By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Historically speaking, it’s not exactly the first place a Northern Kentucky high school football team would want to find itself.
In the state’s largest school category – now 6A – and heading to the playoffs. After all, in 67 years of Kentucky high school playoff football, Northern Kentucky teams have won exactly no state championships in the largest class.
That’s against the 62 won by 10 Northern Kentucky schools in every other class, from the 23 of Highlands in four of the five classes, to Beechwood’s 18, in two of them – the second and third-most all-time. But in the largest-school class, a player as great as NFL MVP Shaun Alexander couldn’t get those top Boone County teams of Owen Hauck to a title with the likes of Louisville Trinity always looming.
But if this were not a great spot to be, why were the Simon Kenton Pioneers doing so much celebrating after their14-7 something-of-an-upset comeback district win Friday against a Ryle team that came into Independence undefeated in the district.
Until Friday, that is. Until the Pioneers picked themselves up, trailing 7-6, and asserted themselves on defense the second half. And made the most of the Ryle Raiders’ mistakes in a game where they came fast and furiously in both directions.
And that was before the Pioneers learned that Campbell County had beaten Great Crossing, 27-16, to hand them the district title.
“It drains you,” two-way junior Simon Kenton star Peyton Testerman said of all the quick turnaround turnovers on his return since getting sidelined with a torn labrum the Bryan Station game Sept. 25.
All Testerman did was carry the ball 15 times for an unofficial 65 yards, score those final two points-after going up and grabbing a game-finishing interception – the third turnover in three back-to-back-to-back plays with five minutes left in the third quarter that set up the go-ahead TD and the two-point PAT that finished off the game’s scoring.
As offensively challenged as both teams were, the Pioneers quickly traveled 45 yards in three plays with 6-foot-5 junior quarterback Grant Webb doing all the work on a 31-yard keeper followed by another keeper, this one a TD from 10 yards out.
“Coach said to give me the ball. I love it that my coach believes in me.” said Webb, whose deceptive ballhandling makes the option work as well as it does. And he loved one other thing about this victory. “We hadn’t beaten them in years,” Webb said of Ryle’s streak back to 2022.
First-year Pioneer coach Joe Wynn loves something else – his team’s defense. He laughs at how someone from a couple of years ago might look at this game and assume if Simon Kenton won a game like this, they’d almost certainly look for a big score. “It would have been 60-40 something,” Webb said with a smile at how the previous high-scoring Pioneers played the game.
Not any longer. “Defense travels,” Wynn said. “It plays in the cold,” or the windy chill Friday night. And it’s who these Pioneers are. “Look at our scores,” Wynn said as the three district games were 13-12 over Campbell County, a 21-14 loss to Great Crossing and this 14-7 “gritty and grimy” win over the Raiders, in Wynn’s words.
Although the first Pioneer score, a beautiful 32-yard bomb from Webb to Sam Hughes had a bit of that old Simon Kenton look.
Ryle, meanwhile, jumped out on top on a 10-yard Cruze Sauley burst just 1:55 into the second quarter.
“Keep your heads up,” Ryle’s Mike Engler told his 4-5 Raiders. “You’re second. You played hard . . . you just made too many mistakes that we’ve got to correct.” Starting early Saturday morning, he said.
As for Wynn, he doesn’t agree with the talk that winning the district in 6A here isn’t a real plus. “You guarantee yourself two home games and then you’re playing for the regional (title) and you’re playing with house money.”
But first the Pioneers had better be ready to play Cooper in a non-district game next week and finish strong while Ryle travels to Dixie Heights in another non-district game.
SCORING SUMMARY
LARRY RYLE (4-5, 2-1) 0 7 0 0 –7
SIMON KENTON (5-4, 2-1) 0 6 8 0—14
Ryle: Sauley 10 run (Basinger PAT kick good)
Simon Kenton: Hughes 32 pass from G. Webb (PAT kick blocked)
Simon Kenton: G. Webb 10 run (Testerman PAT 2-Pt. Run)