Thanks to Hurricane Helene, it was a wacky scheduling weekend for Kentucky High School football. Games were played on Thursday and all the way through Monday to get games completed.
Props to the administrations, coaches, trainers, support staff and officials for getting things in. All but one game featuring NKY teams were able to be rescheduled and played in a timely manner.
And while this is just a game, the impact from the hurricane felt from Florida all the way to the Carolinas and eastern Tennessee was devastating. Please keep those affected in your thoughts.
Now to football on the playing field, not much shifted this week in the top 10. Cooper showed they’re still the top dog with a win at Highlands while everything else pretty much held serve. The lone change this week was a surging Lloyd Memorial team back in the top 10 with a five-game winning streak, while Newport Central Catholic drops out with a three-game losing streak.
The schedule doesn’t create too much excitement this week. There’s just a few marquee matchups. Cooper hosts a resurgent Conner team on Thursday while Highlands hosts Dixie Heights on Friday. Really curious to see what Ryle does at St. Xavier out of Louisville this week, St. X just defeated 6A No. 1 Trinity last week. Some others to keep an eye on include Bellevue at Ludlow and Bishop Brossart hosting Paris.
Here’s the latest LINK nky Top 10, powered by Crown Pointe Remodeling:
- Cooper (6-0, defeated Highlands 24-21) Previous Week 1: The Jaguars continue finding ways to win in a variety of ways. If it isn’t the offense, it’s the defense stepping up to the plate. On Saturday, special teams played a vital role in the three-point win at Highlands with a kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game and a late field goal helping make it a 10-point game. With four games to go, Conner and Dixie Heights are the main threats in derailing a 10-0 regular season, other than that, the Jaguars are sitting pretty and the 5A postseason will most likely have to go through Union on Longbranch Road as Cooper sits at No. 1 in the latest 5A RPI ratings.
2. Ryle (4-1, bye week) Previous Week 2: A well deserved bye week for the Raiders as a matchup with St. Xavier looms. Ryle wins that, then they can enter the discussion as a serious threat to win a 6A title. A win over St. X would mean they own wins over CovCath, Highlands, CAL and St. X with just a seven-point loss to Cooper as the lone blemish. With the Kentucky High School football media poll set to come out on Wednesday, if Conner cracks the top 10 in 5A, it means all six of the Raiders games to date will be against top 10 opponents in their respective class.
3. Highlands (4-2, lost to Cooper 24-21) Previous Week 3: An overtime loss to Ryle and now a tight 3-point loss to Cooper. The Bluebirds are right there as they approach the final four games of the season. They’ll need to win out most likely if they want to secure at least one home game in the postseason.
4. Covington Catholic (4-2, defeated Holmes 56-0) Previous Week 4: The Colonels have put up 194 points and rushed for 1,343 yards during their four-game winning streak. Don’t really see anyone stopping them the final four games and should enter the postseason on an 8-game winning streak. Unlike last year, the Colonels will most likely have to hit the road if they advance past the second round this year, the current RPI in 4A has them rated 11th.
5. Beechwood (5-1, defeated Gallatin County, 61-0) Previous Week 5: District play can’t be much fun for the Tigers. After outscoring teams 273-3 in district games last season, they start off with a 61-0 victory this year. Owen County (5-1) and Bracken County (4-1) look decent on paper, so maybe the two can provide a challenge. The Tigers currently sit at No. 2 in RPI in 2A, putting them in a good spot to host playoff games through the semifinals if that holds.
6. Conner (5-1, defeated Scott 56-0) Previous Week 6: The Cougars have outscored the opponent 171-33 during their four-game winning streak and we’ll see how real they are come Thursday night when they play at Cooper. Conner’s next three weeks is the Class 5A, District 6 gauntlet: Cooper, Highlands and Dixie Heights. They get out of that 2-1, they’ll have a good shot at a home playoff game.
7. Simon Kenton (2-3, game canceled with Paul Laurence Dunbar) Previous Week 7: For the second straight season, weather wipes out a Pioneers football game. Last year it was lightning canceling a game against Woodford County, this year it’s a hurricane wiping out a game against Paul Laurence Dunbar, the lone game in NKY that was unable to be rescheduled. They were able to get a game on the schedule this Friday as they’ll host Ballard. Good thing they were able to schedule the Bruins or else they would have been 21 days in-between games as this week was a scheduled bye week.
8. Dixie Heights (2-3, defeated Boone County 44-12) Previous Week 8: A get right game against Boone County with two big ones on tap, at Highlands this week and hosting Conner the following week. Win both of those games and they potentially set themselves up with a game against Cooper on Oct. 25 for a district championship.
9. Lloyd Memorial (5-1, defeated Newport 39-7) Previous Week NR: Yes, I’m aware NewCath beat Lloyd in the opening game of the season, but if those two played again today, would it be the same case? While the Juggs schedule may not be the most daunting, they’ve handled every challenge the last five games with relative ease. The game to circle is Oct. 18 at Lexington Catholic, they win that and they’ll be in good shape for a district title and at least two home games in the postseason.
10. Campbell County (2-4, lost to Harrison (OH) 49-14) Previous Week 9: The Camels get a bye week before they enter district play at Ryle on Oct. 11. They’ll play three ranked teams in their final four games, Ryle, Great Crossing and Covington Catholic.
