By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Three of the eight football playoff games involving Northern Kentucky teams on Friday’s schedule are rematches between district opponents that played during the regular season.
One of the Class 6A playoff games will be Conner at Cooper. When those two teams faced each other three weeks ago, Mitchell Hollifield kicked a 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give Cooper a 15-13 win that clinched the district title.
The other playoff games between district rivals on Friday are Holy Cross at Newport Central Catholic in Class 2A and Dixie Heights at Highlands in Class 5A. In regular season district games played on Oct. 9, Highlands crushed Dixie Heights, 42-7, and NewCath edged Holy Cross, 20-13.
The standout performers in those two district games were senior running backs Jacob Smith of NewCath, who rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns, and Nick Kendall of Highlands, who rushed for rushed for 115 yards and two TDs.
The other playoff games between local teams on Friday are Lloyd at Walton-Verona in Class 2A and Ryle at Simon Kenton in Class 6A.
Simon Kenton has a perfect 11-0 record that includes a 28-7 win over Ryle on Oct. 23. Junior quarterback Cam Racke led Simon Kenton to that victory by passing for 216 yards and two touchdowns and scoring himself on a rushing play.
The other playoff games on Friday are Frankfort at Beechwood in Class 1A, Ashland Blazer at Scott in Class 4A and Covington Catholic at Madison Southern in Class 5A.
Beechwood quarterback tops local record in career touchdown passes
Beechwood senior quarterback Kyle Fieger broke a Northern Kentucky passing record last Friday during his team’s 62-0 win over Eminence in a Class 1A playoff game.
Fieger threw four touchdown passes in that game to raise his career total to 96. That surpasses the local record of 92 TD passes set by Highlands quarterback Gino Guidugli, who graduated in 2001.
Fieger also moved up a notch on the local list of leaders in career passing yardage. He’s now in third place with 6,835 yards. The two players ahead of him are Guidugli with 7,516 yards and Patrick Towles of Highlands with 7,431. Fieger is also second behind Guidugli in career completions, 445 to 401, and completion percentage, 62.0 to 62.8.
“These are not only great accomplishments by Kyle, but I think it speaks volumes about every lineman, running back, wide receiver and tight end that’s ever blocked for or caught a pass from Kyle over the last four years,” Beechwood coach Noel Rash said in an email.
CovCath senior earns state championship ring in second sport
Covington Catholic senior Ryan Massie has been a member of two history-making teams during his high school career.
Last Saturday, Massie was a starting defender on the CovCath team that won Northern Kentucky’s first state championship in boys’ soccer. Two years ago, he was a reserve guard on the first CovCath team to win the boys’ state basketball tournament.
During the soccer playoffs, CovCath posted a shutout in six of its nine victories with a back line that included Massie, Ben Darpel, Austin Flynn and Ben Thieman. The Colonels finished the season with 16 shutouts to set a new team record.
Massie saw limited action as a sophomore on CovCath’s state champion basketball team, but the 6-foot-3 guard played in 34 games last season when the Colonels made it to the state semifinals. He will be one of five seniors on the CovCath roster this season.
Volleyball coaches name top players in three divisions
Morgan Hentz, the leading hitter on the Notre Dame Academy volleyball team that made it to the semifinals of the state tournament, was named Player of the Year on the Division I all-star team selected by Northern Kentucky coaches.
Hentz finished out her high school career with 56 kills and 46 digs in three matches at the last week’s state tournament. She will play for Stanford University next season.
The other Player of the Year award-winners were Janelle Tobler of St. Henry in Division II and Emma Bateman of Villa Madonna in Division III.
Madeline Mitchell of Villa Madonna won the Dean Gosney Sportswoman Scholarship. She will received $500 to help pay for her college education. Alli Borders of Boone County and Liz Pawsat of Beechwood each received $100 from the scholarship fund.
Here is a complete listing of the Northern Kentucky high school volleyball all-star teams:
DIVISION I
Coach of the Year — Andrea Sullivan (Scott)
Player of the Year — Morgan Hentz (Notre Dame)
First team — Jessica Tapp (Scott), Kaity Smith (Cooper), Hayley Bush (Ryle), Kelly Franxman (Scott), Hannah Talkers (Notre Dame), Madison Salkowski (Notre Dame).
Second team — Alli Borders (Boone County), Allie Stinson (Ryle), Cali Helinski (Conner), Hannah Colvin (Notre Dame), Morgan Kelly (Cooper), Rebecca Ruppel (Cooper).
Honorable mention — Jordan Tapp (Scott), Hailey Gillispie (Cooper), Leah Metzger (Dixie Heights), Chase Barber (Ryle), Deandra Atwood (Conner), Perrin Long (Dixie Heights), Emily Popham (Simon Kenton).
DIVISION II
Coach of the Year — Katelyn Sallee (Highlands)
Player of the Year — Janelle Tobler (St. Henry)
First team — Rachel McDonald (NewCath), Kayla Riegler (St. Henry), Lindsay Leick (Brossart), Mikah Freppon (NewCath), Madison Krumpelman (Holy Cross), Liz Pawsat (Beechwood).
Second team — Lauren Epperson (Highlands), Julia Popova (Beechwood), Madison Read (St. Henry), Kassidy Schreiber (St. Henry), AJ Guth (Highlands), Emma Verst (Brossart).
Honorable mention — Cassie Rinehard (Brossart), DJ Grey (Newport), Jasmine Huntley (Lloyd), Alexa Kehoe (NewCath), Erin Chaffin (Holy Cross), Allison Niehaus (Holy Cross).
DIVISION III
Coach of the Year — Sandi Kitchen (Villa Madonna) and Jesse Parmley (Walton-Verona).
Player of the Year — Emma Bateman (Villa Madonna)
First team — Hailey Ison (Walton-Verona), Hailey Lillard (Ludlow), Grace Wallace (Walton-Verona), Faith Cobaugh (Villa Madonna), Kira Ross (Bellevue), Angel Wilson (Walton-Verona).
Second team — Gabrielle Schulte (Villa Madonna), Mallory Kubala (Dayton), Haley Turner (Ludlow), Mariah Green (Ludlow), Kristen North (Calvary), Gabrielle Krumpelman (Cov. Latin), Lizzy Bateman (Villa Madonna).
Honorable mention — Maddie Mullins (Heritage), Abby Knight (Walton-Verona), Brooke Robinson (Cov. Latin), Maria Bossert (Cov. Latin), Kelista Morgan (Heritage), Jasmine Huff (Bellevue).