The outcomes made it feel like the first round of the playoffs on Friday night.
Of the 13 games played that featured Northern Kentucky teams, the average margin of victory was 37 points with only one game settled by seven points or less.
District play can do that at times with some lopsided matchups. Here’s to more competitive games as the regular season hits its final five weeks.
Shout out this week goes to the offense at Highlands. The Bluebirds are doing things on that side of the football that has certainly been seen before in Fort Thomas. Highlands is putting up similar numbers to the 1998-2000 teams that put up over 50 points per game on their way to three straight state championships. Over the last four weeks, Highlands is averaging 54.2 points per game, scoring at will and counting on one hand the number of times they’ve had to punt. They’re doing it in a variety of ways, led by an o-line that’s dominating, a rushing attack spearheaded by quarterback Brody Benke and Cameron Giesler with Benke keeping the defense honest, on Friday five of his 13 completions going for touchdowns. It’s hard to just key in on one guy in this offense, multiple playmakers making plays every week.
Here goes…
- Covington Catholic (6-0, Previous Week: 1) — The Colonels got everyone involved in their 61-0 victory over Holmes, 11 different ball carriers tallying 272 yards and five touchdowns while Evan Pitzer needed just six completions to finish with 226 yards and four touchdowns. The Colonels ran 21 plays on Friday offensively, nine of them went for touchdowns. With four games to go, CovCath’s chances of a 10-0 regular season are looking more imminent.
2. Highlands (5-1,Previous Week: 2) — See above on the offense. They had over 400 yards of it in the first half in the 58-51 victory over Cooper. A win Friday at Dixie Heights would put them in the driver’s seat for a No. 1 seed in the district.
3. Beechwood (5-1, Previous Week: 3) — The Tigers racked up 382 yards on 35 plays, taking a running clock into halftime against visiting Gallatin County. Beechwood could see similar weeks ahead headed into November. Six different ball carriers and eight different receivers caught a pass in Friday’s win.
4. Lloyd Memorial (6-0, Previous Week: 4) — Another dominating defensive performance from the Juggs, forcing Newport into negative rushing yards and getting eight sacks. A bye week and then Pendleton County before Lexington Catholic comes to Erlanger for Lloyd’s first big test of the season. It will be a hot ticket for two of the top five teams in Class 3A.
5. Ryle (2-3, Previous Week 5) — A bye week at the right time for the Raiders as they’ve been nicked up through the first part of the season. An angry St. Xavier team comes to Union this week, another good gauge for the Raiders as they’ve taken on four top 10 teams in their respective classes already.
6. Simon Kenton (3-2, Previous Week: 7) — The Pioneers have found their rhythm offensively, another big game on the ground with 200-plus rushing yards. Durrell Turner has 652 rushing yards over the last three games, adding 146 and a score to that tally in Friday’s victory over Dunbar. Brady Lee continues to be precise at quarterback as they get a bye week to get ready for district play. First up is Great Crossing on Oct. 6. The big one is Ryle Oct. 20.
7. Dixie Heights (2-3, Previous Week: 8) — The Colonels had a nearly flawless performance in a 53-0 win over Boone County. Not only did they complete every pass, but they collected 11.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception. Armani Gregg went 9-for-9, six of those completions for touchdowns for 194 yards while Brach Rice collected 3.5 of those sacks. Now they get a shot at Highlands. They’ve been close against Simon Kenton, Beechwood and Covington Catholic…can the Colonels pull off the upset?
8. Cooper (4-2, Previous Week: 6) — Just a good ole’ fashioned shootout in Union Friday night with the Bluebirds. Defense got two stops, but it came too late in the 58-51 loss to Highlands. The Jaguars offense had 50 pass plays and seven rushing plays in the contest. The good news? Cam O’Hara threw for 555 yards and six touchdowns in those attempts. The bad news? They had negative 14 rushing yards. A surprising result for the defense, having allowed 58 points in their first five games coming into the showdown with Highlands.
9. Conner (4-2, Previous Week: 9) — After a scoreless first quarter with Scott, the Cougars woke up with 24 points by halftime and eventually got the game to a running clock by the end of the third with a 38-0 victory. Conner ran for 181 yards while the defense posted their first shutout of the season against a team that came in averaging 27.5 points per game.
10. Campbell County (2-4, Previous Week: 10) — Despite 10 tackles for loss and six sacks, the Camels were unable to get much going offensively on Friday night in a 33-6 loss to Harrison (Ohio). Aiden Dowds had a standout game defensively with three sacks. Campbell County tallied 244 yards, but were unable to finish drives in the defeat.
