We’re back! The LINK nky Top 10 returns as Week 1 of Kentucky high school football action is in the books.

The preseason talk is finally over and pads were popping Friday night. The top dogs in Cooper, Highlands and Beechwood were all victorious while Ryle upended CovCath to earn their way into the top four. Simon Kenton is in the top five with their impressive offensive outing against Dixie Heights while spots 8-10 were tough to pick.

Also included below the top 10 is the big and small school top five with the 200-yard passing club, 100-yard rushing and receiving club, defensive and kicking standouts.

Have a good week and already can’t wait until Friday night!

Top 10

  1. Cooper (1-0, defeated Bardstown, 36-6) — Yeah, they played down in class to 4A Bardstown, but the Tigers are no slouch, ranked preseason as one of the top 10 teams in the state in their class and annually a solid program. The Jags made light work of them, getting the game to a running clock a little past halfway through the third quarter. Jags should roll again this week against Henry Clay before the county showdown with Ryle in Week 3.
Mario Litmer was 17-of-29 passing for 121 yards in his starting debut for the Bluebirds. Photo provided | Jenna Richey

2. Highlands (1-0, defeated Lexington Catholic, 17-7) — It may not have been the high-flying offensive numbers we were accustomed to seeing last season, but the defensive performance was impressive, allowing just 162 yards and forcing two turnovers to a perenially good LexCath team. Imagine the offense will get it going as Mario Litmer made his first career varsity start, an efficient 17-of-29 passing for 121 yards. A visit to Park Hills on Friday for their rivalry matchup with CovCath.

3. Beechwood (1-0, defeated Pulaski County, 28-27) — What a way to break in the 2024 season as Clay Hayden hit James Cusick for the game-winning touchdown with 33 seconds remaining. The victory not only got the Tigers off to a 1-0 start, but could have some big implications later on in the season when RPI plays a factor to determine homefield advantage in the postseason. The Tigers return home on Friday to face Campbell County.

4. Ryle (1-0, defeated Covington Catholic, 30-14) — While Nathan Verax got his feet wet as he takes over the reigns at quarterback from his graduated big bro Logan, the defense was impressive with three forced turnovers, a defensive touchdown, safety and holding CovCath to 214 total yards. A county showdown with Conner looms.

Simon Kenton QB Brady Lee passed for 301 yards and ran for 107 more in the victory. Photo provided | Marc Figgins

5. Simon Kenton (1-0, defeated Dixie Heights, 50-35) — How about 532 yards of offense with a revamped offensive line and a new look at running back? The Pioneers system churns them out offensively as Brady Lee diced up Dixie Heights with his top two receivers in Grayson Harris and Tysin Weaver showing out. The scary part about it? There was opportunity for more with a couple of overthrows in the game. Pioneers get Mercer County this week at Woodford County.

Dylan Gaiser had to enter the game after Cash Harney went down with an injury. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

6. Covington Catholic (0-1, lost to Ryle, 30-14) — Mistakes loomed large in the season opening loss to Ryle, three turnovers and eight penalties are hard to overcome for any team on the road. It was the Colonels first regular season loss since Oct. 14, 2022, a 32-21 loss to Highlands, a span of 12 consecutive victories in the regular season snapped. Guess who’s next up? Highlands coming to Park Hills on Friday.

Dixie Heights running back Armani Gregg ran for 213 yards in the loss. Photo provided | Marc Figgins

7. Dixie Heights (0-1, lost to Simon Kenton, 50-35) — The defensive questions with so much lost to graduation were not answered on Friday as they allowed over 500 yards of offense. The positive in the loss was how effective the rushing attack was, Dixie running for over 300 yards in the contest. Armani Gregg spearheaded that attack with over 200 yards on the night, but had to leave the game late due to injury. Dixie hosts Hughes (Ohio) on Friday.

8. Conner (1-0, defeated Paul Laurence Dunbar, 42-15) — The Cougars traveled down to Lexington and went wire-to-wire in the victory. Led 25-8 at halftime and 28-15 after three before adding two more touchdowns in the fourth. A let’s see what you got game coming up Friday as they host Ryle.

9. Campbell County (1-0, defeated Scott, 63-27) — How about 376 yards and five touchdowns in your first varsity start? That’s exactly what Camels quarterback Lucas Anthrop did in the season-opener against Scott. He threw for 187 and three touchdowns, ran for 189 and two scores as the Camels posted 42 points in the first half. The defense will need to show marked improvement, however, as they travel to Beechwood on Friday.

NewCath ran for 281 yards in the victory over Lloyd Memorial. Photo provided | Brandon Wheeler

10. Newport Central Catholic (1-0, defeated Lloyd Memorial, 27-14) — While they were pushed around by the Juggernauts last season, the Thoroughbreds did the shoving on Friday as they ran for 281 yards in the victory. The season-opening win was NewCath’s first since 2020. NewCath gets Walton-Verona this week.

