The first of what many hope is a 16-week football season is in the books.
Friday treated us with exceptional weather in NKY as statements were made, suprises were had and some teams were left with more questions than answers.
All but one of the 22 teams in Boone, Campbell and Kenton County were in action, so it was a jam packed slate of local games and one of our local teams playing four hours away.
Each week, throughout the season, make sure to come here on Monday’s (outside of Labor Day) to check out the weekly standouts and 10 takeaways from Friday night.
We’ll highlight the 200-yard passers, 100-yard rushers, 100-yard receivers, defensive standouts and kicking standouts.
The criteria has changed for the defensive standout list. The minimum is at least 10 tackles or multiple tackles for loss. As always, if a turnover is recorded, then you make the list, to me that’s the ultimate goal of a defense. Kicking standouts will include at least four successful extra-points and or any field goals made.
First and 10 (10 takeaways from Friday night)
— Cooper’s season opening win at Christian County was impressive in a variety of ways. First, it was a four hour drive to Hopkinsville. Second, it was Christian County’s first official game, as Hopkinsville and Christian County merged to form one school with over 2,000 students. Third, the Jaguars trailed 14-0 early and came back for a 28-21 victory in Michael Begley’s coaching debut.
— Campbell County’s Alex Riedinger recorded not one, not two, not three, not four, but five sacks in their 32-7 victory over Scott. Not sure how to even find that in the program’s record book, but that single game performance has to be up there as an all-timer for the Camels. Now he’s on pace for 50 sacks in the regular season. Unfortunately there’s not a sacks ledger in the KHSAA record book, so unable to tell where that performance would rank all-time in the state. Riedinger’s performance helped give Rick Honaker a win in his coaching debut with the program. The Camels defense in total registered eight sacks and 13 tackles for loss with an interception returned for a touchdown and forced a fumble.
— Take Highlands’ defeat with a grain of salt. Frederick Douglass is most likely the second best team in Class 6A and could very well end up at Kroger Field and finish runner-up to Trinity (sorry, but no one is touching Trinity this year in the state). They were tied at 20 going into the fourth before the Broncos scored 21 unanswered for the victory. It was also the first career start for quarterback Bryce Armstrong, who handled himself well with 157 yards passing and 80 yards rushing against a stout Broncos defense. They get Cooper and Campbell County before reigning 4A champ Boyle County comes to Fort Thomas on Sept. 11.
— Shout out to Bellevue. When you have to replace 19 of 22 starters at a Class A school from a season ago, that’s not an easy task for anyone. The Tigers put up 42 points in their win over Trimble County, a 42-36 victory. They also nearly surpassed their 2025 season passing total as Evan Brooks threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns. In 2025, the Tigers threw for 239 yards all season.
— Boone County’s Malik Johnson picked up right where he left off from a season ago. After rushing for 1,188 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025, the senior tallied 232 yards and two touchdowns in their win over Holmes.
— A wild one in Alexandria Friday night as Bishop Brossart saw a 21-0 lead evaporate into a 22-21 deficit before rallying for the final nine points in the fourth. It gave Jake Martin a victory in his coaching debut with the Mustangs.
— Beechwood was the lone NKY team on bye to open up the season. They’ll get underway on Friday against Indian Hill (Ohio). Should be a good one as the game features two Division I players at quarterback. Beechwood’s Emmett Queen is committed to Wake Forest while Indian Hill’s Devlin Daniel is committed to Mississippi State for baseball.
— Brotherly love. The Reed’s (Miller and Deaken) for Ludlow both rushed for over 100 yards in their 21-12 victory over Newport. It’s a solid win for the Panthers, beating a Newport team that’s reached the third round of the playoffs the past two seasons.
— Covington Catholic’s special teams are back at it. After returning four kicks (three kickoffs, one punt) for touchdowns last season, they opened up with two on Friday as Brandon Smith took the opening kickoff for six and Mac Cogswell later returned a safety kick for a touchdown. The Colonels were dominant in all three phases in the 50-6 victory over Ryle. Yes, Ryle lost a bunch of production from a season ago, but so did CovCath.
— Thanks to the coaches and admins! Looks like 16 of 21 teams that played submitted stats. Three of the five that didn’t had first-year coaches, so we’ll give them a pass. Let’s get closer to 100% next week!
