By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Three quarterbacks who missed multiple games last season due to injuries made up for lost time with impressive performances in the first week of the 2023 season on Friday.

Campbell County senior Nathan Smith provided most of his team’s 387 offensive yards in a 56-6 win over Scott. He rushed for 116 yards and four touchdowns while completing 10 of 14 passes for 146 yards and one TD.

Last year, Smith fractured the wrist in his throwing hand in the third game. After sitting out for two weeks, he returned with a cast on his arm to play running back and ended up as the Camels’ rushing leader with 624 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His team’s season-opening home game on Friday ended early. A Scott player was injured in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter and was taken off the field wearing a neck brace and on a backboard. The player was taken to the hospital and reportedly returned home Saturday.

Campbell County has a home game this coming Friday against Beechwood junior quarterback Clay Hayden, who missed five games last year and had a big passing night in his team’s season-opening 31-14 win at Cincinnati McNicholas last Friday.

Final stats showed Hayden went 20-of-26 for 264 yards and two touchdowns to lead the three-time defending Class 2A champions to their 11th consecutive win over the last two seasons.

The Tigers had seven players catch passes in that game. The leader was junior Luke Erdman with six catches for 89 yards and one TD. He also rushed for a team-high 58 yards on four carries.

Hayden did make a successful return last season. Playing with a protective brace on his left knee, he passed for 943 yards and 13 touchdowns in Beechwood’s five playoff victories. He ended the season with 1,822 yards and 21 TDs in 10 games.

Covington Catholic senior Evan Pitzer is the other quarterback who dispelled the memory of an incomplete season with a solid game behind center in the Colonels’ 37-22 win over Ryle last Friday.

After missing the last five games of the 2022 season due to an injury, Pitzer passed for 271 yards and one touchdown, rushed for 63 yards on six carries and scored on a 7-yard run against Ryle. He got the ball to eight receivers in the game with tight end Willie Rodriquez scoring on a 49-yard catch-and-run in the opening minutes.

There will be an interesting quarterback matchup this Friday when CovCath visits Highlands in the first non-district game between the long-time rivals in decades.

In his team’s 34-27 win over Lexington Catholic last Friday, Highlands senior quarterback Brody Benke threw two touchdown passes, ran for a pair of TDs and caught a scoring pass. He accounted for 347 total yards (194 passing, 111 rushing, 42 receiving) in the game, according to latest statistics posted by the team.

Highlands defeated CovCath, 32-21, last year to snap the Colonels’ nine-game win streak in the series. In that game, Pitzer had 212 yards passing and 53 rushing compared to Benke’s 146 passing and 3 rushing.

High school football schedule

FRIDAY GAMES
Covington Catholic at Highlands, 7 p.m.
Beechwood at Campbell County, 7 p.m.
Lexington Henry Clay at Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Conner at Ryle, 7 p.m.
Boone County at Lloyd, 7 p.m.
Newport at Holmes, 7 p.m.
Walton-Verona vs. Newport Central Catholic at CovCath, 7 p.m.
Simon Kenton at Woodford County, 8:30 p.m.
North Bullitt at Scott, 7:30 p.m.
Dixie Heights at Hughes (Ohio), 7 p.m.
Bethel-Tate (Ohio) at Brossart, 7 p.m.
Holy Cross vs. Dohn Community (Ohio) at Thomas More, 7 p.m.
Pendleton County at Dayton, 7:30 p.m.
Bellevue at Trimble County, 7:30 p.m.