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 today and runs into the first few days of 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 NKY sports fans to weigh in and give their takes on who should be on the list. We 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, track and field, wrestling, cross country, bowling and others, we consider those individual sports, so any of those teams will not make the list.
Here we go!
Highlands 1998 football team
The Bluebirds of the late 20th century didn’t just beat teams, they bludgeoned them.
So much so they outscored the opponent 801-203 in their 15-0 season that came with a Class 3A state title (only four classes at that time), their 13th title in program history. That’s an average of 53.4 points per game while giving up 13.5, an average margin of victory of 39.4 points per game. That’s an average of a running clock every game. Their closest game was a 51-41 victory over Male in the season opener, the same Male team that won a Class 4A state title that year (was only four classes in the state at the time). After that, no one came within 16 points of them the rest of the season.
Dale Mueller guided the team. Jared Lorenzen won Mr. Football with his teammate Derek Smith runner-up as the offense was next to unstoppable. “They didn’t even need to play the second half in over half the games,” their former coach Dale Mueller said.
Mr. Football (Lorenzen) threw for 3,392 yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for 904 yards and 15 touchdowns in ’98. Smith was a first team all-state selection in both football and basketball that season, three times earning the distinction in basketball and twice in football. The two went on to play at the University of Kentucky together, Lorenzen still UK’s all-time passing leader with 10,354 yards. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the New York Giants in 2008. Smith was an All-SEC tight end and ended up playing one year with the Cincinnati Bengals. The two are also members of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame and many other Halls of Fame.
Other standouts include Scott Kunhein, he was the 3A Kentucky Lineman of the Year and a “That’s My Boy” award recipient as well as a finalist for the Buddy LaRosa Athlete of the Year. Kuhnhein earned a full athletic scholarship to play football at The Ohio State University (OSU) where he was a member of the 2002 National Championship team and a three-time letter winner.
Other top players included Noah Gibson, Brian Ulbright, Brennan Jones, Brendan Zenni and Nate Birkley.
The Birds were simply unstoppable and one of the best teams ever assembled out of Northern Kentucky.
