Football weather has arrived!
Hoodies are out in full force and you know what that means…time to get the run game going even more!
Fall is here, district play has begun and it’s time to start seeing who the real contenders are in each class.
Each week, throughout the season, make sure to come here on Monday’s 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.
First and 10 (10 takeways from Friday night)
— Went to the 112th meeting between Bellevue and Ludlow Friday night at James Rigney Stadium. Let me say, Ludlow does Homecoming right. Not taking away from other schools, but it truly is a community event. From the floats from each class, to the Homecoming Court and all the festivities in-between, it really gives you the old school feel of what Homecoming was. I personally love the red turf as well. As far as the game, Ludlow has really turned the series on their side. Bellevue leads all-time 68-39-5, but the Panthers have won 11 of the last 12 in the series.
— The future is bright in Park Hills. Coming into the season, we knew Covington Catholic had a talented sophomore class and they are showing it. Of their 31 touchdowns scored on offense this season, 23 have come from sophomores. Sophomore Kiyan Miller continues to explode onto the scene. After his four rushing touchdowns on Friday in a 41-14 victory over Louisville Central, he now has 15 rushing touchdowns on the season. Jamir Kirtley and Brandon Smith have also shown bright flashes offensively.
— The annual Beechwood against district opponents post is here. Since joining Class 2A in 2019, the Tigers are 35-0 and have outscored opponents 1,868-92. That’s an average score of 53.3 to 2.6. They started district play with a 63-0 victory over Owen County on Friday. Walton-Verona and St. Henry looked to be improved, but it’s just a different level when it comes to the Tigers in 2A around NKY.
— District play is here and I think you’re going to see some real interesting races play out this season. Some of the more intriuiging ones will be: Class 1A, District 3 (Dayton, Newport, NewCath), Class 1A, District 4 (Holy Cross, Ludlow, Bishop Brossart), Walton-Verona and St. Henry fighting for a home playoff game in Class 2A, District 5. Also keep an eye on the Class 5A, 5th District battle (Cooper, Dixie Heights, Conner) and the Class 6A, 6th District race (Ryle, Simon Kenton, Campbell County). Should make for some interesting games in October!
— Piggybacking off district week, Lloyd Memorial heads to Bourbon County this week in what will be a battle for the Class 3A, 5th District title. Carroll County is at 4-0 as well, but this game feels like it will be for all the marbles.
— And another pivotal battle comes with CovCath-Highlands week. Get your minds right. Will be hard to top last year’s epic thriller as the Bluebirds came out with a 31-28 victory on Tayden Lorenzen’s touchdown grab in the final minute. The winner pretty much has the district title in hand. The loser will have to most likely go on the road in the playoffs starting in Week 2. Raise the stakes!
— The first official RPI ratings are out. Here’s where NKY teams stand:
Class 6A (out of 31 teams): Simon Kenton 12th, Ryle 15th, Campbell County 16th
Class 5A (out of 38 teams): Cooper 9th, Dixie Heights 27th, Conner 30th, Boone County 31st, Scott 37th
Class 4A (out of 38 teams): Highlands 4th, Covington Catholic 6th
Class 3A (out of 39 teams): Lloyd Memorial 4th
Class 2A (out of 40 teams): Beechwood 1st, Walton-Verona 13th, St. Henry 20th
Class 1A (out of 31 teams): Dayton 6th, Holy Cross 12th, Bishop Brossart 13th, Ludlow 16th, Newport Central Catholic 19th, Newport 21st, Bellevue 24th
— Highlands’ Quinton Simon returned not one, but two interceptions for touchdowns in their 78-6 win over Harrison County. While the Bluebirds’ front have been game-wreckers with 41 tackles for loss in six games, Simon is helping solidify the Bluebirds back line of defense.
— Dixie Heights’ Levi Gilliland the last two weeks: 53 carries, 443 yards and five touchdowns. He’s entered the race for the NKY rushing title with 628 yards. Boone County’s Malik Johnson currently in the lead there with 837 rushing yards. CovCath’s Kiyan Miller (695 yards), St. Henry’s Lucas Pate (638 yards), Dayton’s Malachi Kennedy (563 yards) and Lloyd’s Colten Barger (545 yards) also in the mix.
— Happy to see one of my colleagues right back in the mix after the Lexington Herald-Leader made the boneheaded decision to pretty much stop all prep sports coverage. Jared Peck, their preps beat writer, joined PrepSpin as a content creator and editor. Jared will have a Friday night show “PrepSpin Scoreboard Show” each Friday night for the rest of the football season. You can find it on Youtube under PrepSpin. I’ll be on Friday to recap the CovCath-Highlands matchup and some other happenings around NKY.