Next up: Newport Central Catholic, Newport
Big School Top 5 (4A-6A)
- Cooper
2. Ryle
3. Highlands
4. Covington Catholic
5. Conner
Small School Top 5 (1A-3A)
- Beechwood
2. Lloyd Memorial
3. Newport Central Catholic
4. Newport
5. Ludlow
Next up: Bishop Brossart
200-Yard Passing Club
Cam O’Hara, Cooper — 13/31, 270 yds, TD, INT
Mario Litmer, Highlands — 16/23, 238 yds, 3 TD
100-Yard Rushing Club
Jordan Pendleton, Bellevue — 12 rushes, 275 yds, 5 TD
Armani Gregg, Dixie Heights — 16 rushes, 131 yds, 4 TD
Dameyn Anness, Ludlow — 7 carries, 124 yds, TD
Keagan Maher, Cooper — 16 rushes, 116 yds, TD
Jayden Jackson, Boone County — 13 rushes, 100 yds, TD
100-Yard Receiving Club
Isaiah Johnson, Cooper — 5 receptions, 116 yds
Adam Surrey, Highlands — 5 receptions, 101 yds, TD
Defensive Standouts
Elijah Depperschmidt, Campbell County — 14 tackles, tackle for loss
Ryker Campbell, Cooper — 14 tackles
Jacob Jonathan, Boone County — 13 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Mason Stanton, Cooper — 12 tackles
Max Wethington, Cooper — 12 tackles
Jaxon Fann, Lloyd Memorial — 11 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 9 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, sack
Littello Johnson, Holy Cross — 9 tackles, fumble recovery
Lamiego Mutongwiza, Dixie Heights — 9 tackles
Travis Hodges, Boone County — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Kayveion Sharp, Newport — 8 tackles, tackle for loss
Sean Hurry, Newport — 8 tackles, tackle for loss
Austin Perriman, Cooper — 8 tackles
Dustin Wilson, Holy Cross — 8 tackles
Gavin Potter, Boone County — 8 tackles
KyRon Carter, Lloyd Memorial — 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
Dominic Storer, Dixie Heights — 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
Marveen Moise, Boone County — 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
Jackson Payne, Covington Catholic — 7 tackles, sack, fumble recovery
Spencer Brandenburg, Ludlow — 7 tackles, interception
Austin Alexander, Cooper — 7 tackles, fumble recovery
Tyler Morehead, Dixie Heights — 7 tackles, tackle for loss
Hunter Busch, Boone County — 7 tackles
Brayden Bryzgot, Dixie Heights — 7 tackles
Alex Vogelpohl, Cooper — 7 tackles
Braylon Thornberry, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, interception
Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, fumble forced, fumble recovery
Max Hunt, Holy Cross — 6 tackles
Andrew Russell, Holy Cross — 6 tackles
Thomas Maddox, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, interception
Jordan Fabre, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, fumble recovery
Gabe Payne, Ludlow — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Mike Mulvihill, Cooper — 5 tackles, sack
Max Neal, Dixie Heights — 4 tackles, tackle for loss, interception return for TD
Aiden Dowds, Campbell County — 4 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
Chance Fabre, Holy Cross — 4 tackles, interception
Cole Vires, Boone County — 4 tackles, interception
Jake Atmore, Beechwood — 4 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, .5 sack
Carsan Hehman, Dixie Heights — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Tyler Copeland, Lloyd Memorial — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Brody Aylor, Beechwood — 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, sack
Abraham Koller, Conner — 4 tackles, tackle for loss
Dakota Taylor, Holmes — 4 tackles, sack
Carson Evans, Ludlow — 4 tackles, sack
Joseph Meyer, Holmes — 3 tackles, interception
Brandon Carter, Lloyd Memorial — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Michael Vinicombe, Covington Catholic — 3 tackles, fumble recovery
Alijah Griffin, Lloyd Memorial — 3 tackles, fumble recovery
Kannon Lawson, Conner — 3 tackles, sack
Tyler Crafton, Ludlow — 3 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Wyatt Hatfield, Conner — 2 interceptions, 1 interception return for TD
Brady Guard, Covington Catholic — 2 tackles, interception
Jaylan Hartness, Newport — 2 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
Ryder Brewer, Newport — 2 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
Brody Waddell, Beechwood — 2 tackles for loss
Brayden Sizemore, Bellevue — 3 interceptions, interception return for TD
Aydin Depenbrock, Conner — sack, fumble recovery for TD
Yurii Collins, Lloyd Memorial — fumble recovery for TD
Jason Fedor, Covington Catholic — Interception
Gabe Weis, Covington Catholic — Interception
Hayden Haas, Highlands — Interception
Tristan Woodyard, Bellevue — Interception
Emmett Queen, Covington Catholic — fumble recovery
Gavin Brake, Covington Catholic — fumble recovery
Adam Surrey, Highlands — fumble forced
Kickers need some love, too
Andrew Herron, Conner — 7/7 PAT
Colson Lair, Beechwood — 7/7 PAT
Ryan Urti, Covington Catholic — 6/7 PAT
Finn McMillan, Ludlow — 4/5 PAT
Eyler Tibbs, Cooper — 3/3 PAT, 1/1 FG
Logan Nickelman, Highlands — 3/3 PAT, 0/1 FG
Missing stats from: Dayton, Walton-Verona