THURSDAY
*** NEWPORT (0-1) at BISHOP BROSSART (1-0), 7 p.m.: The visiting Class 2A Wildcats have had a full week to digest – and respond to – their 48-6 opening loss to Mason County that saw virtually nothing Newport tried to do go well. Class A Brossart, meanwhile, coming off a 12-1 season a year ago, benefited from a number of Dayton mistakes in a surprising 28-18 road win for the young Mustangs who will have a short week going into Thursday’s game.
FRIDAY
*** BELLEVUE (0-1) at METCALFE COUNTY (1-0), 7 p.m.: Big trip down to Edmonton for the few-in-number Tigers who dropped their opener 48-0 last week to Holy Cross and now have to face another 2A team, one that whipped up on them, 53-7, a year ago in Bellevue. Things just don’t get any easier for the Tigers against a Metcalfe team that opened with a 12-9 win over Barren County.
*** PAINTSVILLE (1-0) at BEECHWOOD (1-0), 7:30 p.m.: The Tigers come home to Ft. Mitchell after their 36-0 win at Louisville Fairdale and are scheduled to unveil Antonio Robinson Jr., the multi-position transfer from Florida as he comes back from a hamstring injury. Will the Wake Forest commit and No. 2 prospect in Kentucky spend some time at quarterback where freshman Cash Harney debuted so successfully last Saturday? Should be interesting to see how Beechwood uses him. Paintsville opened with a 21-14 win over Floyd Central.
*** SCOTT (0-1) vs. BOONE COUNTY (1-0), 7 p.m.: After hanging on for a hang-tough 20-18 win at Russell last week, the Rebels of Bryson Warner head home to Florence to host a wounded Scott Eagles team that lost 31-14 to Class 2A Walton-Verona. Big chance for the Rebels to show they’re back.
*** COOPER (0-1) at DIXIE HEIGHTS (1-0), 7 p.m.: After coming away with the closest possible win margin,13-12, over Lloyd Memorial, the Dixie Heights Colonels host a Cooper team that lost, 28-0, at George Rogers Clark. Both teams need this one even if it’s not a district game.
*** LLOYD MEMORIAL (0-1) at GRANT COUNTY (0-1), 7 p.m.: Coming off a tough 13-12 loss to Dixie Heights, Lloyd hits the road to Dry Ridge to face a Grant County team that Holmes crushed, 68-12, in the opener. Big chance for the Juggs to get on the right side of the record book here.
*** WALTON-VERONA (1-0) vs. HOLY CROSS (1-0), 7 p.m.: Two Class 2A teams coming off wins face off in a non-district game that could send each of them off their separate 2A ways. Looking for a big score here with a pair of teams that can light it up and air it out.
*** LOCKLAND (Ohio) at LUDLOW (1-0), 7 p.m.: After romping 48-20 over Gallatin County in their opener, the Panthers return home to Rigney Stadium to face an Ohio team and show the home folks what a bounce-back season looks like. Getting to host a Lockland team that lost 72-6 to Reading last week won’t hurt.
*** HOLMES (1-0) vs. NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC (0-1) at CovCath, 7 p.m.: Two different scenarios here. Class 4A Holmes was way too powerful for Grant County in a 68-12 win last week while Class A NewCath couldn’t quite get its act together in a 28-18 loss at 6A Campbell County. It’s not going to get any easier for the Breds this week against Curtez Hill & Co.
*** DAYTON (0-1) at PENDLETON COUNTY (0-1), 7:30 p.m.: After an error-filled 28-18 loss to Bishop Brossart a week ago, the Greendevils may find their way back to the positive side of the W-L ledger this week down in Falmouth where they face a Pendleton County team that lost 46-12 at Pike County Central.
*** SIMON KENTON (1-0) at HIGHLANDS (0-1), 7 p.m.: Hard to say which team needs this game more. For the homestanding Bluebirds after a shockingly disappointing 49-14 loss in their opener against defending state 5A champs South Warren, the chance to bounce back and defend their turf at David Cecil Memorial Stadium is the perfect time and place to show the opener was a one-off that won’t affect the rest of their season for second-year coach Bob Sphire. For the visiting 6A Pioneers under new coach Roy Lucas Jr., it’s a chance to show that their shockingly dominant 56-16 win over an Oldham County team that went 8-3 a year ago was no fluke. And the Independence team, despite last year’s 2-9 record, is for real. Fourth-year quarterback Chase Crone, who threw for 171 yards and two TD last week, is the real deal but so too, it appears, is a Simon Kenton defense that was so porous last season in a 53-38 home loss to the Birds. While the Pioneer defense was stout in limiting Oldham County to 152 yards, the Highlands’ offense, saddled by five turnovers, generated just 139 yards.
*** RYLE (0-1) at CONNER (0-1), 7 p.m.: Bouncing back in Week 2 is the way to go here although only one of the Boone County rivals who lost to Lexington schools a week ago on the road, will be able to do so this week. At least 6A Ryle fell to a top team at Lexington Catholic (27-21) while for a young Conner team, the 25-14 loss to a not-so-good Henry Clay was a bit more surprising. Tough game for Conner in Hebron after getting more than doubled up in yardage allowed in the opener with a Ryle team led by quarterback Logan Verax that piled up 431 yards of offense in losing last week and has won seven of the last eight in this series.
*** CAMPBELL COUNTY (1-0) at WOODFORD COUNTY (1-0), 7:30 p.m.: Big opening 28-18 win over Newport Central Catholic for new coach Brian Weinrich and his Camels who face a big challenge this week on the road at Class 5A semifinalist Woodford County, a team that thrashed Covington Catholic 28-14 in the playoffs a year ago and beat LaRue County 43-8 in its opener. The Camels need QB Nathan Smith to repeat his 347-yard (158 passing, 189 rushing, three TD) offensive performance in the opener.
SATURDAY
HIGH SCHOOL
*** COVINGTON CATHOLIC (0-1) vs. PIKEVILLE (1-0), 7 p.m.: How much will the second-half comeback in a 42-21 home loss to Cincinnati Elder stay with CovCath’s Colonels on the long trip to the Pike County Bowl for a matchup with perennial Class A power Pikeville, a 24-19 winner over Corbin in last week’s opener. Does QB Evan Pitzer, the 6-4 junior who stepped up to lead CovCath to three second-half TDs, get the call? And does the magic that happened with CovCath’s win a year ago against Belfry, also in a bowl game in the mountains, remain?
COLLEGE
*** BLUEFIELD at THOMAS MORE (7 p.m.): Coming off a 5-5 season and moving into an 11-game schedule for 2022 with a new head coach, Chris Norwell, the former University of Illinois defensive line standout now in his 13th year on the TMU staff, the Saints kick things off Saturday night in Crestview Hills. Thomas More beat Bluefield’s Rams, 45-33, on the road a year ago and have the top two quarterbacks (Blaine Espinoza and Rae’Von Vaden), running back Maleek Jarrett, and wide receiver Roques Dowdy) back to execute new coordinator Bryan Moore’s “pace and space” scheme that forces teams to defend the entire field.
