See below from the Week 8 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
— Walton-Verona had some serious stat-stuffing in their 52-13 victory over Gallatin County. Andrew Lynn ran for 142 yards and five touchdowns while Brayden Donato intercepted three passes. His five on the season puts him tied for third in the state with five on the season.
— Dixie Heights quarterback Mason Fields finished with 362 passing yards in their 34-7 victory over Conner. He had 301 yards passing at halftime. Nishawn Golsby had 201 yards receiving. Fields’ 1,902 yards passing this season is sixth in the state.
— With three more interceptions in their win over Dayton, Bellevue leads the entire state regardless of class with 15 interceptions on the season. Newport and Beechwood are right behind them with 13 and 12, respectively. Bellevue’s 15 fumble recoveries is tied for the state lead with South Laurel. The 30 takeaways leads the state.
— Beechwood’s scoring margin of 42.9 points leads the entire state regardless of class. They’ve won their last three games by a combined 201 points.
— Back to Beechwood, receiver Tyler Fryman is now the program’s all-time receiving leader with 2,098 receiving yards, passing James Cusick. Just a junior, Fryman is well on his way to over 3,000 career receiving yards.
— After allowing just three points against Bishop Brossart, Holy Cross is now allowing 6.9 points per game, good for third in the state.
— Boone County won their first district game since 2016 with an overtime victory in Florence over Scott. Boone County improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in district play. The win almost ensures them a playoff berth, which would be their first time reaching the postseason since 2018. The four wins is their most in a season since 2021, when they also won four games.
— Your weekly RPI udpate:
6A: Ryle is No. 8, Simon Kenton No. 13, and Campbell County No. 21.
5A: Cooper is No. 13, Dixie Heights is No. 21, Conner is No. 23, Boone County is No. 24 and Scott is No. 33.
4A: Highlands is No. 8, Covington Catholic is No. 12.
3A: Lloyd Memorial is No. 4.
2A: Beechwood is No. 6, St. Henry is No. 30, Walton-Verona is No. 33.
1A: Holy Cross is No. 9, Newport Central Catholic is No. 11, Bellevue is No. 13, Newport is No. 14, Bishop Brossart is No. 20, Ludlow is No. 23, Dayton is No. 27.
— Want an example of how flawed the KHSAA RPI system is? Cooper is 4-3, have played four top 10 teams (one in OH), ranked 13th in RPI in 5A. West Jessamine is 4-3, have played zero top 10 teams, ranked 12th in RPI in 5A. Someone make it make sense?
— District games with big implications this week:
-Bellevue at Newport: Winner has a leg up on the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game. If Bellevue and Newport Central Catholic win this week, it sets up a matchup next week for a district title.
-Bishop Brossart at Ludlow: Winner has a leg up on the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game. If Ludlow and Holy Cross win this week, it sets up a showdown next week for the regular season district title.
-Dixie Heights at Boone County: Dixie wins the No. 2 seed and a home playoff game with a victory. A Boone County win opens their window for a home playoff game.
– Cooper at Scott: A Jaguars win and Boone County loss clinches the regular season district title.
– Highlands at Mason County: Bluebirds clinch the regular season district title with a victory.
– Simon Kenton at Campbell County: A Pioneers win and a Ryle win over Great Crossing sets up a matchup for the regular season district title next week.