200-yard passers
none
100-yard rushers
Kiyan Miller, Covington Catholic — 24 rushes, 186 yds, 4 TD
Levi Gilliland, Dixie Heights — 28 rushes, 178 yds, 2 TD
Corey Freihofer, Cooper — 25 rushes, 165 yds, 2 TD
Miller Reed, Ludlow — 14 rushes, 140 yds, TD
Cruze Sauley, Ryle — 15 rushes, 134 yds, 3 TD
Ethan Estvanko, Conner — 16 rushes, 102 yds, TD
100-yard receivers
none
Defensive standouts
Samuel Ishmael, Scott — 19 tackles, sack, 3 tackles for loss
Cooper Burch, Walton-Verona — 18 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss
Charlie Miles, Scott — 12 tackles
Colton Turner, Scott — 12 tackles
Landon Helton, Scott — 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Malachi Snapp, Scott — 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Quinten Tischner, Bishop Brossart — 11 tackles
Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 10 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Justin Hardy, Scott — 10 tackles
Jonah Rector, Scott — 10 tackles
Bosley Lasita, Bellevue — 9 tackles, sack
Rahn Keyser, Ryle — 9 tackles, sack, tackle for loss
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Brad Roaden, Dixie Heights — 7 tackles, interception return for TD
Sean Hurry, Newport — 7 tackles, .5 sack, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble
Corey Freihofer, Cooper — 7 tackles, interception
Parker Tveten, Cooper — 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Xavier Thornberry, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, interception
Demareon Peterson, Lloyd Memorial — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, fumble recovery
Jonny Lind, Covington Catholic — 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss
DaMarco Jackson, Newport — 5 tackles, interception
Kayden Brown, Bellevue — 5 tackles, forced fumble
Beckett Meersman, Bishop Brossart — 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble
Charles Swendiman, Dixie Heights — 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss
Stone Eickoff, Lloyd Memorial — 4 tackles, punt block
Aidyn Fortner, Bellevue — 4 tackles, interception, forced fumble
Atticus Prost, Bishop Brossart — 4 tackles, fumble recovery
Jeremiah Yutze, Walton-Verona — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Jacob Yutze, Walton-Verona — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Jude Lambert-Morith, St. Henry — 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 tackles for loss
Aiden Arana, Dixie Heights — 3 tackles, sack, tackle for loss, 2 interceptions
Evan Kincaid, Ryle — 3 tackles, sack, tackle for loss, interception
Reggie Rolland, Bellevue — 3 tackles, interception
Andrew Smith, Ryle — 3 tackles, interception
Cahlil Johnson, Holy Cross — 3 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
Avian Outlaw, Cooper — 3 tackles for loss
Jacob Rieselman, Holy Cross — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Linwood Erney, Dixie Heights — 2 tackles, interception return for TD
Joseph Krumme, St. Henry — 2 tackles, interception
Lucas Diaz, Covington Catholic — 2 tackles for loss
Bishop Riddell, Walton-Verona — 2 tackles, tackle for loss, punt block
Ethan Koster, Newport — tackle for loss, fumble recovery for TD
Quinton Simon, Highlands — 2 interception returns for TD
Tyler Fryman, Beechwood — interception return for TD
Colin Ritter, Beechwood — interception return for TD
Garrison Wilson, Beechwood — interception
Anderson Durrett, Beechwood — interception
Christian Kathman, Walton-Verona — interception
David Penick, St. Henry — interception
Nathan Pabst, Beechwood — kickoff return for TD
Nick Stojkovis, Highlands — 2 sacks
Griffin Benke, Highlands — sack, safety
Grant Dadosky, Highlands — forced fumble, fumble recovery
Cooper Benke, Highlands — forced fumble, fumble recovery
Sebastion Baker, Bellevue — forced fumble
Parker Payne, Covington Catholic — forced fumble
David Clark, Bellevue — fumble recovery
Henry Raaker, Ryle — fumble recovery
Kicking standouts
Jack Mercer, Beechwood — 9/9 PAT
Kai Anderson, Highlands — 7/7 PAT
Cole Profitt, Dixie Heights — 7/7 PAT
Jack Basinger, Ryle — 5/5 PAT
Bye week: Boone County, Campbell County, Dayton, Newport Central Catholic,
Missing stats from: Holmes, Ludlow
