By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
During the 11 seasons that Bryson Warner was head football coach at Ryle, his teams had a 6-7 record against long-time district rival Boone County, including two season-ending losses in the playoffs.
Warner is now head coach at Boone County, so he’ll be on the opposite side of that rivalry Friday when he takes his team to Ryle for a 7:30 p.m. game.
Both teams are off to a 2-1 start after finishing last season with matching 2-9 records. Ryle has won the last seven games in the series and the last five victories have been by an average margin if 38.2 points.
To break that streak on Friday, Boone County will have to contain Ryle senior running back Kyle England, who has rushed for 383 yards and scored seven of the Raiders’ eight touchdowns in the last two games.
Last week, England scored all of Ryle’s points in the first half of a 20-16 win over Cooper. He picked up most of his 126 rushing yards on touchdowns runs of 33, 22 and 13 yards and crossed the goal line on a two-point conversion run. The Raiders also played good defense, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble.
Boone County relied on the run for 610 of its 789 total yards in its first three games. The team’s rushing leaders are junior Evan Curee with 251 yards and senior Eli Rossi with 208. They have also scored seven of their team’s nine touchdowns.
The Rebels are coming off a 22-14 loss to Lloyd last week. In that game, their offense was limited to 94 total yards with Curee scoring one touchdown and the other coming on an interception return by senior defensive back Caleb Yaegel.
The other games between local teams with matching 2-1 records on Friday’s schedule are Lloyd at Conner and Highlands at Simon Kenton.
Conner teams coached by Dave Trosper have a 6-0 record against Lloyd, including last year’s 34-22 victory. The Cougars are currently averaging 203 passing yards per game with senior Jared Hicks at quarterback. He has completed 47 of 77 passes with only one interception.
Lloyd’s offensive leader is senior running back Dakota Thiel, who is averaging 128 rushing yards per game. He scored two of his team’s three touchdowns in a 22-14 win over Boone County last week.
Highlands is averaging 368 total yards per game with first-year quarterback Collins Hollingsworth running the offense. The senior has passed for 606 yards and seven touchdowns while rushing for a team-high 129 yards and two TDs.
Simon Kenton is coming off a 13-10 win over Cincinnati Oak Hills. Senior running back Austin Hammack and senior wide receiver Quincy North scored rushing touchdowns for the Pioneers while freshman quarterback Chase Crone completed 17 of 25 passes for 132 yards.
High school football schedule
Friday’s games
Corbin at Beechwood, 7:30 p.m.
St. Bernard (Ohio) at Bellevue, 7 p.m.
Boone County at Ryle, 7:30 p.m.
Campbell County at Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Lloyd at Conner, 7 p.m.
Dixie Heights at Covington Catholic, 7 p.m.
Gallatin County at Dayton, 7 p.m.
Highlands at Simon Kenton, 7 p.m.
Holmes at Louisville Holy Cross, 7:30 p.m.
Holy Cross at Cincinnati Country Day, 7 p.m.
Bracken County at Newport, 7:30 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic at Walton-Verona, 7 p.m.
Bethel-Tate (Ohio) at Scott, 7 p.m.