The Ryle Raiders extended their winning streak to five in a row against the county rival Conner Cougars with a 28-7 win Friday in Union.
Both teams are 1-1 as the Raiders have also won 9 of the last 10 meetings with the Cougars.
“We settled down at halftime,” said Mike Engler, Ryle head coach. “We have a very young football team. We don’t play a lot of seniors. They’re starting to get better. They’re starting to figure some things out. We just have to keep on improving and move on to the next game.”
Ryle put up a balanced attack going for 162 yards on the ground and senior quarterback Logan Verax completed 10-of-19 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Verax also rushed for 83 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown.
But Verax had plenty of help. Dylan Lee led all Raider receivers with three catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns. JR Hayes added 10 carries for 71 yards rushing.
“We definitely took a lot of steps forward just with learning from all the penalties,” Verax said. “They’re bad penalties. But it definitely teaches the younger guys what to do and what not to do on certain stuff. You can tell as the game went on, all the young guys stepped up and did what they had to do to get the team a victory.”
Ryle plays host to Cooper (2-0) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Conner plays at Lafayette at 7:30 p.m. down in Lexington the same day.
Football
Cooper 42, Henry Clay 2
The Cooper Jaguars hosted the artist formerly known as the “Great Statesman”, Henry Clay on the plains off Longbranch, Friday night. The Jaguars scored early and often, displaying a balanced offense and a stingy defense. Â
The blue and gold clad Blue Devils got the ball first and connected on a 65 yard pass to dent the red zone, as that proved to be the high water mark for Henry Clay’s offense for the evening.Â
Henry Clay’s Ethan Cooper clanged a 38-yard field goal off the left upright and the Jaguars took possession and went right to work. With 6:56 left in the first quarter, junior Mason Stanton opened the offensive deluge for the Jags by plowing in from three yards out to get the scoring started.
On the ensuing possession, the Jaguars converted a Henry Clay turnover into six quick points, when sophomore Cam O’Hara connected with junior Isaiah Johnson for a 12-yard touchdown 50 seconds later.
It was the first of three scoring tosses for O’Hara in the first quarter. O’Hara connected with junior Austin Alexander for a 33-yard touchdown, then hooked up again with Johnson again for a 33-yard scoring strike to put Cooper up 28-0 after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, sophomore Keagan Maher scored on back-to-back four-yard touchdown runs to get the game into a running clock with just 26 seconds left in the half.
Despite the quick strike scoring for the Jaguars, it was their defense that stymied Henry Clay. Last week the Jaguars did a yeoman’s job against the vaunted Bardstown Tiger running game and tonight improved upon their performance from a week ago by holding Henry Clay to just one rushing yard on 21 attempts.
With a running clock after halftime, the Jaguar JV team played the entire second half and allowed the Jaguars to rest their starting offensive and defensive units ahead of next week’s crosstown matchup along Fowler’s Creek versus Ryle.
Cooper (2-0) outgained Henry Clay, 334-155 in total offense including the 142-1 advantage on the ground. O’Hara completed 11-of-12 passes for 181 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Johnson led the Jaguars with six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Cooper showed its balance rushing for 142 yards on 22 carries. Maher led the Jaguars with seven carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
Henry Clay (0-2) turned the ball over twice. Colton Graham had a fumble recovery and Ryker Campbell picked off a Blue Devil pass for the Jaguars.
Alexander had two catches for 43 yards and a touchdown on offense and led the Jaguars with four tackles including two quarterback sacks. Alex Vogelpohl and Max Wethington also had quarterback sacks as Cooper recorded 10 tackles for a loss.
Cooper plays at Ryle (1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m.
Newport 48, Holmes 6
The Wildcats snapped a three-game losing streak against the arch-rival Bulldogs with the convincing win in Covington.
Newport outgained Holmes, 310-67 in total offense. Kyle Lee threw for 111 yards to six different receivers and Rodzion Thompson rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Thompson also had a 31-yard touchdown reception. Ayden Stachel, Amonte Lowe and Jake Porter added rushing touchdowns.
“I think the really big thing our kids latched onto this week was really focusing just on us as a team,” said Ryan Hahn, Newport head coach. “I know that every team this week had to battle the heat. I know this was our first week with kids back in the building, so we had a lot going against us. But I think that they rallied around that. It was truly a team effort.”
Newport recorded 19 tackles for a loss defensively, including one sack. Porter had nine tackles, including three for a loss and a sack.
Newport travels to Pendleton County (0-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Holmes plays at Lloyd Memorial (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Bethel-Tate (Ohio) 18, Bishop Brossart 14
The Mustangs lost a tight one at home in a game that saw neither team score in the second half.
The visiting Tigers (1-1) outgained the Mustangs, 218-190 in total offense. Cameron Mandel led Bishop Brossart offensively with 88 yards rushing on 14 carries and two catches for 22 yards.
The Brossart passing game improved this week as quarterback Keegan Gulley completed 13-of-27 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown. Luke Schroeder led all receivers with six catches for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Turnovers wound up being a difference in this one. Both teams threw one pick, but Brossart also lost a fumble. The Tigers had an interception return 34 yards for a touchdown to make the final score in the second quarter.
Brossart recorded three sacks defensively. Alex Amin returned an interception 12 yards for the Mustangs.
Brossart travels to Pineville (0-2) on Sept. 2 for a 6 p.m. game.
North Bullitt 56, Scott 25
Trey Cook threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns, but the Eagles struggled to get stops on Friday night in Taylor Mill.
Scott surrendered 448 yards on defense in the lopsided loss.
Kaymon Coleman had 132 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Nate Brooks had five receptions for 76 yards and AJ Lowe had four receptions for 73 yards. Dylan Giffen and Cameron Vice each caught touchdown passes.
Drew Grindstaff and Paul Kramer had interceptions.
Scott (0-2) looks to get in the win column next week when they play at Newport Central Catholic (1-1).
Other Football Scores
Dixie Heights 33, Hughes (Ohio) 8
Dayton 48, Pendleton County 17
Holy Cross 32, Dohn Community (Ohio) 14
Trimble County 8, Bellevue 6
Girls Soccer Score
Pendleton County 4, Ludlow 1
Volleyball Scores
Cooper 2, East Jessamine 1 (25-10, 19-25, 15-9)
Lexington Catholic 2, Conner 1 (25-21, 21-25, 17-15)