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 takeaways from Friday night and beyond)
- Who should be the Coach of the Year in Northern Kentucky? Here’s eight candidates that have certainly made their case: Cooper’s Adam Begley, Walton-Verona’s Gary Pence, Dayton’s Jesse Herbst, Holmes’ Emanuel Golsby, St. Henry’s Tim Odom, Highlands’ Bob Sphire, Simon Kenton’s Joe Wynn and Beechwood’s Noel Rash.
2. Shout out Holy Cross. Back-to-back regular season district titles and an 18-3 record during this stretch. Now can they get past the second round and go get their first postseason district title since 2016? Xavier Thornberry had a big night in their 35-14 victory over Ludlow with 109 receiving yards and a touchdown offensively, then five tackles, three pass deflections and a 88-yard interception return for a touchdown.
3. ICYMI, here are your first round playoff matchups for NKY teams
4. It was quite the perfect storm of about 30 minutes for the Simon Kenton football team Friday night. At 9:24 p.m., the clocked just ticked to zero in their 14-7 victory over Ryle. At 9:48 p.m., they found out they were outright district champs when Campbell County beat Great Crossing. Now they get the opportunity to host two home playoff games.
5. How about Holmes? Three straight wins to get to 4-5. For a team that lost 26 in a row from 2022-24, getting to .500 with a win Friday against Scott would be quite the improvement. They’re eligible to get back into district play next year. They’d be in a district with Highlands, Mason County, Grant County and Harrison County.
6. Critical RPI watch…when the clock strikes midnight and the calendar turns to Halloweeen, some teams are going to learn their fate when the RPI freezes. Yeah, you have to get there first, but come the third round, the RPI then re-seeds the tournament. Here’s some key RPI standings to watch:
7. Beechwood is at No. 3 in RPI in 2A, if that holds, they could be looking at another state semifinal trip on the road. The two teams ahead of them are LCA (No. 1) and Owensboro Catholic (No. 2). Again, if that holds and the two win their first three playoff games, the Tigers would have to make another trip to Owensboro, one that ended in a thriller last season as Beechwood came up short on a two-point conversion to win the game with no time on the clock.
8. Lloyd Memorial is No. 4 in 3A in RPI. All three of the teams ahead of them are on the other side of the bracket, meaning if things hold the way they are, the Juggernauts will have the opportunity to host a region championship. They still potentially have a second round matchup at Russell, however.
9. Highlands is No. 4 in RPI in 4A. Two teams ahead of them are on their side of the bracket, meaning the Bluebirds would be looking at a road game at Boyle County in the region championship if the Rebels and Ashland advance out of the first two rounds (Ashland will most likely face Covington Catholic in the second round). Yes, the team they beat during the regular season would get to host for a regional championship. Ashland is No. 1 in the class, they play at Lexington Catholic this week, so that could make things interesting. Boyle County plays Frederick Douglass while Highlands has a bye.
10. No one in 1A, 5A, or 6A has a clear path to hosting a region championship. Cooper has the only real outside shot. They’d need two of three teams to lose in one of the first two rounds: Pulaski County, West Jessamine and Woodford County. Anyone else would need too much to type.
