The NKyTribune will be providing focused coverage of NKY high school football throughout the season, thanks to support from St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine. See all of our pre-season features on each of NKY’s 21 high school football teams and follow our coverage, including roundups each week at Northern Kentucky High School Football.
By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter
Ryle football coach Mike Engler said his team’s defensive unit has been “greatly overlooked” as a key factor in the Raiders’ 6-0 start this season. Fans tend to talk more about the offense averaging 38.8 points per game than the defense holding opponents to 12.5. But that could change if the Raiders harness a high-scoring Cooper team in a Class 6A district game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ryle.
“I like our chances and I like our defense,” Engler said. “I think Cooper’s got a great offense and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Cooper (5-2) has won three of the last four games between the Boone County public school rivals. Last year, the Jaguars edged the Raiders, 27-21, and went on to claim the district title.
Ryle had several underclassmen in the starting lineup return this year. Two of the mainstays back on defense are senior linebackers Colin Dematrakis and Jackson High, who are both averaging seven tackles per game.
“I thought our defense was going to be pretty good because of our strength and our speed,” Engler said. “If you return the nucleus of defensive players from last year with all that experience and just fill in some gaps around them, you get yourself a pretty good defensive football team.”
Cooper coach Randy Borchers was in a different situation coming into this season. He had to replace several starters who graduated, especially on offense. But the Jaguars are averaging 457 yards and 38.4 points per game with first-year quarterback Jarod Lonaker leading the way. He’s averaging 287 passing yards per game, which tops the statewide statistics compiled by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
“Cooper is going to have some success. They’ve got too many good athletes not to,” Engler said. “They’re going to make plays and we’ve got to make sure when it happens that we take care of it on the next play.”
Senior receiver Dante Hendrix is the leading playmaker for Cooper. Last week, he caught eight passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Dixie Heights. He’s now averaging 120 receiving yards per game, which ranks among the state’s leaders, with 12 touchdowns.
Ryle senior cornerback Cooper Scherr will be covering Hendrix once again on Friday. In last year’s game, that matchup was cut short because Scherr went down with an injury.
“(Scherr) had an awesome first half and pretty much shut Hendrix down,” Engler said. “He got hurt in the second half and that’s when Hendrix had a lot of his catches. I think he’s looking forward to that match-up again and it should be a pretty good battle between those two.”
Ryle’s coach also expressed confidence in his team’s senior quarterback Tanner Morgan going into the district showdown. He’s averaging 211 passing yards per game with eight touchdowns and only one interception.
Even though Morgan ranks behind his counterpart on Cooper’s team in passing statistics, Engler still considers him the best high school quarterback in the state of Kentucky.
“I think Jared Lonaker is a great football player and coach Borchers has done an awesome job getting him ready to play as a first-year quarterback, but I still think my guy (Morgan) is better,” Engler said. “The best thing about Tanner is he’s unselfish and doesn’t care about his stats. All he wants to do is win football games and that mentality has made him a great leader for our football team.”
Friday football games
Conner at Campbell County, 7 p.m.
Class 6A district games
Boone County at Simon Kenton, 7 p.m.
Cooper at Ryle, 7:30 p.m.
Class 5A district games
Highlands at Dixie Heights, 7 p.m.
Covington Catholic at Grant County, 7 p.m.
Class 4A district game
Holmes vs. Bourbon County at Boone County, 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A district games
Holy Cross at Newport Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
Newport at Lloyd, 7 p.m.
Gallatin County at Walton-Verona, 7:30 p.m.
Class 1A district games
Bellevue at Beechwood, 7 p.m.
Dayton at Ludlow, 7 p.m.
Bracken County at Brossart, 7:30 p.m.