Northern Kentucky high school football fans can only hope that the KHSAA’s RPI rankings play out next month mostly as they are today. Should that happen in the playoffs, Northern Kentucky teams would reach the championship games in three classes.
That would mean Highlands in Class 5A, Covington Catholic in Class 4A and Beechwood in Class 2A, all currently ranked second in their respective classes, would all make it to UK’s Kroger Field Dec. 1-2 to play for state titles.
And yet, with unbeaten Lloyd Memorial (6-0) incredibly ranked No. 9 in the Juggernauts’ new Class 3A, we can’t exactly put our full faith in the KHSAA’s RPI math. No way, as we’ve said before, that they’ve got that one right.
But the Juggs can take a big step in the right direction with a district game Friday in Erlanger against a Lexington Catholic team that extended Highlands in a 34-27 loss and has played the state’s toughest schedule for a 3A team. Even then, however, since Lexington Catholic is also under-rated by the RPI, it might not move Lloyd, one of just three unbeaten Class 3A teams, up as much as it probably should.
This isn’t to discount the other top teams in Class 3A led by a Christian Academy of Louisville team that beat Ryle, 34-22, but it’s hard not to put Lloyd in their class.
• Class 5A: Highlands (7-1) sits at No. 2 behind a South Warren team whose only loss is to Class 6A DuPont Manual, 38-35. Scott County (7-1), Woodford County (5-1) and Bowling Green (5-2) are all in the mix here. Staying at No. 2 for everybody here keeps them at home through the playoffs so even if district games aren’t as challenging as the pre-district games were, they matter. Highlands finishes against Conner and Scott.
• Class 4A: Unbeaten CovCath (7-0), with wins over Highlands and Beechwood, is sitting pretty in its new Class 4A, trailing only a 7-0 Franklin County team that’s escaped three close games in what looks to be a less-challenging schedule than CovCath, which finishes against Harrison County, Mason County and Campbell County. It’s actually the three 7-0 teams below CovCath – Paducah Tilghman, Boyle County and Corbin – that would seem bigger challenges.
• Class 2A: Don’t write off three-time defending state champion Beechwood (7-1) even with its fewer numbers, just not on the scoreboard where the Tigers have scored more than 50 points five times and no fewer than 31 points (twice) and should keep putting the points up against a final trio of opponents – Owen County, Carroll County and Bracken County. Unbeaten Owensboro Catholic (7-0) tops this class with the two teams Beechwood has beaten in its state title runs – Lexington Christian (6-1) and Mayfield (5-1) right behind them.
LOOKING AHEAD TO BASKETBALL
A quick look at rosters and schedules makes it clear that boys’ basketball in the Ninth Region may come down to a familiar trio of teams. Defending regional champion Newport brings almost everybody back from a young team. Cooper is tough and mature. And CovCath, with a tall transfer from Arkansas, should be right in the thick of things.
And from their scheduling philosophies, you can see they’re all looking at it that way.
• Newport’s Wildcats are on the map now with 6-foot sophomore point guard Taylen Kinney attracting so much attention with offers from the likes of Ohio State, Illinois, Louisville, Dayton, Texas A&M, Cincinnati and Xavier with a visit last week to Kentucky. With the loss of just one starter, Newport adds 6-8 freshman Griffin Starks, whose 6-6 brother, Chandler, played for CovCath for three years.
The Wildcats will face Ohio’s projected No. 1 team, Richmond Heights, in a Dec. 1 game in the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic at Mason, Ohio, and then come back Dec. 9 in their own John Turner Classic before facing Huntington (W. Va.) Prep Dec. 16, then on to the King of the Bluegrass in Louisville Dec. 20-23 and the Holiday Classic in Lawrenceburg, Ind., Dec. 29-30.
• Cooper’s Jaguars will be led by tough junior guard Yamil Rondon, coming off his international success with the Puerto Rican Junior National team this summer. Tim Sullivan’s team, which fell by two, 44-42, in the Ninth Region championship game against Newport last year after beating CovCath in the semis, will challenge themselves early with back-to-back games against Cincinnati Elder Dec. 5 and Cincinnati St. Xavier Jan. 9 at the John Turner Classic.
The Jags also play teams from Delaware, Ohio, and Greenville, SC., as well as Lloyd Memorial, with EJ Walker, and both CovCath and Newport in the regular season.
• CovCath’s Colonels won’t be traveling as much this year but they may have toughened up an already tough schedule with this early season gauntlet from Nov. 30 through Dec. 22: Great Crossing with 6-11 Malachi Moreno, Newport, Cincinnati St. X, La Lumiere (LaPorte, Ind.), defending Ohio State Division I champ Akron Hoban and Cincinnati Elder.
And with four players they’re counting on also on a football team that could be playing until Dec. 1, getting it together early will be a challenge. One thing in CovCath’s favor is the arrival this summer of 6-9 Arkansas all-state player Caden Miller, son of former Bengal Caleb Miller, who is getting a great deal of mid-major attention.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.