A: Dayton 7th, Holy Cross 13th, Bishop Brossart 15th, Ludlow 16th, Newport Central Catholic 20th, Newport 23rd, Bellevue 26th
The RPI freezes after the last week of the season on Oct. 30
— Holmes got their second win of the season on Saturday in a 14-13 victory over Ohio County. It’s their second win of the season, matching last year’s win total. After losing 26 games in a row from 2023-25, Holmes is now 4-9 in their last 13. Progress.
— We’ll have season stats leaders out later this week!
200-yard passers
Bryce Armstrong, Highlands — 11/18, 220 yds, TD
Emmett Queen, Beechwood — 10/13, 213 yds, 4 TD
Brycen Schatzman, Dixie Heights — 15/18, 210 yds
100-yard rushers
Kiyan Miller, Covington Catholic — 36 rushes, 163 yds, 3 TD
Malachi Kennedy, Dayton — 8 rushes, 154 yds, TD
Cruze Sauley, Ryle — 18 rushes, 154 yds
Colten Barger, Lloyd Memorial — 15 rushes, 152 yds, TD
Levi Gilliland, Dixie Heights — 22 rushes, 142 yds, 4 TD
Kaden Anderson, Dayton — 6 rushes, 104 yds
Van Hundemer, Newport Central Catholic — 21 rushes, 100 yds, TD
100-yard receivers
John Feldbruegge, Highlands — 5 receptions, 168 yds, TD
Tyler Fryman, Beechwood — 6 receptions, 124 yds, 2 TD
Defensive standouts
Samuel Ishmael, Scott — 22 tackles, tackle for loss, interception, fumble recovery
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 18 tackles, tackle for loss
Sean Hurry, Newport — 15 tackles, 2 sacks
Charlie Park, Ryle — 15 tackles
Rahn Keyser, Ryle — 14 tackles, sack
Brad Roaden, Dixie Heights — 12 tackles
Demareon Peterson, Lloyd Memorial — 12 tackles
Dustin Wilson, Holy Cross — 11 tackles, interception
Landon Helton, Scott — 10 tackles
Matthew Brown, Scott — 10 tackles
Colton Turner, Scott — 10 tackles
Damarco Jackson, Newport — 9 tackles, interception
Colt Kremer, Highlands — 9 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Elias Lopez-Torres, Dayton — 9 tackles, tackle for loss
Brandon Smith, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles
Jonah Rector, Scott — 9 tackles
Kyle Henry, Dixie Heights — 8 tackles, interception
Ryan Savicki, Ryle — 8 tackles, interception
Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 8 tackles, 5 tackles for loss
Aiden Dolan, Lloyd Memorial — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Aiden Arana, Dixie Heights — 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, tackle for loss
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 8 tackles, tackle for loss
Jason Rieselman, Holy Cross — 8 tackles
Elijah Brandt, Newport — 8 tackles
Hayden Wright, Ryle — 8 tackles
Jaxon Miller, Bishop Brossart — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Cameron Rahschulte, Ryle — 7 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss
Xavier Thornberry, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, kickoff return for TD
Luke Tomlin, Scott — 6 tackles, sack, forced fumble
Stone Eickhoff, Lloyd Memorial — 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Charlie Swendiman, Dixie Heights — 6 tackles, 1.5 sacks, tackle for loss
Malachi Snapp, Scott — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, forced fumble
Blake Fryman, Bellevue — 5 tackles, forced fumble
Gabe Williams, Highlands — 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Traecin Castaneda, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, interception
Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, sack, 3 tackles for loss
Cooper Burch, Walton-Verona — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Malachi Kennedy, Dayton — 4 tackles, interception return for TD
Kyle Ritter, Beechwood — 4 tackles, tackle for loss, forced fumble
Jesse Nunn, Ryle — 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 tackles for loss
Will Meyer, Newport Central Catholic — 4 tackles, 2 sacks
Drake Ramirez, Newport Central Catholic — 3 tackles, fumble recovery for TD
Will Wainscott, Beechwood — 3 tackles, interception
Evan Kincaid, Ryle — 3 tackles, interception
Dustin Hamilton, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, sack, fumble recovery
Colton Ewing, Newport Central Catholic — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Jeremiah Yutze, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Kolt Edwards, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, interception
Evan West, Lloyd Memorial — 2 sacks, fumble recovery
Bo Sowder, Beechwood — 2 tackles for loss
Ben Chalfin, Holy Cross — 2 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Wesly Simpson, Walton-Verona — interception return for TD
William Stevie, Newport Central Catholic — interception, forced fumble
Tayden Lorenzen, Highlands — sack, tackle for loss, safety
Caleb Arrasmith, Beechwood — fumble recovery
Roco Gillette, Covington Catholic — fumble recovery
Everett Rayburn, Holy Cross — fumble recovery
Shawn Kata, Simon Kenton — fumble recovery
Kicking standouts
Easton Niemeyer, Dixie Heights — 5/6 PAT, 1/1 FG
Jack Mercer, Beechwood — 7/8 PAT
Jack Basinger, Ryle — 1/1 PAT, 2/3 FG
Jaiden Wittrock, Newport Central Catholic — 2/2 PAT, 1/1 FG
Colton Engel, Walton-Verona — 6/6 PAT
Mari Acosta, Scott — 5/5 PAT
Gabriel Romito, Holy Cross — 5/6 PAT
Missing stats: Boone County, Campbell County, Holmes
Bye week: Cooper, Ludlow
