And we’re down to two!

Just two unbeatens remain in northern Kentucky…Cooper and Newport. The last two weeks have provided a lot of clarity in these rankings as district play approaches. Some teams may not see another stiff test until November due to down districts while other marquee matchups await.

One of the biggest matchups of the season awaits on Friday, when Cooper travels to Fort Thomas to take on Highlands in a big time district matchup. Another sneaky good matchup comes on Thursday when Newport takes on Lloyd Memorial.

One last note: be nice to officials, stop berating them. They don’t get paid enough for that. Keep it up and you’ll start seeing games canceled because of an official shortage. See more here

See below for the LINK nky Top 10, big school top five, small school top five, 200-yard passing club, 100-yard rushing club, 100-yard receiving club, defensive standouts and kicking standouts.

Yes, Cooper’s Isaiah Johnson made this catch. The Jaguars remain at No. 1 this week headed into their showdown with Highlands. Photo provided | Samantha Johnson

  1. Cooper (5-0, defeated Great Crossing 62-36) Previous Week 1: The Jaguars are showing they can win in a variety of ways, Friday night was of the high-scoring variety, hanging 62 on a solid 6A Great Crossing team that was undefeated. Cam O’Hara tied his already program record with six touchdown passes, three of them to Austin Alexander, three to Isaiah Johnson, one of them before the half that went viral with an over the back catch on a Warhawks defender. The one we’ve all been waiting for comes this week, when the Jags head to Fort Thomas to take on Highlands in a rematch of last season’s 5A semifinals where the Jags ended the Bluebirds season on their home turf.
Ryle’s Jacob Savage scores the game-winning touchdown against CAL. Photo provided | Raider Sports Network

2. Ryle (4-1, defeated CAL 28-24) Previous Week 2: Down 24-7 with nine minutes to play, Ryle rallied and found a way, the game-winning score with four seconds left on a Jacob Savage touchdown to prevail over the No. 1 team in Class 3A. They get a bye week before making another trip to Louisville to face yet another top five team against St. Xavier in Class 6A. If the Raiders can get through the four-game stretch of Cooper, Highlands, CAL and St. Xavier 3-1, they have to be feeling really good about themselves headed into district play.

3. Highlands (4-1, defeated Raceland 35-0) Previous Week 4: The defense played lights out in the shutout victory, collecting nine tackles for loss, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and allowing 132 total yards against Raceland. Not much needs to be said with who comes to Fort Thomas on Friday. Well, one word, revenge.

Covington Catholic’s Dylan Gaiser has 635 rushing yards on the season. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

4. Covington Catholic (3-2, defeated Beechwood 49-28) Previous Week 5: Over the last three weeks, all victories, the Colonels have run for 1,198 yards. Just a shade under 400 yards per game in those contests. They’ve found their identity as they head into district play, starting with Holmes on Thursday.

Beechwood’s Chase Flaherty had two touchdown grabs in the loss to Covington Catholic. Photo provided | Charles Bolton

5. Beechwood (4-1, lost to Covington Catholic 49-28) Previous Week 3: The Tigers have six weeks to get healthy and focus on themselves before postseason hits. They won’t see many challenges the next five games in their district. Coach Jay Volker said it after their lopsided loss against CovCath on Friday the focus will be in the weight room to get stronger while they fine tune things on the field.

6. Conner (4-1, defeated Simon Kenton 42-19) Previous Week 7: Another team with a ferocious rushing attack that is mauling teams up front. They amassed 393 yards in the win over Simon Kenton on Friday. Take away the Ryle game, they’re averaging 257.5 rushing yards per game. Now comes district play where they’ll open up with Scott.

7. Simon Kenton (2-3, lost to Conner 42-19) Previous Week 6: Three straight rough weeks for the Pioneers after a 2-0 start. A get right game against Paul Laurence Dunbar this week before they get a bye headed into district play.

8. Dixie Heights (1-3, Bye week) Previous Week 8: The Colonels had a bye week. They open district play with Boone County this week. Assuming Cooper and Highlands are the top two teams, the race for the third spot has certainly got a lot more interesting with Conner and Dixie Heights.

9. Campbell County (2-3, defeated Newport Central Catholic 29-28) Previous Week NR: The Camels stopped a NewCath 2-point conversion in the closing seconds to jump back into the top 10. They got some things going in the passing game after injuries really derailed the offense the past two weeks in back-to-back shutouts in losses to Cooper and Highlands.

10. Newport Central Catholic (3-2, lost to Campbell County 29-28) Previous Week 9: The loss on Friday to the Camels is one the Thoroughbreds might look back on with RPI playing a factor come November. They get that win and they have a win over a 6A opponent which would have given them a boost. After playing “up” in class the first five games, their next four will be against Class A opponents starting with a tough test against Raceland this week.