200-yard passers
none
100-yard rushers
Damarco Jackson, Newport — 10 rushes, 191 yds, TD
Jasiah Lampkin, Conner — 26 rushes, 182 yds, 2 TD
Miller Reed, Ludlow — 16 rushes, 182 yds
Bryce Armstrong, Highlands — 21 rushes, 144 yds, TD
Lucas Depperschmidt, Campbell County — 12 rushes, 141 yds, TD
Corey Freihofer, Cooper — 12 rushes, 122 yds, 3 TD
Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 12 rushes, 105 yds
Avery Conrad, Lloyd Memorial — 5 rushes, 104 yds, 2 TD
100-yard receivers
Xavier Thornberry, Holy Cross — 3 receptions, 109 yds, TD
Defensive standouts
Austin Grant Ashcraft, Ludlow — 18 tackles, tackle for loss
Samuel Ishmael, Scott — 18 tackles
Rahn Keyser, Ryle — 17 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble
Elijah Applegate, Boone County — 13 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Jesse Nunn, Ryle — 11 tackles, sack, six tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries
Quinten Tischner, Bishop Brossart — 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, interception
Alexander Yutze, Walton-Verona — 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Jayden Watson, Ludlow — 11 tackles
William Salveson, Ludlow — 11 tackles
Alex Riedinger, Campbell County — 10 tackles, sack
Landon Helton, Scott — 10 tackles
Tommy Busby, Bishop Brossart — 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, forced fumble
Jason Rieselman, Holy Cross — 9 tackles, 2 sacks
Bosley Lasita, Bellevue — 9 tackles
Demareon Peterson, Lloyd Memorial — 9 tackles
Lincoln Tomlinson, Lloyd Memorial — 9 tackles
Lucas Pate, St. Henry — 9 tackles
Will Meyer, Newport Central Catholic — 9 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Colton Ewing, Newport Central Catholic — 8 tackles, 4 sacks
Gage Booth, Boone County — 8 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Charles Oglesby, Holy Cross — 8 tackles
Ben Griffiths, :Ludlow — 8 tackles
Ivan Viveros, St. Henry — 8 tackles
Kevin Vazquez-Wilson, Dayton — 7 tackles, fumble recovery
Aiden Miller, Newport — 7 tackles, forced fumble
Sean Hurry, Newport — 7 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss
Hunter Rose, Boone County — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Grady Lucas, Campbell County — 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Garrett Frederick, Holy Cross — 7 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Damarco Jackson, Newport — 6 tackles, sack, 3 tackles for loss, interception, forced fumble
Zayden Jones, Newport — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
Gabe Williams, Highlands — 6 tackles, tackle for loss, interception
Jason Rieselman, Holy Cross — 6 tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery
Charles Booth, Boone County — 6 tackles, 3 tackles for loss
Dustin Hamilton, Walton-Verona — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, interception return for TD
Xavier Thornberry, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, interception return for TD
Will Stevie, Newport Central Catholic — 5 tackles, interception
Beckett Meersman, Bishop Brossart — 5 tackles, tackle for loss, forced fumble
Aiden Dolan, Lloyd Memorial — 5 tackles, sack, forced fumble
Cooper Burch, Walton-Verona — 5 tackles, fumble recovery
Max Hunt, Holy Cross — 5 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Andrew Stewart, St. Henry — 4 tackles, interception
Lamar Watson, Ludlow — 4 tackles, forced fumble, fumble recovery
Charlie Rauch, Bishop Brossart — 4 tackles, fumble recovery
Jimi Cox, Highlands — 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Caleb Arrasmith, Beechwood — 3 tackles, interception return for TD
Bo Sowder, Beechwood — 3 sacks
Maddox Hatton, Beechwood — 3 tackles, tackle for loss, fumble recovery
Andrew Lynn, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, sack, forced fumble
Gavin Kremer, Campbell County — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Jeremiah Yutze, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss
Jacob Yutze, Walton-Verona — 3 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Landon Ketron, Bishop Brossart — interception
Dylan Orr, Cooper — interception
Haygen Shinkle, Cooper — interception
Rhylee Wendlandt, Campbell County — fumble recovery
Christian Inanbit, Cooper — fumble recovery
Colton Brumback, Cooper — fumble recovery
Kiernan Beamon Newman, Newport — fumble recovery
Anthony Hull, Dayton — forced fumble
Kicking standouts
Jack Mercer, Beechwood — 7/7 PAT
Roco Gillette, Covington Catholic — 6/6 PAT
Nuno Gomes, Lloyd Memorial — 6/6 PAT
Ryan Eldridge, Bishop Brossart — 5/5 PAT
Gabriel Romito, Holy Cross — 5/5 PAT
Lucas Engel, Walton-Verona — 5/5 PAT
Cole Ewing, Cooper — 5/6 PAT
Bye Week: Dixie Heights
Missing stats from: Holmes, Simon Kenton