200-yard passers
Mason Fields, Dixie Heights — 23/35, 362 yards, 3 TD
Rio Litmer, Highlands — 27/38, 267 yards, TD
Kaleb Evans, Lloyd Memorial — 15/18, 261 yards, 2 TD
100-yard rushers
Malik Johnson, Boone County — 35 rushes, 209 yards, 4 TD
Andrew Lynn, Walton-Verona — 26 rushes, 142 yards, 5 TD
Cash Harney, Covington Catholic — 19 rushes, 118 yards
Jacob Savage, Ryle — 12 rushes, 116 yards, 2 TD
Landon Brown, Simon Kenton — 17 rushes, 111 yards, TD
Dameyn Anness, Ryle — 11 rushes, 102 yards, TD
100-yard receivers
Nishawn Golsby, Dixie Heights — 9 receptions, 201 yards, 2 TD
Colten Barger, Lloyd Memorial — 7 receptions, 173 yards, 2 TD
Michael Oldfield, Walton-Verona — 3 receptions, 118 yards, TD
Jayden Dodd, Scott — 3 receptions, 110 yards, TD
Mason Coughenour, Boone County — 2 receptions, 100 yards
Defensive standouts
Joesiah Hernandez, Conner — 15 tackles
Avery Conrad, Lloyd Memorial — 14 tackles, interception
Javier Diaz, Boone County — 13 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, forced fumble
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 12 tackles, interception
Colten Turner, Scott — 12 tackles
DeMareon Peterson, Lloyd Memorial — 11 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Chase Karl, Simon Kenton — 11 tackles, sack
Sean Hurry, Newport — 10 tackles, tackle for loss
Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 10 tackles, fumble forced
Jonah Rector, Simon Kenton — 10 tackles
Brad Roaden, Dixie Heights — 9 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks
Hunter Busch, Boone County — 9 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
Tristan Woodyard, Bellevue — 9 tackles, tackle for loss
Derrick Fortner, Bellevue — 9 tackles, 4 tackles for loss
Kaiden Bohn, Scott — 9 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble forced
Tucker Ober, Simon Kenton — 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery
Alex Riedinger, Campbell County — 9 tackles
Jonny Lind, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles
Charlie Reeves, Covington Catholic — 9 tackles
Jacob Savage, Ryle — 9 tackles
Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, .5 sack
Kameron Stokes, Bellevue — 8 tackles, tackle for loss
Cordion Abernathy, Conner — 8 tackles
Brady Guard, Covington Catholic — 8 tackles
Levi Gilliland, Dixie Heights — 8 tackles
Jason Rabe, Simon Kenton — 8 tackles
Stephen Specht, Bellevue — 7 tackles, 2 interceptions
Arion Stuckey, Bellevue — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
Amari Isham, Newport — 6 tackles, fumble forced, fumble recovery
Dontae Holder, Newport — 6 tackles, fumble forced
Amari Rodgers, Bellevue — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, interception return for TD
Mason Coughenour, Boone County — 5 tackles, forced fumble, interception
Jordan Pendleton, Simon Kenton — 5 tackles, fumble forced, interception
Dakota Daniels, Boone County — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks
Hunter Rose, Boone County — 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, sack
Henry Krallman, Conner — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
Stanley Smith, Lloyd Memorial — 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks
Collin Morris, Beechwood — 4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, fumble recovery
Landry Queen, Beechwood — 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, fumble forced
Elijah Brandt, Newport — 4 tackles, interception
Eli Mullins, Simon Kenton — 4 tackles, interception
Calvin Burkhardt, Beechwood — 3 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
Jaxon Davis, Simon Kenton — 3 tackles, interception
Brayden Donato, Walton-Verona — 3 interceptions
Nathan Pabst, Beechwood — 2 interceptions, one returned for TD
Evan Kincaid, Ryle — 2 interceptions, one returned for TD
Vander Hundemer, Newport Central Catholic — interception return for TD
Ayden Earls, Campbell County — interception
Brandon Smith, Covington Catholic — interception
Connor Carnohan, Highlands — interception
DeMarco Jackson, Newport — interception
William Stevie, Newport Central Catholic — interception
Jack Stevie, Newport Central Catholic — interception
Dylan Lee, Ryle — interception
Kellen Siemer, Beechwood — fumble recovery
Colton Nagy, Conner — fumble recovery
Ryan Dunn, Highlands — fumble recovery
Carvonta Roper, Newport — fumble recovery
Jonathan Meyer, Newport Central Catholic — fumble recovery
Wesley Simpson, Walton-Verona — fumble recovery
Christian Kathman, Walto-Verona — fumble recovery
Andrew Lynn, Walton-Verona — fumble forced
Mason Clark, Ryle — fumble recovery
Kicking standouts
Lucas Engle, Walton-Verona — 7/7 PAT, 1/2 FG
Colson Lair, Beechwood — 6/6 PAT
Kai Anderson, Highlands — 1/1 PAT, 1/1 FG
Jack Mercer, Beechwood — 4/4 PAT
Miles Mullen, Simon Kenton — 3/3 PAT
Missing stats from: Bishop Brossart, Dayton, Holmes, St. Henry