Next up: Lloyd Memorial, Newport

Big School Top 5 (4A-6A)

  1. Cooper

2. Highlands

3. Ryle

4. Simon Kenton

5. Covington Catholic

Next up: Dixie Heights

Small School Top 5 (1A-3A)

  1. Beechwood

2. Newport Central Catholic

3. Lloyd Memorial

4. Newport

5. Ludlow

Next up: Dayton

Individual Standouts from Week 1

200-yard passing club

Brady Lee, Simon Kenton — 21/43, 304 yds, 3 TD

Trey Cook, Scott — 25/40, 253 yds, 3 TD

Caleb Evans, Lloyd Memorial — 21/38, 232 yds, TD

Cam O’Hara, Cooper — 17/25, 229 yds, 4 TD

Tyler Holtz, Bishop Brossart — 13/26, 220 yds, 4 TD, INT

100-yard rushing club

Armani Gregg, Dixie Heights — 18 rushes, 213 yds, 3 TD

Lucas Anthrop, Campbell County — 11 rushes, 189 yds, 2 TD

Keagan Maher, Cooper — 12 rushes, 168 yds, TD

Kaleb Cole, Newport Central Catholic — 16 rushes, 128 yds, 2 TD

Jacob Savage, Ryle — 14 rush, 109 yds, TD

Brady Lee, Simon Kenton — 18 rush, 106 yds, 2 TD

100-yard receiving club

Grayson Harris, Simon Kenton — 9 rec, 189 yds, 2 TD

Issac Amin, Bishop Brossart — 5 rec, 117 yds, TD

Justin Padilla, Boone County — 6 rec, 117 yds

Defensive standouts

Tate Kruer, CovCath — 14 tackles, interception, fumble recovery

Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 13 tackles

Tucker Ober, Simon Kenton — 13 tackles

Brody Aylor, Beechwood — 11 tackles

Jaxon Fann, Lloyd Memorial — 10 tackles, .5 tackle for loss

Chase Flaherty, Beechwood — 10 tackles, interception

Jackson Kellerman, Simon Kenton — 10 tackles, interception

Paul Snyder, Simon Kenton — 10 tackles, tackle for loss

Tyler Copeland, Lloyd Memorial — 10 tackles

Jacob Savage, Ryle — 10 tackles

Brayden Schoborg, Simon Kenton — 9 tackles

Tyler Fryman, Beechwood — 8 tackles, interception

Aiden Dowds, Campbell Co. — 8 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack

Jacob Rieselman, Holy Cross — 8 tackles

Jason Greene, Lloyd Memorial — 8 tackles

KyRon Carter, Lloyd Memorial — 8 tackles

Kai Workman, Ryle — 8 tackles

Landon Brown, Simon Kenton — 8 tackles

Josh Rector, Simon Kenton — 8 tackles

Austin Flesch, Beechwood — 7 tackles, tackle for loss

Parker Kist, Campbell Co. — 7 tackles

Isaiah Sebastian, Lloyd Memorial — 7 tackles

Anthony Shuck, Bishop Brossart — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception

Alex Vogelpohl, Cooper — 6 tackles, fumble forced

Cameron Mandel, Bishop Brossart — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery

Elijah Collins, Lloyd Memorial — 5 tackles, interception

Josh Johnson, Scott — 5 tackles, sack, fumble recovery

Nicholas Cozzi, Bishop Brossart – 4 tackles, interception

Nolan Kruse, Bishop Brossart — 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, .5 sack

Mason Stanton, Cooper — 3 tackles, tackle for loss, interception

Isaac Brown, Cooper — 3 tackles, fumble recovery

Kaleb Cole, NewCath — 3 tackles, fumble forced

Bo Gay, Ryle — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks

Tommy Ferring, Highlands — 3 sacks

Paul Kramer, Scott — 3 tackles, sack

Aaron Brazzell, Scott– 3 tackles, sack

Austin Alexander, Cooper — 2 sacks

Charlie Reeves, CovCath — 2 tackles, sack

Mason Baas, NewCath — tackle, fumble recovery

Aiden Tillman, NewCath — fumble recovery

Aysaiah Riddeck — fumbler recovery for TD

Jayden Dodd, Scott — fumble recovery

Braden Norwell, Campbell Co. — interception

Jackson Arnold, Highlands — interception

Peyton Klosterman, Highlands — interception

Carson Clark, Cooper — sack

Dominic Willhite, Cooper — sack

Diego Race, Highlands — sack

Beau Faul, Ryle — sack

Kickers need some love, too

Tyler Eveland, Simon Kenton — 6/6 PAT

Blake Minor, Campbell Co. — 6/6 PAT

Witten Daugherty, Boone Co. — 5/5 PAT

Colson Lair, Beechwood — 4/4 PAT

Max Runge, Bishop Brossart — 4/4 PAT, 1/2 FG

Gavin Moses, Ryle — 4/4 PAT

Eyler Tibbs, Cooper — 3/3 PAT

Conner Schawe, Scott — 3/3 PAT

Andrew Weitzel, CovCath — 2/2 PAT

Ryan Miller, Lloyd Memorial — 2/2 PAT

Logan Nickelman, Highlands — 1/1 FG

Missing stats from: Bellevue, Conner, Dayton, Holmes, Ludlow, Newport, Walton-Verona