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 June 22 and runs into 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 and longly-tenured NKY sports fans to weigh in and give their takes on who should be on the list. I 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, wrestling, bowling, track and field and cross country, we consider those individual sports, so any teams from those sports will not make the list.
Here we go!
1960 Highlands football
Before Highlands became one of Kentucky’s most storied programs, the 1960 Bluebirds laid the foundation for a dynasty that would define decades of success. Under head coach Homer Rice, Highlands finished a perfect 12-0 season and won the Class 2A state championship, earning the program’s first state title.
That championship was part of an extraordinary three-year run in which Highlands went 35-1 and appeared in three straight state title games. The only setback during that stretch came in 1959, a 12-7 loss to Henderson in the state final, before the Bluebirds responded with back-to-back championships in 1960 and 1961.
What separated Highlands from its peers was its offensive identity. Rice installed an early version of the “triple option” attack, in which the quarterback could hand off, keep, or pitch the football based on defensive reads. At a time when most teams relied on traditional run-heavy systems, the Bluebirds used misdirection and decision-making to control tempo, create uncertainty, and generate consistent big-play opportunities.
Quarterback Roger Walz guided the offense and helped establish the leadership core of the program’s early championship era. Running back James Burt anchored the ground game and emerged as one of the team’s top performers, later becoming a standout multi-sport athlete at Western Kentucky University, where he earned All-American honors in football.
The roster also featured Joseph Ross, a two-sport contributor who went on to the United States Air Force Academy. He competed in both football and track at the collegiate level before serving as a fighter pilot in Vietnam.
The 1960 Bluebirds not only delivered the first of 23 state championships, they helped establish Highlands as one of the foundational powers in high school football across the nation.
Here’s the rundown of the 50 greatest NKY prep sports teams day by day:
Day 1: 1998 Highlands Football
Day 2: 1963 Holmes Baseball
Day 3: 2019 Covington Catholic football
Day 4: 2021 Notre Dame Academy Girls Soccer
Day 5: 1960 Highlands Football
