2024 High School Football Preview: Will some hardware come back to NKY?

This story originally appeared in the August 16 edition of the weekly LINK Reader. To get these stories first, subscribe here. 

For the first time since 2015, a football state championship trophy didn’t head up I-75 and into Northern Kentucky in the 2023 season. 

It wasn’t for lack of effort. Covington Catholic and Cooper played for state titles in their respective classes but ultimately came up short at Kroger Field in Lexington. 

Will that happen again in 2024? Highly unlikely. Beechwood returns multiple players from a state semifinalist team and should enter the season as one of the favorites in Class 2A. Same could be said for Cooper, the 5A runner-up with Division I talent all over the field. 

Don’t forget about Highlands in 5A, too. This is its last season in the class before realignment sends it down to 4A in 2025, but its last dance in a bigger class could mean big things with a big, to put it lightly, offensive line to pave the way. 

I’ll say it every year: Northern Kentucky high school football is some of the best in the state. It’s impressive with 22 high schools that play football in three counties for how competitive it is. While the usual suspects are competing for state titles, other programs can throw a wrench in the works with some really successful years. 

“I think NKY football is very tough. There’s no 6A cash cows,” Newport Central Catholic head coach Stephen Lickert said. “They all beat each other on a weekly basis.”

For those wondering, Kentucky high school football is divided into six classes by enrollment, 1A being the smallest set of schools all the way up to the biggest schools in 6A.

Here are some of the top storylines heading into the 2024 season. The first kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 23. 

State title contenders

As previously mentioned, Beechwood and Cooper present the best chances. From there, don’t count out Highlands and Covington Catholic, with Newport Central Catholic, Lloyd Memorial and Newport having some hope, too. 

The Tigers in Fort Mitchell are expecting big things in year two under Jay Volker. Volker and the team have approached the season with a new mindset, knowing they have to win in the trenches if they want to be playing at Kroger Field on the first weekend in December. At times, that was a struggle last season, but, with a beefed up offensive line and pretty much all their skill players returning, the title No. 18 for the Tigers is definitely within reach. 

“Guys look at it and know we have to run the ball and stop the run,” Volker said. “If we faced a team that can control the clock, we know that’s how we can get beat.”

Cooper’s talent has been noticed not only around NKY, but across the state and even out of state. The Jaguars have multiple players with Division I offers, and the list continues to grow. Austin Alexander is committed to the University of North Carolina, Cam O’Hara holds multiple Division I offers, while Isaiah Johnson and Isaac Brown also court offers from Division I schools. The team is so deep at certain positions, guys that are second or third on the depth chart are even getting looks from colleges. 

“We’ve got quite a few guys that would be a No. 1 at other schools,” Jaguars coach Randy Borchers said. “Testament to those guys for their sacrifice and buying into the big picture here.”

With two state championship appearances (2012 and ’23), Cooper is still a fairly new program, starting up in 2008 when the school opened. Will this be the year it breaks through and hoists the trophy?

A decade in Fort Thomas without a title? For Highlands football fans, that’s an eternity for a program with 23 state championships. The Bluebirds enter year four of the Bob Sphire era, and, for the first time, all of his varsity players have known only him as head coach. The Bluebirds have gone 26-11 over the last three years, each year climbing another step of the ladder. After a state semifinal appearance last season that ended with an upset loss to Cooper, can Highlands turn the tide on the Jaguars and get back to a state final?

“This is the first year every player has been in our process while at Highlands.” Sphire said. “This is all ours and nobody else’s, and every player here wants to win a championship. We’ve got to keep putting in the work and keep growing and keep getting better.”

Covington Catholic made its fourth trip to the state championship game since 2017 last year under Eddie Eviston, going 2-2 in those games. The Colonels will have a lot to replace from a talented – and now graduated – senior class, but one thing is certain: CovCath will be in the mix come November. A deep run last year and facing four of the top 10 teams in the state in the playoffs will certainly have them prepared when it matters most. 

“The kids know what it takes to have a successful season,” Eviston said. “They have that memory of what it takes to get there, and it’s a good sign to have that.” 

Others to be on the lookout for include Newport Central Catholic. The Thoroughbreds have made five straight state quarterfinals, but just one of those trips resulted in a semifinal appearance. Lickert feels that, with the roster this year, there’s potential to change their misfortunes late in the playoffs. 

“Every year I’ve been here we’ve had to throw sophomores to the wolves. This year we’re upper-class heavy,” Lickert said. “Young guys will have a role, but they won’t have to be the guy.” 

Then there are Lloyd Memorial and Newport. The Juggernauts are coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons and return nearly all of their skill players. With a healthy Kaleb Evans at quarterback, it opens up their offense more. 

“We’re in a good situation,” Juggernauts coach Kyle Niederman said. “There’s been a lot of hard work, and it took some time to get the program here. We don’t win games on Friday, we win on Monday and the kids work hard to do that.”

Newport is coming off of an 8-4 season and a playoff victory. Having home games on its own field will certainly help, but so will the return of some of its top players and a focus on a more balanced offense. The big hurdle to clear first however is Newport Central Catholic, a district foe they haven’t defeated in 26 straight tries.

