See below from the Week 7 on the gridiron that was.
Each week, we’ll provide the standouts from Friday night. The top passers, rushers, receivers, defensive and kicking standouts.
We’ll also look at 10 things to take away from the week.
Here goes…
10 takeaways
— I know Covington Catholic and Highlands have a long and storied history between the two. Would love to know a game better than the one that took place on Friday night. I got a reply on Twitter/X about the Mud Bowl (didn’t get the year), but would love to hear of others. Feel free to email me at edennison@linknky.com.
— It was a heavy bye week for NKY. Six teams had the week off (should have been seven if Scott didn’t have to resume a suspended game), so not as many standouts this week.
— Another week, another notch in the record book for Cooper’s Keagan Maher. This time it was the program’s all-time rushing leader. Maher ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns in their 42-13 win over Dixie Heights. He now has 3,546 career rushing yards. Maher recently broke the program’s all-time scoring record as well. He’s run for 909 yards and 13 touchdowns this season as he approaches a third straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
— Staying with Cooper, Cam O’Hara became just the 12th passer in KHSAA history to clear 10,000 passing yards (as of KHSAA’s record books up to 2021). He threw for 158 yards and a touchdown in the Jaguars 42-13 victory over Dixie on Friday. He now has 10,040 yards passing in his high school career.
— Newport Central Catholic’s win over Campbell County was not only their first since 2019, but should really springboard them into the second half of the season. With their dominance in district play and a struggling Mason County team on the docket for the final game, the Thoroughbreds should be able to run the table and get to 6-4. Would be a world of a change after starting 1-4.
— Ludlow’s Austin Grant Ashcraft had 24 tackles in the Panthers win over Trimble County on Thursday. That brings his tally to 85 tackles on the year, tied for eighth in the state, regardless of class.
— Here is your latest RPI update, which has significant implications for the third and fourth round of the playoffs, Ideally, you want to be in the top four by the end of the season to ensure you’ll get at least three, maybe four home playoff games in November.
-In 6A, Ryle is No. 9, Simon Kenton is No. 16 and Campbell County is No. 20.
-In 5A, Cooper is No. 12, Conner is No. 22, Dixie Heights is No. 23, Boone County is No. 28 and Scott is No. 29.
-In 4A, Highlands is No. 6, Covington Catholic is No. 14.
-In 3A, Lloyd Memorial is No. 3.
-In 2A, Beechwood is No. 7, St. Henry is No. 30 and Walton-Verona No. 35.
-In 1A, Holy Cross is No. 9, Newport Central Catholic is No. 11, Newport is No. 12, Bellevue is No. 13, Bishop Brossart is No. 18, Ludlow is No. 23 and Dayton is No. 26.
— St. Henry’s goal of being a playoff team in their inaugural season is almost certainly a reality now. With a six-team district in Class 2A, District 5, two teams will be on the outside looking in. With the Crusaders off to a 2-0 start in district play, they are pretty much in with three district games left.
— Speaking of Class 2A, District 5, Beechwood has flat out dominated. After Friday’s 69-0 victory over Walton-Verona, the Tigers have now outscored district opponents 640-16 in the last 12 district games.
