By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Four district seeding games and a long-standing crosstown rivalry are the main attractions on the Northern Kentucky high school football schedule for Friday.
The district games include Cooper at Covington Catholic and Conner at Boone County in the new Class 5A group. CovCath has not lost a regular season game since 2016 and the Colonels are favored Friday with a balanced offense that’s averaging 400 yards per game.
Walton-Verona visits Gallatin County for a Class 2A district game and Rowan County comes to Scott for a Class 4A district game. Over the last six years, Walton-Verona has a 21-1 record against district opponents with the only loss coming to Gallatin County in 2013.
Newport Central Catholic will take on Newport in the 67th game between the crosstown rivals. NewCath has a 47-18-1 record and 20-game winning streak in the series, but Newport is off to a 5-0 start this season behind an offense that’s averaging 377 yards per game.
Brossart will play the first football game at its new $6 million Mustang Athletic Complex against Holy Cross on Friday. Highlands visits undefeated Boyle County in a game between two of the top 10 teams in the latest statewide power rankings.
Northern Kentucky teams have a 1-6 record against Ohio teams over the last four weeks. It will be interesting to see if that record improves on Friday when Ryle visits Elder and Taft comes to Beechwood.
If Dayton wins its home game against Bracken County, the Green Devils will have a 4-1 record for the first time since 2007 and match the total number of wins the program had in the last four seasons.
Friday’s games
Cincinnati Taft (Ohio) at Beechwood, 7:30 p.m.
Holy Cross at Brossart, 7 p.m.
Conner at Boone County, 7 p.m.
Cooper at Covington Catholic, 7 p.m.
Dayton at Bracken County, 7 p.m.
Dixie Heights at Madison Central, 7:30 p.m.
Highlands at Boyle County, 7:30 p.m.
Nicholas County at Ludlow, 7:30 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic at Newport, 7 p.m.
Ryle at Elder (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Rowan County at Scott, 7:30 p.m.
Simon Kenton at Johnson Central, 7:30 p.m.
Walton-Verona at Gallatin County, 7:30 p.m.