By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Not to get ahead of ourselves here but then we reckoned that we were no longer coaching high school football, but writing about it, so we decided it’s OK to take a long look ahead.
And so we will, using this week’s Kentucky AP High School Football Poll as a starting point, and coming at it from a strictly Northern Kentucky point of view, here’s our take.
• CLASS 6A: No surprise here. Five of the first six here are from Louisville, including No. 1 St. Xavier (3-0). At No. 10, Ryle (2-1) tops Northern Kentucky. Simon Kenton (1-1) is No. 16. Again, seems about right. No shot this year for a local team to break through for the first time in the biggest-school class. None.
• CLASS 5A: Highlands, Cooper in top six. The Bluebirds (2-1) could be there at the end but as the Covington Catholic game showed, they’ll have to tighten things up. This is a class where Northern Kentucky can break back through and a Highlands team that keeps improving could be that team. Not convinced that the 1-2-3 teams – Scott County (3-0), Bowling Green (1-2) and South Warren (2-0) – the teams earning first-place votes are out of reach. At No. 6, Cooper (2-1) can throw it and that always makes a team dangerous. Dixie Heights at No. 13 and Conner at No. 14 are lower than I’d have them but not all that out of line.
• CLASS 4A: CovCath is right where Colonels should be. In its new class, CovCath debuts, as it should, with the 4A big boys – Boyle County (3-0) and Corbin (2-0), last year’s finalists in a memorable 32-26 Boyle County win. Defending champ Boyle is No. 1 here with Corbin and CovCath (3-0), the lone Northern Kentucky 3A vote-getter, dead-even for the No. 2 spot with 200 points and one first-place vote apiece.
• CLASS 3A: Lloyd most under-ranked in state. From what we’ve seen, no way Lloyd Memorial’s Juggernauts (3-0) should be down at No. 6 in their new class. Maybe it hasn’t dawned on voters that the tough-defending Juggs with the speedy run game are going to be a really difficult out in 3A, something that defending champ Christian Academy of Louisville (3-0) with all 24 first-place votes, as well as Central (1-2), Belfry (2-1), Lexington Catholic (1-2) and Bell County (3-0) may well find out come playoff time.
• CLASS 2A: Beechwood holding on. Relying on recent history, the voters have new coach Jay Volker’s Tigers from Fort Mitchell No. 1 for now but that looks like a tough hold with the likes of Lexington Christian (2-1), Mayfield (2-1) and Owensboro Catholic (3-0) nipping at the Tigers’ heels. No. 10 Walton-Verona the only other Northern Kentucky team here.
• CLASS A: NewCath bounces back. After getting held to a TD in an opening 24-7 loss at Lloyd, Newport Central Catholic (2-1) has come back in the best possible way, scoring 101 points the next two games, which is why the Thoroughbreds are No. 4 this week. But the voters predict a rematch between defending champ Pikeville (2-1) and Raceland (1-1), which was a big win for Pikeville after routing NewCath, 50-11, in the semifinals. Newport, Holy Cross and Bishop Brossart are Nos. 12, 13 and 14. Hard to see Pikeville going away here.
LOTS OF NAMES, NUMBERS AMONG THE LEADERS HERE
A total of 58 Northern Kentuckians appear in the KHSAA’s stat leaders for all combined classes this week with nine of the top 50 leaders in PAT’s coming from local programs. And in three other categories – passing, field goals and sacks – eight locals are in the Top 50.
NewCath’s Owen Roeder is lone No. 1, and that’s in PAT’s. Cooper’s Austin Alexander is No. 2 in sacks, Beechwood’s Luke Erdman is No. 3 in receiving with his Beechwood battery-mate, quarterback Clay Hayden, No. 4 in passing. And Lloyd Memorial’s Yurii Collins Comer is No. 8 in rushing, No. 15 in scoring.
With the trifecta is Highlands’ Brody Benke, No. 43 in rushing, No. 38 in passing and No. 45 in scoring.
On defense, Dixie Heights’ Brach Rice also appears in three categories: He’s seventh in tackles with 44 in three games. He’s also in a group from Nos. 14-20 in sacks with four. And No. 22 in defensive fumbles with three.