Next up: Lloyd Memorial, Newport

Big School Top 5 (4A-6A)

  1. Cooper

2. Ryle

3. Highlands

4. Covington Catholic

5. Conner

Small School Top 5 (1A-3A)

  1. Beechwood

2. Newport Central Catholic

3. Lloyd Memorial

4. Newport

5. Ludlow

Next up: Bishop Brossart

200-Yard Passing Club

Cam O’Hara, Cooper — 21/32, 312 yds, 6 TD

Brady Lee, Simon Kenton — 22/33, 229 yds, 3 TD

Kaleb Evans, Lloyd Memorial — 15/21, 221 yds, 3 TD

Lucas Anthrop, Campbell County — 7/17, 209 yds, TD

100-Yard Rushing Club

Dylan Gaiser, Covington Catholic — 17 rushes, 241 yards, TD

Wyatt Hatfield, Conner — 26 rushes, 238 yards, 4 TD

Cash Harney, Covington Catholic — 16 rushes, 155 yards

Aiden Smith-Baxley, Ludlow — 22 rushes, 151 yds, 2 TD

Cordion Abernathy, Conner — 17 rushes, 128 yards, TD

Dameyn Anness, Ludlow — 18 rushes, 101 yds

100-Yard Receiving Club

Austin Alexander, Cooper — 9 rec, 156 yds, 3 TD

Grayson Harris, Simon Kenton — 12 rec, 154 yds, 3 TD

Isaiah Sebastian, Lloyd Memorial — 7 rec, 140 yds, TD

Isaiah Johnson, Cooper — 5 rec, 116 yds, 3 TD

Garyn Jackson, Campbell County — 2 rec, 111 yards, TD

Defensive Standouts

Thomas Hicks, Highlands — 13 tackles

Aiden Dowds, Campbell County — 12 tackles, tackle for loss, sack

Jack Meier, Beechwood — 12 tackles

Sean Hurry, Newport — 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack

Landon Brown, Simon Kenton — 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

Aven Bohms, Simon Kenton — 11 tackles, tackle for loss

Chase Caplinger, Conner — 11 tackles

Jaxon Fann, Lloyd Memorial — 10 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, sack, fumble recovery

Jaylan Hartness, Newport — 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack

Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss

Chance Fabre, Holy Cross — 10 tackles, interception

Kayveion Sharp, Newport — 9 tackles, fumble recovery, interception

Brody Aylor, Beechwood — 9 tackles

Tate Kruer, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles

Elijah Depperschmidt, Campbell County — 8 tackles, tackle for loss, sack

Isaac Mason, Campbell County — 8 tackles

Travis Keen, Conner — 8 tackles

Colton Farfsing, Simon Kenton — 8 tackles

Mason Stanton, Cooper — 8 tackles

Ryker Campbell, Cooper — 7 tackles, 2 interceptions

Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 7 tackles, fumble recovery

Spencer Brandenburg, Ludlow — 7 tackles, tackle for loss

Keegan Farrell, Newport — 7 tackles, tackle for loss

Cordion Abernathy, Conner — 7 tackles

Brody Waddell, Beechwood — 7 tackles

Ryan Dunn, Highlands — 7 tackles

Dustin Wilson, Holy Cross — 7 tackles

Ayden Stachel, Newport — 7 tackles

Gabe Williams, Highlands — 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, interception

Kyle Lee, Newport — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception

Braylon Thornberry, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, interception

Littello Johnson, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, sack

Matt Brock, Ludlow — 6 tackles, tackle for loss

Kendall Buck-Barber, Newport — 6 tackles, tackle for loss

Cooper Burch, Walton-Verona — 6 tackles, tackle for loss

Quinten Tischner, Bishop Brossart — 5 tackles, interception

Torin Bryant, Highlands — 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss

KyRon Carter, Lloyd Memorial — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

Malcolm Perrin, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, fumble forced

Dax Bolen, Cooper — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, sack

Isaac Niemann, Highlands — 5 tackles, sack

Jacob Wimzie, Holmes — 5 tackles, sack

Alijah Griffin, Lloyd Memorial — 4 tackles, interception

Nicholas Krallman, Covington Catholic — 4 tackles, sack

Isaiah Sebastian, Lloyd Memorial — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

Austin Alexander, Cooper — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

Dameyn Anness, Ludlow — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss

Elijah Collins, Lloyd Memorial — 3 tackles, interception, fumble forced

Shawn Sinkhorn, Walton-Verona — 2 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries, fumble recovery for TD

Tyus McCarter, Highlands — 2 tackles, interception

Carter Daniels, Walton-Verona — 2 tackles, fumble recovery

Brandon Carter, Lloyd Memorial — tackle for loss, fumble forced

Blake Funston, Campbell County — Interception

Xavier Fancher, Campbell County — Interception

Shepherd Dozier, Conner — Interception

Gabe Weis, Covington Catholic — Interception

Jaylen Stone, Ludlow — Interception

Dallas Harrington, Newport — fumble recovery return for TD

Zach Butke, Campbell County– fumble recovery

Peyton Klosterman, Highlands — fumble recovery

Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — fumble recovery

Kamdin Yates, Ludlow — fumble recovery

Kickers Need Some Love, Too

Eyler Tibbs, Cooper — 8/9 PAT

Andrew Herron, Conner — 6/6 PAT

Logan Nickelman, Highlands — 5/5 PAT

Ryan Urti, Covington Catholic — 5/6 PAT

Colson Lair, Beechwood — 4/4 PAT

Lucas Engel, Walton-Verona — 4/5 PAT, 1/2 FG

Missing stats from: Boone County, Ryle