Other dark horses include Dixie Heights and Ryle. 

Next level Division I players 

Last season saw five players from NKY go on to Division I football (Simon Kenton’s Aba Selm and Covington Catholic’s Willie Rodriguez to Kentucky, Dixie Heights’ Brach Rice to Miami (Ohio), Highlands’ Brody Benke to Middle Tennessee State and Dixie Heights’ Kabanza Mwamba to Tennessee-Chattanooga) with a scholarship. A few others earned preferred walk-on spots. 

This season should see as many, if not more, with many other promising juniors who have already picked up offers. Seniors who have offers or have committed are Ryle’s Dillon Smith to Louisville, Cooper’s Austin Alexander to North Carolina and Beechwood’s Mattox Kelly to Illinois State. Several others haven’t made a commitment yet but have Division I offers, including Cooper’s Isaac Brown and Isaiah Johnson, Conner’s Dylan Stewart, Beechwood’s Luke Erdman and Cole Howard, Highlands’ Adam Surrey and Jackson Arnold. 

Then there’s a strong 2026 class expected to have a number of Division I players. That list starts with Cooper quarterback Cam O’Hara, Ryle’s Jacob Savage and Highlands’ Max Merz, who all had a big offseason and courted several offers. 

New faces, different places 

Bishop Brossart, Boone County, Holy Cross, Newport, Scott and Walton-Verona all had coaching changes in the offseason. A couple (Newport and Scott) hired coaches with previous head coaching experience, while the other four hired first-time varsity head football coaches. 

Newport’s Paul Wiggins comes from Bishop Brossart, where he led the Mustangs to a 67-43 record and three district championships in his 10-year tenure. Scott’s Justin Franklin makes his way here from North Oldham, north of Louisville, where he was defensive coordinator. Before that, he led Carroll County’s program from 2019-21. 

Boone County brought in Dan Court and his 14 years of coaching experience as an assistant at four different schools, including his alma mater, Highlands. Holy Cross hired Curt Spencer to replace longtime coach Bruce Kozerski, who stepped down after 20 seasons. Spencer has been on staff at Holy Cross in some capacity for the last 10 years and also served as a high school official. Brossart hired Kozerski’s son, Adam, to lead the program. Adam Kozerski had been on staff at Holy Cross with his father since 2012, but already being in the building as a calculus and algebra teacher at Brossart helped make his decision. 

Walton-Verona enters a new era with Gary Pence, succeeding Jeffrey Barth after his 15 seasons at the helm. Pence is just the third coach in Bearcats program history, coming over from Cooper, where he was an assistant the last decade. 

Last ride at Davis Field 

April 29 was a historic day for Dayton Independent Schools as they rolled out Project One, the groundbreaking of a $14 million dollar project to create a sports complex and learning space that will unite the district’s high school and elementary schools at a unified campus.

It also will signal the end to O.W. Davis Field down the street. The Greendevils have been playing home games at Davis Field since it was built in 1934, the second oldest high school football stadium in the state. The news stadium with a turf field is projected to be ready by the start of the 2025 season. 

Former Dayton Superintendent Jay Brewer has dubbed it Dayton’s Field of Dreams.

Other stadium happenings

Newport will finally get to play home games again this season after playing the last two years on the road due to required construction at Newport Stadium. Work won’t be completely done by the Sept. 13 Wildcats home opener, but the $3 million renovation includes new turf, bleachers and a press box. 

Locker rooms and concessions will be completed later. The team will work with a makeshift locker room this season, a garage next to the stadium.

“We’re trying to make that as homey as possible,” head coach Paul Wiggins said. “We cleared it out, we swept it, we’re going to put some LED lights in there.”

The Sept. 13 game with Boone County will be Newport’s first regular season home game in 1,071 days. 

Newport Central Catholic broke ground Aug. 9 on its athletic facility. It’s expected to be ready by 2025, which means the Thoroughbreds won’t have to play at another school on their designated home games. The project includes an on-campus, multipurpose athletic complex that will provide a home field for the boys and girls soccer, track and football teams, and a practice facility for the baseball and softball teams.

Bellevue also has plans for renovation of Leo Gilligan Field in the near future. The Tigers are one of two teams that still play on grass, and they’ll be the last when Dayton moves to its new field in 2025. Walton-Verona finished their renovations at the Walton-Verona Sports Complex as well. 

Realignment coming in 2025 

With KHSAA set for realignment in 2025, this year marks the end for some programs in certain classes. As mentioned earlier, Highlands moves down from 5A to 4A as the lone significant change for the area. It also brings back a district rivalry with Covington Catholic. The two will no longer face one another in August, but in October, which is how it should be, with a lot more at stake. 

The other big move will be St. Henry entering Class 2A as a first-year program in 2025. The Crusaders have nearly 50 student-athletes out for practice in preparation for the upcoming 2024 JV/freshman season. They’ll be in a district with Beechwood, Walton-Verona, Bracken County, Gallatin County and Trimble County.