By Audrey Carrico
NKyTribune sports reporter
For the Lloyd Juggernauts, deep runs in the state football playoffs are fast becoming the standard.
For the second time in four seasons, Lloyd punched its ticket to the state semifinals last fall. While its first appearance came in Class 2A, the Juggernauts proved they can replicate that success in Class 3A last year, coming within a single touchdown of a state championship game appearance in a 27-20 loss to Murray.
“Last year was a lot of fun,” coach Kyle Niederman said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the kids. We’re not battling confidence anymore, and last year was a great example of that.”
Despite an unbeaten regular season, Lloyd flew under the local radar for much of the fall.
“We go through all of our district play without playing a single Northern Kentucky team,” Niederman said. “It takes a little bit of the emphasis off of us locally.”
Because there are no local Class 3A district foes, Lloyd enters a playoff dynamic with both sides in the dark.
“We don’t know a lot about them, and they don’t know a lot about us,” Niederman said.
Under the radar or not, Lloyd returns another competitive team with nine starters back on offense and eight on defense. The Juggernauts are counting on their previous playoff experience to take them a step further this November.
“As a competitor, we have unfinished business out there,” senior receiver Isaiah Jones said. “I don’t think it changes our identity as a team but improves it. We may be even more versatile this season.”
Lloyd returns many of its top offensive performers, including running backs Avery Conrad and Lincoln Tomlinson, who each rushed for over 700 yards. The top pass catchers were Colten Barger and Jones, who had 1,078 and 377 receiving yards.
Barger is moving to quarterback, taking the place of Kaleb Evans, who threw for 2,471 yards and 36 touchdowns during his 2025 senior season.
“We’re going to do our best to continue to block and tackle in order to give Colten the ability to make some easy passes to skilled receivers,” Niederman said.
Up front, Lloyd returns a trio of senior linemen — Aidan Dolan, Brandon Carter and Stone Eickhoff — who will play on both sides of the ball. Last fall, a physical front line helped the squad average 40 points per game while holding opponents to just 14.2.
Defensively, the Juggernauts look to limit opponents’ production once more with the return of their top three tacklers. Tomlinson and Conrad notched 149 and 116 while junior DeMareon Peterson added 117.
Lloyd’s team chemistry wasn’t built overnight. In an era where transfer culture dominates amateur athletics, homegrown continuity has been a major point of pride for the program.
“When we get these kids in middle school, they stay with us,” coach Niederman said. “All of our kids are Erlanger kids. We coach the kid the game of football, not the game of football to the kid. We’re ultimately just trying to build a family atmosphere.”
LLOYD JUGGERNAUTS
2024 SEASON: 13-1 record, lost to Murray, 27-20, in semifinals of Class 3A playoffs.
STARTERS RETURNING: 9 offense, 8 defense.
DISTRICT: Class 3A, District 5 with Bourbon County, Carroll County, Henry County, Pendleton County.
HEAD COACH: Kyle Niederman (55-25 in seven seasons at Lloyd).
2026 SCHEDULE
Aug. 21 – at Newport Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Aug. 28 – NEWPORT, 7 p.m.
Sept. 4 – CONNER, 7 p.m.
Sept. 11 – at Cincinnati Aiken (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 – CAMPBELL COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Sept. 24 – PENDLETON COUNTY, 7 p.m.
Oct. 2 – at Bourbon County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 8 – at Henry County, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23 – CARROLL COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 – at Boone County, 7 p.m.