The NKyTribune is featuring players on each of the 21 high school football teams in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties leading up to the first games of the 2023 season on Friday, Aug. 18. We will then provide focused coverage of local teams throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Going into last season, Brach Rice said he was one of the few returning starters on the Dixie Heights football team and the lack of varsity experience was costly for the Colonels, who ended up with a 3-8 record.
Rice expects this year’s team to be more successful. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound senior said Dixie Heights will have varsity veterans in nearly every position with him playing on both sides of the ball once again.
Dixie Heights senior linebacker Brach Rice, No. 8, made a team-high 126 tackles at linebacker last season.
“I think we’ve got eight returning starters on offense and either eight or nine coming back on defense, so I’m really excited,” Rice said.
Last year, Rice did a bit of everything for the Colonels. He made a team-high 126 tackles at linebacker and rushed for 605 yards and nine touchdowns as a running back and part-time quarterback.
College recruiters were mainly impressed with Rice’s defensive skills. He received scholarship offers from seven Division I teams and made a verbal commitment with Miami University of Ohio earlier this summer.
“It was just the way the (Miami) coaches brought me in and wanted me to become a RedHawk,” he said of his college decision. “They made me feel like I was family already.”
With college recruiting concerns behind him, Rice can focus on his senior season. A statewide realignment moved Dixie Heights into a six-team Class 5A district and only four of them will make the playoffs. To be a playoff contender, the Colonels will have to do a better job keeping opponents out of the end zone than last season when they allowed 40.1 points per game.
“We had a lot of guys (on defense) who had never played varsity football before,” Rice said. “We started to come together at the end once everybody got comfortable in their positions. This year, we all hit the weight room together and I really do think we’re going to be a whole lot better.”
Brach Rice
Rice made 10 or more tackles in six of the first seven games last year. He had 20 stops in back-to-back games against Conner and Covington Catholic in early September.
When the team’s starting quarterback got hurt, Rice had to play that position for two weeks and his tackles dropped off. But he finished the season with 13 and 11 tackles in the last two games.
“They usually put me on the edge and when they think it’ll be a run up the middle they’ll put me there,” he said of his dual role at linebacker. “Really, I just fill the holes and if the other team is keying on me I’m pretty confident other guys can make the play for us.”
Rice said Dixie Heights coach Pat Burke brought in a new offensive coordinator so he’s not sure where they’ll use him on that side of the ball this year.
In addition to having quarterback Armani Gregg returning along with most of the offensive linemen, Rice said the Colonels added transfer student Tyson Beach, a wide receiver and running back at Cincinnati Princeton the last two seasons.
“This year, I think I’m going to be playing H-back, which is kind of a tight end and fullback both,” Rice said. “If they need me to run up the middle, I’ll play fullback. If they need me to block, I’ll do that. I’ll just go out and play wherever they put me.”
DIXIE HEIGHTS COLONELS
2022 SEASON: 3-8 record, lost in first round of Class 6A playoffs.
DISTRICT: Class 5A, District 6 with Boone County, Conner, Cooper, Highlands, Scott.
HEAD COACH: Pat Burke (33-27 in six seasons overall, 3-8 in one year at Dixie Heights).
2023 SCHEDULE
Aug. 18 – at Simon Kenton, 7 p.m.
Aug. 25 – at Cincinnati Hughes (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Sept. 1 – BEECHWOOD, 7 p.m.
Sept. 8 – at Covington Catholic, 7 p.m.
Sept. 22 – BOONE COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Sept. 29 – HIGHLANDS, 7 p.m.
Oct. 5 – at Conner, 7 p.m.
Oct. 13 – SCOTT, 7 p.m.
Oct. 20 – at Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 27 – RYLE, 7 p.m.
