By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
In his first game as a starting quarterback, senior Dustin Hicks passed for 227 yards and scored the winning touchdown in Covington Catholic’s 28-21 victory over Boone County on Friday, Aug. 26, 1993.
After completing a pass at the 5-yard line, Hicks faked a hand-off on another play, slipped a tackle and scored on a 3-yard run with eight seconds remaining in the season opening upset.
Boone County was voted No. 1 and CovCath No. 2 in the preseason poll of Northern Kentucky football coaches that year.
The Colonels went on to win the Class 3A state championship and finished with a 14-1 record. In the title game, Hicks scored on a 10-yard fumble return to break a 7-7 tie and CovCath ended up defeating Lincoln County, 28-13.
Hicks continued his football career at Thomas More College and set numerous passing records playing quarterback from 1995 until 1998. He graduated with 5,475 career passing yards that ranks third in the current team record books.
After playing one year of professional football in France, Hicks returned to Northern Kentucky. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame at both CovCath and Thomas More in 2016.
Here’s a look back at other games involving Northern Kentucky high school football teams played between Aug 24-30 over the past five decades.
Friday, Aug. 27, 2021 — Highlands junior quarterback Charlie Noon accounted for 567 of his team’s 614 total yards in a 53-38 win over Simon Kenton. In addition to completing 20 of 35 passes for 403 yards and five touchdowns, Noon rushed for 164 yards and scored once.
Simon Kenton senior quarterback Chase Crone finished with 340 yards passing and 46 rushing in that game. The two high-powered offenses generated a combined total of 1,215 yards.
Aug. 29, 2014 — Newport senior Brian Burton returned the opening kickoff 84 yards for one of his two touchdowns during a 36-26 win over Walton-Verona. In the third quarter, Burton caught a pass in the end zone that gave the Wildcats a 28-20 lead. He also came up with two interceptions in the fourth quarter that helped seal the victory.
Aug. 24, 2007 — After a bad snap on a point-after kick, Joe Wynn scooped up the ball and threw a pass to Ryan Brownfield in the end zone for a two-point conversion that gave Dayton a 21-19 win over Holmes. That play came after a 68-yard kickoff return by Chris Young and 15-yard touchdown pass from Justin Shylock to Richard Turner for the Greendevils. Wynn is now the head coach at Simon Kenton.
Aug. 29, 1986 — Scott edged Simon Kenton, 6-0, with the only touchdown coming on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by junior Doug Pelfrey with 3:12 left in the game. The standout player on defense was Scott senior safety David Wolf, who intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble to help his team post the shutout. Pelfrey went on to become a place kicker for the University of Kentucky and Cincinnati Bengals.