By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
High school football teams that faced each other in district seeding games during the final weeks of the regular season will meet again in the first round of the statewide playoffs this week.
In Northern Kentucky, eight teams will play opponents they beat by margins of 30 points or more in previous games. But there are a couple of playoff matchups where local teams that lost close games get another shot at success.
The best reboot looks to be Highlands at Covington Catholic in Class 5A. Three weeks ago, CovCath got a touchdown and two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter and then blocked a field goal in the final seconds to come away with an 8-7 win at Highlands.
The other playoff game that can’t be overlooked is Simon Kenton at Dixie Heights in Class 6A. In their previous game, Dixie Heights posted a 33-20 win, but Simon Kenton had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns on two of its scoring drives.
The offensive catalyst on each of those four teams lines up at quarterback.
Dixie Heights senior Logan Landers, Simon Kenton junior Chase Crone and Highlands junior Charlie Noon are all averaging more than 200 yards per game in passing and rushing combined.
Noon switched to running back in his team’s final regular season game and rushed for 129 yards and three TDs. It will be interesting to see his role in the CovCath rematch.
CovCath won its last three games with senior Preston Agee playing quarterback. He had 261 yards rushing and 126 yards passing for a three-game total of 387 and scored three of his team’s five touchdowns. Last week, he got the lone touchdown in a 10-3 win over Cooper.
Brossart will be putting its perfect 10-0 record on the line in a Class 1A playoff game against Paris, a team the Mustangs edged, 15-6, two weeks ago on a sloppy, rain-soaked grass field. Their rematch will be played on Brossart’s artificial turf field where the home team has outscored opponents, 117-15, in five games.
After missing last year’s Class 4A playoffs due to Covid-19 precautions, Scott will visit Holmes in a first-round game on Friday. Holmes blanked Scott, 40-0, in a district seeding game two weeks ago, but the Eagles won the last playoff game between the two teams in 2019.
High school football playoffs schedule
THURSDAY
Bellevue at Newport Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Campbell County at Ryle, 7 p.m.
FRIDAY
Paris at Brossart, 7:30 p.m.
Dayton at Ludlow, 7 p.m.
Newport at Beechwood, 7 p.m.
Holy Cross at Lloyd, 7 p.m.
Owen County at Walton-Verona, 7:30 p.m.
Scott at Holmes, 7 p.m.
Conner at Cooper, 7 p.m.
Highlands at Covington Catholic, 7 p.m.
Simon Kenton at Dixie Heights, 7 p.m.