Boone County, Holmes and Scott seek to restore consistency

Boone County hasn’t had a football winning season since 2011.

Holmes is on a 22-game losing streak and won’t be in the playoffs until 2027, and Scott is on its fourth coach since 2020.

The Rebels, Bulldogs and Eagles obviously share a common desire: to restore their programs to competitiveness and get students, players and fans excited about Friday nights.

Boone County (2-8 last year)

It’s been an ugly stretch at 7056 Burlington Pike in Florence since the Rebels went 9-5 and reached the Class 6A state semifinals in 2011, a 16-14 loss to runner-up Scott County: a 21-112 record from 2012-24; winless seasons in 2013 and 2015; four one-win years in (2017, 2016, 2014 and 2012); and three playoff losses (44-10 to Pleasure Ridge Park in 2012, 53-21 to Scott County in 2014 and 34-27 to Tates Creek in 2016). 

The addition of Ryle in 1992 and Cooper in 2008 sliced large chunks from Boone County’s territory and could be a factor in the Rebels’ recent past. Second-year coach Dan Court knew the challenges because he teaches physical education and health.

“I was at a point of my coaching career where I felt like I was ready for that next step to kind of be the guy in charge,” Court said.

Court was an assistant at Newport Central Catholic, Scott and Highlands. He said legendary Highlands coach Dale Mueller convinced him to go for the Boone County job because he thought Court would enjoy the challenge of reviving a struggling program.

“(Mueller’s) kind of a huge influence to me, not just in my coaching career, but in life in general,” Court said.

Court wants to spread the offense; he doesn’t calculate percentages of running and passing plays.

“I look at it more often like, ‘How many times has this person touched the ball?’” he said. “They need to touch the ball more; You can accomplish that with short passes, with long passes, with handing the ball off to them, with handing the ball off in different sort(s) of ways.”

It’s a crowded quarterback room. 
Junior Asa LeGrand is a junior, senior Gabe Goodridge and junior Michael Chaisson, a transfer from St. Henry are the contenders.

Junior Malik Johnson is the leading returning back. Johnson, senior Mason Coughenour, junior William Randall and sophomore Amare Newberry are the leading receivers.

Court said the Rebels will run a 3-4 or 3-3 stack defense. Junior Travis Hodges led the team with 104 tackles, including a team-high 15 for loss.

Holmes (0-10)

New coach Jonathan Hopkins is switching sports – he’s been the Bulldogs’ track coach for 16 years.

The obvious task: win a game for the first time since a 44-6 victory over Scott on Oct. 21, 2022.

“I think out of all the football programs, we’re probably the team that’s struggling the most, so it’s a big challenge for us,” Hopkins said. “We have a whole new coaching staff as well. 
So not only am I a new head football coach, but we have a new offensive coordinator (Jason Moore), a new defensive coordinator (Alvin Elsbernd), a new special teams coordinator (JP Perrin). So the whole coaching staff and the kids alike, we’re all kind of being (on a) learning curve for everything.”

Bowing out of the playoffs the next two years perhaps makes sense – the Bulldogs scored just 12 points all season and surrendered 434. Hopkins said it was better to play teams in similar situations.

“Last year, we played a lot of freshmen that probably shouldn’t have been playing varsity football,” Hopkins said. 

Hopkins is optimistic; he said 40 kids are in the program this season.

There will be a new quarterback: junior Konscious Johnson replaces sophomore Michael Chames, who’ll be a running back.

“We may end up, you know, putting (Chames) there into some Wildcat packages, things like that,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got a lot of new kids out, so we’re trying to evaluate everybody to see where they best fit for us to be successful.”

Holmes’ offensive line may be the strongest part of the team: junior Damarcus Foster, senior RaShawn Johnson and junior Lucas Manning are back.

Sophomore running back Devon Dunaway also returns. He ran for 189 yards and a touchdown and had 33 tackles.

Holmes will tour the Commonwealth this season: besides trips to Boone County (7 p.m. Aug. 22) and Holy Cross (7 p.m. Sept. 23), the schedule includes road games at Ohio County (2 p.m. Oct. 11 in Hartford), Thomas Nelson (7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 in Bardstown) and Lewis County (7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in Vanceburg).

Green County (Sept. 5), Jackson County (Sept. 26) and Shelby County (Oct. 3) come to Covington. Local home games are with Ludlow (Aug. 29) and Scott (Oct. 30).

“This year and next year, they will sharpen up their Kentucky geography skills,” Hopkins said. 

Scott (2-8)

The Eagles are 8-23 since 2021’s 8-5 record. Second-year coach Justin Franklin’s goal is to create some continuity. 

“I was the fourth coach in 14 months,” Franklin said. “And so you can imagine the psyche of not just the current players, the players that are moving up to Scott, the parents in the program, the booster club, the administration. Everything has been in flux because of the rapid changes in leadership. And so the kids have responded so well because, when I got the job, I could see the hunger in their eyes, I could see it. 
It was just a spark, and I’ve worked real hard to fan the spark.”

Franklin’s formula: putting his players in challenging situations with attainable goals in practice, with lots of love.

“You stress their comfort zone just enough,” Franklin said. “
In this generation, it’s a delicate balance, and it’s a hard target to hit where that motivational line is now, before they’ll quit – to force the growth, but we don’t want them to quit. And then you love them around every failure, every success – you love them just the same. It’s not easy, especially when someone’s dissatisfied with playing time … to show grace and love in that moment is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Franklin said senior Trey Cook is the starting quarterback – he threw for 551 yards and six touchdowns last year.

“And he’s a smart one,” Franklin said. “Multi-sport athlete who’s processing speed is as fast as I’ve ever coached.”

Scott is thinnest at running back – the top six from last year graduated, and seniors Hunter Bradley and Aaron Hampton ran for a combined 44 yards and no touchdowns.

Hampton and junior Justin Hardy are the two leading receivers; Hampton had 31 catches for 343 yards and five touchdowns, and Hardy added 12 receptions for 128 and three scores. 

Senior Braydon Ennis anchors the defensive line, and Hampton and Hardy also had 30 and 24 tackles, respectively.

Scott opens the season Aug. 22 at Campbell County in the third annual Battle of the Bridge game in Claryville. The Camels have outscored the Eagles, 119-33, in their first two wins.

“I believe these Eagles are ready to fly into the storm,” Franklin said. “However, you know I’m going to love them win or lose, and I think that’s a more important thing.”