Here are the leaders by category:
• RUSHING (rank, total yards, average per game): 8) Lloyd’s Collins Comer (488-163); 17) Holy Cross’ Ulysses Porter (434-145); 30) Bishop Brossart’s Cameron Mandel (373-124); Dixie Heights’ David Anderson (368-123); 42) Conner’s Cordion Abernathy (223-112); and 43) Highlands’ Benke (335-112).
• PASSING (pass completions, pass attempts, TD’s, INT’s, Yards per game): 4) Beechwood’s Hayden 63-87, 13-2, 343; 12) CovCath’s Evan Pitzer (49-68, 7-0, 242); 17) Cooper’s Cam O’Hara (42-61, 9-3, 226); 26) Ryle’s Logan Verax (56-78, 4-0, 196); 28) Newport’s Kyle Lee (32-66, 8-2, 192; 35) Campbell County’s Nathan Smith (36-67, 5-2, 184; 37) Scott’s Trey Cook (33-64, 5-5, 182); 38) Highlands’ Benke (35-53, 6-3, 181).
• RECEIVING (catches, total yards, yards per game, TD’s, TD’s per game): 3) Beechwood’s Erdman (20, 402, 134, 6, 2.0; 9) Cooper’s Isaiah Johnson (20, 326, 109, 5, 1.7; 38) Beechwood’s Tyler Fryman (13, 232, 77, 2, 0.7); 48) Cooper’s Alexander (8, 225, 75, 3, 1.0); 50) Bellevue’s Jordan Pendleton (15, 222, 74, 2, 0.7).
• SCORING (total points): 15) Lloyd’s Collins Comer (48); 33) Bellevue’s Pendleton (40); 38) Beechwood’s Erdman (36); 40) Holy Cross’ Porter (36); 45) Highlands’ Benke (36); 46) NewCath’s Demetrick Welch (36).
• PAT’s (attempts, made, points per game): 1) NewCath’s Roeder (14-14, 7.0; 6) Beechwood’s Colson Lair (17-17, 5.7; 14) Kaden Rose, Campbell County (14-14, 4.7); 21) CovCath’s Andrew Weitzel (13-16, 4.3); 36) Cooper’s Carson Taylor (12-12, 4.0); 42) Conner’s Andrew Herron (7-7, 3.5); 44) Ryle’s Josh Line (10-10, 3.3); 45) Lloyd’s Elijah Westwood (10-13, 3.3); 46) Dixie Heights’ Andrew Kohls (10-14, 3.3).
• FIELD GOALS (made, attempted, FG’s per game): 7) Walton-Verona’s Lincoln Mann (2-2, 1.0); 20) NewCath’s Roeder (1-2, 0.5); 23) Conner’s Herron (1-2, 0.5); 32) Lloyd’s Westwood (1-1, 0.3); 39) Beechwood’s Lair (1-1, 0.3); 41) Cooper’s Taylor (1-1, 0.3); 43) Holy Cross’ William Fisk (1-2, 0.3): 45) CovCath’s Weitzel (1-2, 0.3).
• TACKLES (unassisted, assisted, total, average per game): 7) Dixie Heights’ Rice (27-17-44, 14.7); 33) Simon Kenton’s Aven Bohms 8-16-24, 12.0); 42) Ryle’s Jacob Savage (12-22-34, 11.3).
• SACKS (total): 2) Cooper’s Alexander (4); Lloyd’s TJ Jackson (6); 14) Dixie Heights’ Blake Dodds (4); 18) Lloyd’s Avander Abrams (4); 20) Dixie Heights’ Rice (4); 25) Ludlow’s Carson Evans (4); 27) Bishop Brossart’s Joe Schroeder (3.5); Holy Cross’ Zach Chalfin (3).
• DEFENSIVE FUMBLES (forced, recovered, total): 22) Dixie Heights’ Rice (2-1-3); 44) Newport’s Sean Hurry (1-1-2).
• INTERCEPTIONS (total): 34) Cooper’s Ryker Campbell (2); 35) Bishop Brossart’s Nicholas Cozzi (2); Bishop Brossart’s Alex Amin (2); and Newport’s Kendall Buck-Barber (2); Note: Every player ranked Nos. 18-50 had two interceptions.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.