— Looking ahead to Thursday/Friday, some key district matchups with playoff seeding implications:
-Conner at Dixie Heights Thursday: winner most likely gets the No. 2 seed in the district
-Scott at Boone County: the loser will be on the outside looking in for the playoff picture
-Holy Cross at Bishop Brossart: the top spot in the Class A, 4th District could be determined here
-Great Crossing at Simon Kenton: the winner has a leg up for a home playoff game
-Newport vs Newport Central Catholic (at Dixie Heights), top spot in the Class A, 3rd District up for grabs
200-yard passers
Emmett Queen, Beechwood — 7/9, 256 yards, 5 TD
Mason Fields, Dixie Heights — 20/32, 252 yards, TD
Cash Harney, Covington Catholic — 8/18, 219 yards, 2 TD
100-yard rushers
Eddie Bivens, Newport Central Catholic — 25 rushes, 195 yards, 3 TD
Keagan Maher, Cooper — 28 rushes, 173 yards, 3 TD
Caden Kunstek, St. Henry — 15 rushes, 140 yards, 2 TD
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 11 rushes, 117 yards, 3 TD
Nicholi Abbott, Ludlow — 12 rushes, 112 yards, 2 TD
100-yard receivers
Tyler Fryman, Beechwood — 4 receptions, 171 yards, 3 TD
Aydin Depenbrock, Conner — 7 receptions, 129 yards, 2 TD
Nishawn Golsby, Dixie Heights — 6 receptions, 116 yards, TD
Ryker Campbell, Cooper — 6 receptions, 110 yards, TD
Defensive standouts
Austin Grant Ashcraft, Ludlow — 24 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 18 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble forced
Lucas Pate, St. Henry — 17 tackles
Matthew Brewer, Ludlow — 15 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Cash Myers, Covington Catholic — 14 tackles
Andre Englemon Jr., Ludlow — 12 tackles, tackle for loss
Dax Bolen, Cooper — 12 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Ryland Yates, Ludlow — 12 tackles
Alex Riedinger, Campbell County — 11 tackles, tackle for loss, sack, interception
Tyler Crafton, Ludlow — 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Logan Sanning, Covington Catholic — 10 tackles, interception
Dylan Gaiser, Covington Catholic — 10 tackles
Avery Conrad, Lloyd Memorial — 10 tackles
Max Wethington, Cooper — 10 tackles
Colton Turner, Scott — 10 tackles
Kaydenn Marshall, Scott — 9 tackles, interception
DeMareon Peterson, Lloyd Memorial — 9 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Brandon Smith, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles
Brady Guard, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles
Nishawn Golsby, Dixie Heights — 9 tackles
Brayden Brzygot, Dixie Heights — 8 tackles, fumble recovery
Jacob Rieselman, Holy Cross — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
William Miller, St. Henry — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Travis Keen, Conner — 8 tackles, tackle for loss
Gabe Weis, Covington Catholic — 8 tackles, sack
Tucker Evans, Covington Catholic — 8 tackles
Benjamin Smiddy, Scott — 8 tackles
Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — 7 tackles, 4 tackles for loss
Ethan Estvanko, Conner — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery
Braylon Thornberry, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, interception
Brad Roaden, Dixie Heights — 6 tackles, fumble recovery
Imer Viveros, St. Henry — 5 tackles, interception
Ben Griffiths, Ludlow — 4 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
Deshawn Champ, Conner — 4 tackles, fumble recovery
Corey Freihofer, Cooper — 4 tackles, fumble recovery
Logan Day, Ludlow — 4 tackles, interception
Lavar Herron, Lloyd Memorial — 2 interceptions
Caleb Arrasmith, Beechwood — interception return for TD
Jake Atmore, Beechwood — interception return for TD
Henry Krallman, Conner — interception return for TD
Kellen Siemer, Beechwood — interception
Calvin Burkhardt, Beechwood — interception
Jaylen Stone, Ludlow — interception
Brayden Schneider, Lloyd Memorial — fumble recovery
Gunnar Ditrick, St. Henry — fumble recovery
Owen Pate, St. Henry — fumble recovery
Landon Sweeney, St. Henry — fumble recovery
Owen Gabbard, Dixie Heights — fumble forced
Austin Morehead, Dixie Heights — fumble forced
Tyler Caudill, St. Henry — fumble forced
Jude Lambert-Morith, St. Henry — fumble forced
Kicking standouts
Kai Anderson, Highlands — 4/4 PAT, 1/1 FG
Eyler Tibbs, Cooper — 6/6 PAT
Brady Aubuchon, St. Henry — 2/2 PAT, 1/1 FG
Andrew Stewart, St. Henry — 2/2 PAT, 1/1 FG
Logan Zembrodt, Covington Catholic — 4/4 PAT
Finn McMillan, Ludlow — 3/3 PAT
Missing stats from: Boone County, Dayton, Holmes