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!
1946 Holmes Football
Fresh off battle from World War II, the 1946 Holmes Bulldogs football team claimed a mythical state championship.
During the 1946 season Holmes went undefeated.
Several players returned from World War II to continue battle on the football field for the Bulldogs. The team helped bridge two eras. Many of the players had come of age during World War II and some returned from military service before rejoining the Holmes program. An interesting tidbit during this time is you were eligible to play high school sports until the age of 21.
The Bulldogs were led by legendary coach Tom Ellis (the name of the current stadium and basketball gym), who was one of the last in Kentucky to serve as head coach of football, baseball and basketball and Athletic Director – all at the same time at Holmes. The team featured standout players like former Boone County Judge Executive Bruce Ferguson and 1947 state discus champ Al Linneman, who later went on to play at Indiana. Don Davis was the quarterback. Russell Knorel went on to play at Kentucky.
Their undefeated season came at a time when Kentucky high-school football was still operating before the modern playoff era, making Holmes’ claim to a mythical state championship a product of the rankings reputation and statewide recognition of the day.
The return of veterans to the Holmes roster was part of the broader transition from wartime service back into school, work, and athletics. That makes the 1946 Bulldogs more than simply an undefeated team: they represented a community and generation returning to normal life after World War II.
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
Day 6: 1980 Villa Madonna Volleyball
Day 7: 1976 Lloyd Memorial Football
Day 8: 2009 Holmes Boys Basketball
Day 9: 1991 Beechwood Football
Day 10: 1954 Newport Catholic Baseball
Day 11: 1982 Highlands Football
Day 12: 2019 Ryle Girls Basketball
Day 13: 1987 Boone County Football
Day 14: 1981 St. Henry Volleyball
Day 15: 2021 Beechwood Football
Day 16: 2002 Covington Catholic Baseball
Day 17: 1957 Highlands Football
Day 18: 2006 Ryle Softball
Day 19: 1975 Ludlow Football
Day 20: 1979 Notre Dame Volleyball
Day 21: 1977 Bellevue Football
Day 22: 2015 Holy Cross Girls Basketball
Day 23: 1970 Highlands Football
Day 24: 2013 Notre Dame Soccer
Day 25: 2011 Highlands Football
Day 26: 2015 Covington Catholic Soccer
Day 27: 1997 Beechwood Football
Day 28: 1994 Highlands Girls Basketball
Day 29: 2017 Covington Catholic Football
Day 30: 1978 Holmes Boys Basketball
