He’s the last man listed on the alphabetical Lloyd roster. And the last player honored before Friday’s Senior Night game.
But surely, Lloyd Memorial running back Kaiden Zulager – after a first half against Newport when all he did was run for 109 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries – is first in the hearts of Juggernaut fans.
“I wouldn’t say that,” said the 5-foot-7, 205-pounder who looks like a nose-guard masquerading as a tailback. Until he starts running the ball, that is, with his 4.6 speed (in the 40).
And when he looks at himself, he does not see a nose guard running the ball. “I see a running back,” Kaiden says.
Which is exactly what Lloyd did – run the ball — in this Class 2A district opener against a first-striking Newport Wildcat team that jumped out to a 14-6 lead, then watched futilely as the Juggernauts scored the next 38 straight points.
That’s the fourth straight win for the 5-2 Juggs who are four points away (two one-point losses) from a 7-0 start that saw them drop a 13-12 opener to Dixie Heights.
And that made people look elsewhere, making these guys Northern Kentucky’s most under-the-radar team, didn’t it?
“Probably,” said Coach Kyle Niederman. “But we didn’t (look elsewhere). Our motto has been to focus on ourselves.”
But just as the tough-running, tackle-breaking, move-the-pile Zulager credited his guys up front for anything he was able to do, so did junior defensive back John Crim, who picked off a pair of Newport passes, one of them a game-turning 35-yard pick-six with 10:58 left in the first half and the Juggs down 14-6.
But that wasn’t his doing, Crim said. “My D-line was in the backfield,” the 5-9, 150-pounder who plays much bigger than that for a secondary that hasn’t a single senior. “We’re all flying to the ball every play.”
“That was the game plan,” Niederman said on this 52-degree night that seemed much colder with the way the wind was blowing. Make Newport quarterback Kyle Lee run for his life with no time to get comfortable.
And now the plan is to get ready for the next game. “Congratulations, gentlemen,” Niederman told his team after the game. “We’re in the hunt for a district title.”
All that stands in their way next Friday is a two-time defending state champion Beechwood Tiger team, a 55-3 winner over Holy Cross in the Class 2A district opener for those two teams Friday. “We respect every opponent,” Niederman said. “We’re just trying to have good practices and get lined up right.”
But it’s more than that. Isaiah Sebastian is a quick, athletic quarterback. Yurii Collins Comer, Tyler Copeland, and Elijah Collins are wide receivers who would rather run the ball.
Then there were the guys up front, led by Thomas Plymesser and Joe Cooley, who on this night were in charge. And after the game, as is the new tradition started here this year, the team captains made it official with Cooley awarding the game ball, in an extremely popular choice, to his dad — offensive line coach Mac Cooley.
“In my five years here, we’ve never won a game on our day off,” Joe Cooley said of the KEA holiday Friday. Now they have.
But despite the final score, this wasn’t a gimme. “They made us work for it,” Niederman said, “they got the lead and we turned it around . . . and we didn’t have to punt.”
Nope, they took the ball and pushed it down the field, first with Zulager right at the Wildcats, then on Sebastian’s quick keepers and finally on the wide receivers’ mostly misdirection counter sweeps. Which is why Niederman calls his workmanlike Juggs “an exciting team to watch.”
And why honor student Zulager says “this is the most fun I’ve had at school. These are my brothers . . . I know people are wondering what’s going on at Lloyd.”
A lot, Niederman said. Sure, they were down 14-6 as Newport got behind 225-pound power back Mykell Martin – and a recovered onside kick – for two early scores and that 14-6 lead. But Lloyd didn’t panic, the Juggs just lined up and ground it out – mostly behind — or ahead — of Zulager.
By intermission, Lloyd led 30-14.
Dropping their fourth straight game – all of which they hung in there – the 2-5 Wildcats certainly had their moments like the 97-yard kickoff return TD in the fourth quarter by Quincy Barber, the toughest 145-pounder in Northern Kentucky.
“We’ve got a lot to work on,” first-year coach Ryan Hahn told his team. “But the season is not over. That’s the best part of this, we still have more football to play.”
As do these Juggs. This Friday. In Ft. Mitchell. Against the mighty Tigers. As Kaiden said, it should be fun.
SCOREBOARD
NEWPORT 14 0 0 8 22
LLOYD MEMORIAL 6 24 7 7 44
LM: Zulager 5 run (PAT run fails)
NEW: Martin 10 run (kick fails)
NEW: Martin 1 run (Lee run)
LM: Crim 35 interception return (pass fails)
LM: Zulager 11 run (pass fails)
LM: Riley 10 run (run fails)
LM: Zulager 7 run (kick fails)
LM: Sebastian 4 run (Westwood kick good)
LM: Copeland 3 run (Westwood kick)
NEW: Barber 97 kickoff return (Martin run)