Big School Top 5 (4A-6A)
- Covington Catholic
2. Highlands
3. Ryle
4. Simon Kenton
5. Dixie Heights
Small School Top 5 (1A-3A)
- Beechwood
2. Lloyd Memorial
3. Newport Central Catholic
4. Newport
5. Holy Cross
200-yard passing club
Cam O’Hara, Cooper vs Highlands (31/50, 555 yards, 6 TD)
Brody Benke, Highlands vs Cooper (13/18, 235 yards, 5 TD)
Evan Pitzer, Covington Catholic vs Holmes (6/8, 226 yards, 4 TD)
Clay Hayden, Beechwood vs Gallatin County (12/13, 208 yards, 3 TD)
100-yard rushing club
Cameron Giesler, Highlands vs Cooper (27 rushes, 204 yards, TD)
Brody Benke, Highlands vs Cooper (28 rushes, 190 yards, 2 TD)
Durrell Turner, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (9 rushes, 146 yards, TD)
Dameyn Anness, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (8 rushes, 117 yards, 2 TD)
100-yard receiving club
Isaiah Johnson, Cooper vs Highlands (8 receptions, 280 yards, 3 TD)
Austin Alexander, Cooper vs Highlands (13 receptions, 169 yards, 3 TD)
Carson Class, Highlands vs Cooper (6 receptions, 146 yards, 3 TD)
Defensive standouts
Jack Lonaker, Cooper vs Highlands (23 tackles)
Hunter Bradley, Scott vs Conner (14 tackles)
Ryker Campbell, Cooper vs Highlands (12 tackles)
Aven Bohms, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (12 tackles)
Mark Ober, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (12 tackles)
Brach Rice, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (11 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, fumble recovery)
Aiden Dowds, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (10 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks)
Hunter Wiseman, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (10 tackles, tackle for loss)
Owen Pitzer, Covington Catholic vs Holmes (10 tackles)
Nate Welch, Highlands vs Cooper (10 tackles)
Khalil Buck-Barber, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss)
Austin Alexander, Cooper vs Highlands (9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss)
Dameyn Anness, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 fumbles forced, fumble recovery for TD)
Mason Wiseman, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack)
Seth Moran, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (8 tackles, sack)
Adam Duncan, Conner vs Scott (7 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery)
Matt Brock, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (7 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery)
Landon Brown, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (7 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery)
Riley McGrath, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (7 tackles, tackle for loss)
Ayden Stachel, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (7 tackles, tackle for loss)
Austin Perriman, Cooper vs Highlands (6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception return for TD)
Blake Dodds, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (6 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks)
Grant Johnson, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (6 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, sack)
Amonte Lowe, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (6 tackles, tackle for loss)
Aba Selm, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss)
Caleb Milton, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (5 tackles, tackle for loss, sack)
Nathan Kitchens, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (5 tackles, tackle for loss)
Bryce Sizemore, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, .5 sack, fumble recovery)
Dominic Storer, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks)
Avander Abrams, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (4 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, sack)
Brayden Schoborg, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (4 tackles, tackle for loss)
Mason Haywood, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (4 tackles, tackle for loss, sack)
Josh Johnson, Scott vs Conner (4 tackles, sack)
Ethan Grimm, Highlands vs Cooper (4 tackles, tackle for loss)
Byron Conley, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (4 tackles, tackle for loss)
Yurii Collins Comer, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (3 tackles, sack, fumble recovery for TD)
Carson Shelton, Highlands vs Cooper (3 tackles, tackle for loss, sack, fumble recovery)
Evan Leitz, Conner vs Scott (3 tackles, fumble recovery)
Luke Schieber, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (3 tackles, tackle for loss)
Jayden Dodd, Scott vs Conner (3 tackles, tackle for loss)
Gabe Payne, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (3 tackles, tackle for loss)
Jaylan Hartless, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks)
Jake Putthoff, Simon Kenton vs Paul Laurence Dunbar (2 tackles for loss, interception)
Lavar Barrow, Campbell County vs Harrison (OH) (2 tackles, tackle for loss)
Breckin Ralston, Ludlow vs Pendleton County (2 tackles, tackle for loss)
Javon Burke, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (2 tackles, tackle for loss)
Sean Hurry, Newport vs Lloyd Memorial (2 tackles, tackle for loss)
Carter Schroer, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (2 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks)
TJ Jackson, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (2 tackles, 1.5 sacks)
Jonah Purnell, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (2 tackles, 1.5 sacks)
Jonas McDaniel, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (2 tackles, tackle for loss, sack)
Chase Valpreda, Dixie Heights vs Boone County (2 tackles, interception)
Amari Griffin, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (2 tackles, interception)
KyRon Carter, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (2 tackles, sack, forced fumble)
Diego Race, Highlands vs Cooper (tackle for loss)
Evan Johnson, Highlands vs Cooper (tackle for loss)
Talon Linder, Beechwood vs Gallatin County (interception)
Cash Harney, Covington Catholic vs Holmes (interception)
Zander Riegler, Beechwood vs Gallatin County (sack)
Kobe Collins, Holmes vs Covington Catholic (sack)
Mohammed Lafi, Lloyd Memorial vs Newport (sack)
Benjamin Smiddy, Scott vs Conner (sack)