By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic’s football playoff game at home on Friday has been creating some nostalgia for former players and long-time fans. The opponent will be Paducah Tilghman, a team the Colonels beat in the 1987 and 1988 Class 3A state finals to claim the program’s first two championship trophies.
Both teams ended up in Class 4A this season and have matching 13-0 records going into Friday’s semifinal game. The winner will play for a state championship on Dec. 1 at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.
Mike Woolf was a two-way senior starter on CovCath’s first championship team in 1987, but that’s not the only reason he’s looking forward to the long-awaited rematch with Tilghman.
Two of the players on CovCath’s roster are Woolf’s son, Austin, and his nephew, Mitchell. He said Austin is a senior defensive lineman who saw a lot of action in last week’s win over Johnson Central.
“The whole family’s excited,” Mike said. “Being against Paducah Tilghman brings back some memories, but we’ve still got to get through this weekend. If you get to the state championship game, anything can happen, which was evident in 1987 because we weren’t supposed to win that game.”
Tilghman had several players that year who went on to play for Division I college teams. In the playoffs, the Blue Tornado won its first three games by margins of 25, 28 and 42 points to run its record to 13-0.
CovCath had a 12-1 record going into the 1987 state final, but the Colonels had never made it that far before and were considered the underdogs.
Mike played a major role in pulling off his team’s 16-6 upset victory. He rushed for a game-high 68 yards and played middle linebacker on a defensive unit that scored eight points on a safety and pick-six interception. With 2:20 left in the fourth quarter, Mike was the one who picked off a pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown that clinched CovCath’s historic victory under head coach Lynn Ray.
“The big play was Don Bieger throwing a fourth-down touchdown pass to David Legeay that put us up 8-6,” Mike said. “The interception just sealed the deal, and sealed my career.”
Mike showed a video of the 1987 championship game to his son. The teen-ager thought it was boring to watch because both teams mostly ran the ball back then.
That’s not likely to happen in the state semifinal game rematch on Friday. Tilghman is averaging 305 yards passing and 147 rushing. CovCath’s offense is much more balanced, averaging 195 yards passing and 190 rushing.
“Obviously, the game’s changed some,” said Mike, who was a high school football coach for several years before becoming the athletic director at Ryle High School.
“But it still comes down to blocking and tackling,” he added. “I’m just hoping (CovCath) can do it again and get back to the state championship game. It would be something special for the school and my family.”
The last time the two teams from different ends of the state faced each other was in the 1988 championship game and CovCath came away with a 30-24 win in overtime. The Colonels scored three straight touchdowns in the fourth quarter to take a 24-17 lead, but Tilghman tied it with 2:39 left in the fourth quarter. In overtime, CovCath scored on a 4-yard pass and Tilghman wasn’t able to get the ball into the end zone.
CovCath went on to win six more state championships after that. Tilghman took the Class 3A state title in 2009 and was state runner-up in 2021.
In other state semifinal games on Friday, Beechwood (12-1) will visit Mayfield (11-1) in a rematch between last year’s Class 2A state finalists and Cooper (11-2) will visit Highlands (12-1) in a Class 5A matchup.