By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Five high school football teams that won their season openers last Friday had first-year starters at quarterback and two of the newcomers made big plays in tight games.
Simon Kenton sophomore Grant Webb threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Forest Hughes to give the Pioneers a 20-10 lead over Dixie Heights with eight minutes remaining and that turned out to be the final score.
Webb completed 7 of 12 passes for 114 yards in his team’s first game under head coach Joe Wynn. Last season, Webb played in only three games and went 3-of-12 for 43 yards.
Landon Spaulding made a successful debut as Brossart’s starting quarterback. The junior threw a pair of touchdown passes during his team’s 15-7 win over Walton-Verona.
Late in the second quarter, Spaulding connected with Isaac Amin for a touchdown that put the Mustangs ahead, 12-7, at halftime and the defense didn’t give up the lead.
It was a busy night for Spaulding, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 145 yards. His total passing yardage last year was 28 in four games.
The other three quarterbacks who posted victories in their first game as a starter on Friday were Boone County junior Michael Chiasson, Newport senior Kayveion Sharp and Holy Cross sophomore Brian Ferguson.
Chissson completed 8 of 19 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns against Holmes. Sharp had 52 yards passing with one touchdown and 87 yards rushing with another touchdown against Ludlow.
Ferguson scored on a 20-yard run and threw three TD passes against St. Henry. He ended up with 106 yards passing and 87 yards rushing in his team’s first season-opening victory since 2022.
St. Henry boys, Beechwood girls win soccer titles
St. Henry will return to the All “A” Classic state playoffs in boys soccer after defeating Holy Cross, 4-0, in the 9th Region championship match on Sunday.
Sophomore striker Cooper Gastright scored two goals and the Crusaders (5-1) posted their fourth shutout of the season with senior goalkeeper Brady Aubuchon guarding the net. The other goal-scorers were juniors Finnegan Carran and Max Popil.
Beechwood won the 9th Region All “A” Classic girls soccer championship for the second consecutive year. The Tigers defeated St. Henry, 6-2, in the region final last week with three goals by senior Ruby Fries and two by junior Addyson Justice.
The 9th Region champions will play the 10th Region champions in the opening round of the boys and girls All “A” Classic state playoffs. The 10th Region tournaments will not be concluded until the first week of September.
Brossart’s girls won last year’s 10th Region All “A” Classic tournament and went on to win the small school state championship.
State champion runners open season with victories
State champion cross country runners Paul Van Laningham of Cooper and Lily Parks of Beechwood opened their senior seasons with impressive victories at the Moeller Primetime Invitational Friday night in Mason, Ohio.
Van Laningham completed the boys 5,000-meter race in 15:09.5 to break the previous meet record of 15:19.0 that was set by Will Sheets of Covington Catholic last year.
The second-place finisher was Cooper senior Ryan Richards in 16:11.3 and teammate Grayson Parker came in fifth. With those three runners leading the way, the Jaguars won the boys team title by a slim 47-50 margin over Moeller.
Parke won the girls race in 18:52.1, crossing the finish line more than one minute ahead of the next runner. In the team standings, Scott was second behind St. Ursula of Cincinnati and Beechwood placed seventh.
At last year’s state cross country meet, Parke became the first Beechwood girl to win an individual state title in Class 1A and Van Laningham finished first in the Class 3A boys race.