200-yard passers
Evan Brooks, Bellevue — 12/20, 215 yds, 3 TD
Grant Webb, Simon Kenton — 13/20, 200 yds, 2 TD
100-yard rushers
Malik Johnson, Boone County — 18 rushes, 232 yds, 2 TD
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 15 rushes, 143 yds, 2 TD
Colten Barger, Lloyd Memorial — 11 rushes, 140 yds, 2 TD
Kiyan Miller, Covington Catholic — 19 rushes, 116 yds, 2 TD
Miller Reed, Ludlow — 15 rushes, 111 yds, 3 TD
Deaken Reed, Ludlow — 17 rushes, 106 yds
100-yard receivers
Brady Boruske, Bishop Brossart — 8 rec, 159 yds, TD
Corey Freihofer, Cooper — 4 rec, 126 yds, TD
Samuel Hughes, Simon Kenton — 7 rec, 123 yds, 2 TD
Sebastian Baker, Bellevue — 2 rec, 115 yds, TD
Defensive standouts
Austin Grant Ashcraft, Ludlow — 17 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, fumble recovery
Quinten Tischner, Bishop Brossart — 14 tackles, tackle for loss
Sean Hurry, Newport — 14 tackles, sack, tackle for loss
Deaken Reed, Ludlow — 13 tackles
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 12 tackles, sack, two tackles for loss
Jason Rabe, Simon Kenton — 12 tackles, forced fumble
Tommy Busby, Bishop Brossart — 12 tackles
Peyton Testerman, Simon Kenton — 10 tackles, fumble recovery
Christian Inabnit, Cooper — 10 tackles
Charlie Swendiman, Dixie Heights — 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, sack
Alex Riedinger, Campbell County — 8 tackles, 5 sacks, interception return for TD
Kayden Brown, Bellevue — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery for TD
Javier Diaz, Boone County — 7 tackles, tackle for loss, sack
Griffin Eaton, Campbell County — 7 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Ben Griffiths, Ludlow — 7 tackles, tackle for loss, sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery
Cameron Rahschulte, Ryle — 7 tackles, fumble recovery
Dustin Wilson, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, interception return for TD
Lamont Okunuga, Newport — 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Lucas Walton, Bellevue — 6 tackles, forced fumble
Kyle King, Simon Kenton — 6 tackles, fumble recovery
Isiah Carter, Lloyd Memorial — 6 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble
George Mintch, Boone County — 5 tackles, interception, forced fumble
Beckett Meersman, Bishop Brossart — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Evan West, Lloyd Memorial — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Max Cole, Campbell County — 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss
Ryland Yates, Ludlow — 4 tackles, 2 interceptions
Aarik McRoberts, Boone County — 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Carson Clark, Cooper — 4 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Jonny Lind, Covington Catholic — 4 tackles, 2 sacks, safety
Landon Ketron, Bishop Brossart — 3 tackles, interception return for TD
Jaxon Miller, Bishop Brossart — 3 tackles, 2 sacks, forced fumble
Colton McCambridge, Boone County — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Liam Kolks, Boone County — 3 tackles, interception
Landon Fields, Campbell County — 3 tackles, forced fumble
Ethan Tiemeier, Bishop Brossart — 2 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Manning Dawson, Cooper — 2 tackles for loss
Bryton Ormes, Bellevue — 2 tackles, fumble recovery
Jaxon Evans, Simon Kenton — 2 tackles, forced fumble
Xavier Thornberry, Holy Cross — 2 tackles, interception
Brady Boruske, Bishop Brossart — tackle, interception
Jackson Israel, Bellevue — fumble recovery
Cooper Benke, Highlands — safety
Kicking standouts
Blake Minor, Campbell County — 1/1 FG, 3/3 PAT
Ryan Eldridge, Bishop Brossart — 1/1 FG, 3/4 PAT
Rocco Gillette, Covington Catholic — 6/7 PAT
Kai Anderson, Highlands — 1/1 FG, 1/1 PAT
Cole Ewing, Cooper — 4/4 PAT
Gavin McCulley, Simon Kenton — 4/4 PAT
Missing stats from: Dayton, Holmes, Newport Central Catholic, Scott, St. Henry
