The NKyTribune is 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
Highlands football players have been carrying on their program’s winning tradition for decades. The last time the Bluebirds finished the season with a losing record was 1955, according to the team website.
That successful streak seemed to be in jeopardy when Highlands lost five of its first six games this season. But the players didn’t panic and won their first Class 5A district game against Dixie Heights, 42-7, last Friday
That victory puts the Bluebirds in a position to salvage this season. If they win their next two games against Covington Catholic and Grant County, they’ll be district champions and open the playoffs on their home field.
“It wouldn’t really put the past behind us, but that would be good to do,” said Highlands senior running back Nick Kendall. “Everybody will remember us for that instead of our record because winning district is all that matters when it comes to the playoffs.”
Kendall has been one of the steadiest performers for Highlands through the first seven games. He’s the team’s leading rusher with 546 yards and leading scorer with nine touchdowns.
He said the Bluebirds played their best game of the year last week and he expects that to carry over to Saturday’s showdown against long-time district rival CovCath.
“It took a little while,” Kendall said, “but now I feel like we’re working a lot better as a team. We’re playing harder and playing as a team. It motivates us to become better than what we were before.”
CovCath also has a 2-5 record and won its first Class 5A district game against Grant County, 47-9, last week. The Colonels have not beaten Highlands since the 2006 season, but they’re a slight favorite in statewide power rankings going into Saturday’s game at 1 p.m.
“We can’t let our class be the one that loses to them,” Kendall said. “We’ve played hard all year, but we played hardest this past game and hopefully we play even harder this game.”
Highlands won the Class 4A state championship last season with mostly seniors in the starting lineup. It took some time for players on this year’s team to learn their roles and responsibilities, according to head coach Brian Weinrich.
“In football, you’ve got to have 11 guys on every single play doing it how you’re supposed to do it,” Weinrich said. “We’ve just been harping on that, trying to get everybody on the same page and each week it’s been getting a little bit better.”
The coach said injuries to some starting players caused a few setbacks in the team’s progress, but they all kept working and maintained a positive outlook. It all seemed to finally come together in last week’s win over Dixie Heights.
“That was a very evenly matched game,” Weinrich said. “It was just that they had four turnovers and we had none, and we converted several of their turnovers to points. The last couple of games before that we made the turnovers. I don’t want to make excuses, but every coach will tell you its just a little bit either way that can decide a game.”
Kendall rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the win over Dixie Heights. Senior quarterback Austin Hergott also had a good game with 77 yards passing and 34 yards rushing. He threw a touchdown pass and scored one himself.
The Bluebirds have displayed a much more balanced offensive attack than the past four years when passing was their primary way to score touchdowns.
“Now we just drive and drive and put the ball in the end zone any way we can,” Kendall said.
The Bluebirds scored a season-high 42 points and generated more than 300 yards of total offense in last week’s victory. How effectively they move the ball against CovCath could dictate the outcome of that game and whether or not they extend their program’s long string of winning seasons.
“We’re preparing the same way as we do for any other game,” coach Weinrich said. “We just have to be focused on what our jobs are on every single play and have everybody ready to go.”