The NKyTribune will be offering focused coverage of NKY high school football throughout the season, thanks to support from St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine. See all our pre-season features on each of NKY’s 21 high school football teams and follow our coverage, including roundups each week at Northern Kentucky High School Football.
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Welcome back, Tanner Morgan.
That’s what Ryle football fans must have been thinking as they watched the talented junior quarterback lead the Raiders to a 35-28 win over Covington Catholic in the opening game of the 2015 high school season on Friday at CovCath.
Morgan grew up in Union, but his family moved to Hazard two years ago. He was the starting quarterback on the Hazard High School football team the last two seasons before returning to Union and rejoining his boyhood friends on the Ryle team this year.
In his first game as the Raiders’ starting quarterback on Friday, Morgan celebrated his homecoming by completing 25 of 36 passes for 449 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored two rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner on a 27-yard run with 2:19 left in the fourth quarter.
“As an offense, we’ve still got a ways to go, but we were a well-oiled machine (Friday),” Morgan said. “We’ve just got to keep our momentum going next week and on through the rest of the season.”
After passing for more than 4,800 yards and 56 touchdowns in two seasons at Hazard, Morgan has been getting a lot of attention from college recruiters. He has already received scholarship offers from Wake Forest, Louisville and Cincinnati.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior’s performance against CovCath showed why college coaches are so impressed with him. He completed passes to nine different receivers throwing from the pocket and on the run. When he couldn’t find an open receiver, he tucked the ball and ran for 58 yards on 10 carries.
Ryle’s offense generated a total of 584 yards in its first game of the season with Morgan making big plays from start to finish.
“There’s a reason why he’s getting all the recruiting (attention) that he’s been getting,” said CovCath coach Eddie Eviston. “He’s a gamer. He made plays when he had to and that’s the sign of a good quarterback.”
CovCath also had a good offensive showing in Eviston’s debut as head coach of the Colonels. Sophomore quarterback A.J. Mayer completed 16 of 32 passes for 234 yards and two TDs in his first varsity start. The home team also had 189 rushing yards with senior Ben Darlington picking up 111 yards on 13 carries.
Darlington’s biggest play came late in the fourth quarter after Ryle took a 35-28 lead. He broke free on a 35-yard run and was brought down at the 15-yard line with 1:19 left on the clock. But that turned out to be Darlington’s last play of the game. He was injured on the tackle and after a long delay was taken off the field on a stretcher.
When the game resumed, CovCath lost yardage on the next two plays and then Mayer threw an incomplete pass to a receiver in the end zone. On a fourth-down play with 31 seconds left, Mayer dropped back to pass once again and was wrapped up by Ryle junior linebacker Josh Sandmann.
Mayer made a weak throw before he went down, but the ball didn’t come close to a receiver. When officials whistled the play dead, it set off a wild celebration on the Ryle sideline.
“Our defense just stepped up,” Ryle coach Mike Engler said of stopping CovCath’s last drive. “When you’ve got a bunch of seniors on defense, you’re going to have them step up. They did a great job.”
The game’s leading scorer was CovCath senior Ryan McGinness with 14 points. He returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, scored on 31-yard run and caught a pass for a two-point conversion. He ended up with 209 all-purpose yards in rushing, receiving and returns.
But every time CovCath made a big play, Ryle was able to counter it.
“It was an absolutely great football game,” coach Engler said. “Both teams faced adversity and both teams answered when they had to. It just so happened that we had the ball and got the last score.”
RYLE 7 7 14 7 — 35
COVCATH 12 0 16 0 – 28
CC – Summe 31 pass from Mayer (kick failed)
R – Ashley 77 pass from Morgan (Molique kick)
CC – McGinness 94 kickoff return (kick failed)
R – Morgan 1 run (Molique kick)
CC – Beck 27 pass from Mayer (Darlington pass from Mayer)
R – McGregor 1 run (Molique kick)
CC – McGinness 31 run (McGinness pass from Mayer)
R – Beagle 82 pass from Morgan (Molique kick)
R – Morgan 27 run (Molique kick)
RECORDS: Ryle 1-0, CovCath 0-1.