article NKY Power Rankings 07-27-16 - Sponsored by NKY Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

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Returning for 2016, BluegrassPreps is excited to again roll out weekly football Power Rankings for each of the regions around the state. With each week's Power Rankings, we will be looking to rank the top ten teams in each region - regardless of class - against the other teams in their region. Throughout the season, we will be accounting for the results of all the games throughout the region, including the strength of each opponent played, points scored, points allowed, along with several other statistics on each side of the ball.

We will also be featuring a highlighted "Game Of The Week", and moving forward, will be re-capping the previous games of the week, as well as highlighting regional "Big Risers" and "Big Droppers" as various teams improve their performance and other teams fall back. The BGP Power Rankings will also feature a "Player Of The Week".

THE RANKINGS:

10) Conner (6A) – Conner is probably the biggest overall question mark on the top 10. They finished up the 2015 season with a respectable 8-4 record, but the only fellow 6A program they were only able to put up wins on was a struggling Campbell County program. They also struggled against smaller teams on more than one occasion. This year Coach Trosper needs to find a new starting QB among the spots vacated by 19 graduated seniors from last season. The Cougars do have the benefit of a widespread combination of players returning across the board, but they are still left with an equal number of positions to fill. It’s tough to judge how the 2016 season will go for Conner at this point, but the general sniff-test says that there will be some positive strides made in Hebron this year.

9) Beechwood (1A) – Beechwood had an incredibly solid season in 2015, making their way to the 1A finals with only a single loss, suffered at the hands of 5A Covington Catholic. Coach Noel Rash will have his hands full this season, having to replace graduated senior standouts Kyle Fieger, Brett Slusher, and Ethan Stringer. There is a lot that remains to be seen for the Tigers this season, having to replace over half of their starters on both sides of the ball. Junior quarterback Brayden Burch is likely to get the nod as starter in 2016, and Aiden Justice, Logan Castleman, and Eddie Erdman look to be big names in Ft. Mitchell this upcoming season.

8) Newport Central Catholic (2A) – Not everyone expected New Cath to make it to the finals last year, especially after starting off their season to a 2-4 record, but the Breds were able to put things together when it mattered, only falling short to the Mayfield Cardinals by 10 points in the 2A championship game. This season they will have senior Patrick Henschen back at QB, but Coach Wagner is faced with a difficult task in finding an appropriate replacement to offensive workhorse Jacob Smith. Defensively, the line and linebacking corps will both be question marks, with many starters to be determined. Look for Austin Neff, Job Freppon and Kurtis Sutkamp to be leaders on the defensive team.

7) Dixie Heights (5A) – Coach Brossart has shown that he can make things happen at Dixie. It was only two seasons ago that he led the Colonels to the 6A state finals, finishing as runners up. Last year proved to be a struggle for Dixie though, after having graduated a very talented class of seniors. After fighting their way through a 3-8 season last year with a team built on young starters, the Colonels are going to come out swinging with virtually a full team of returning starters. Senior Noah Smedley will likely be leading the offensive charge at QB, with Winton Woods (OH) transfer Giante Hicks coming in to support at wide receiver. Seniors Cameron Barrett, Austin Rice, and Logan Robinson will be leading the defensive team for Dixie.

6) Scott (4A) – Coach Dan Woolley helped bring a lot of excitement to Taylor Mill in 2015. He led the Scott Eagles to the best season in their program’s history, finishing off with a 10-3 record. They will undoubtedly be looking to build on their successes this season and trying to lengthen their run in the playoffs. Relying equally on their returning senior and junior starters this season, and with many additional juniors and sophomores coming into the 2016 with significant playing time under their belts, things are looking good at Scott. The Eagles will be counting themselves amongst teams looking to find a new starting quarterback after losing Danny Fitzgerald to graduation. You can expect to see a big season offensively from both Nelson Perrin and Mi’rell Englemon.

5) Covington Catholic (5A) – In Coach Eddie Eviston’s second year as head coach he will certainly be looking to improve on the 0-4 start to last year’s season. The only change to their schedule this year will be replacing last season’s Cincy St. X game with a game against Oak Hills (OH). The big question for the Colonels program remains “Will this year be the year you beat Highlands?” Returning quarterback AJ Mayer will look to do just that, leading an offense that relies on a solid receiver corps, RB Casey McGinness, and line anchored by seniors Dylan Silbernagel and D1 recruit Hunter Ziegelmeyer. Defensively they will be looking to replace starters on the line, in the linebacking corps, and in the backfield, and will be turning to Alex Shelton, Kameron Butler, and Anthony Best for leadership. The Colonels look to be stronger than last year, but will still have to beat the Highlands Bluebirds in the 3rd round of the playoffs in order to make it to Bowling Green.

4) Highlands (5A) – The 2015 season didn’t exactly stand out as one of Highlands’ best years, with six losses on the season including three to other Northern Kentucky teams (Cooper, Ryle and Simon Kenton). However, to say that Highlands was “bad” last year would be completely inaccurate. Highlands shrugged off their rough start last year, visibly improving week to week throughout the season. This season the Birds will be looking to carry over their development from last year as they face a repeat of their regular season schedule. QB is one of the only skill positions Highlands will be replacing on either side of the ball, with Sr. Brady Gosney likely to be appearing under center. Replacing starters lost to graduation on the OL and DL will be their other challenge this season, but Coach Weinrich and the Highlands coaching staff are undoubtedly on top of things. Look to see Highlands make a deep playoff run this season, and potentially an appearance in the 5A championship game.

3) Cooper (6A) – Cooper was a surprise to many last season, but not so much to those inside the Jaguar football team. This year looks to be another solid year for the Jags with D1 recruit Dante Hendrix and Jaden Jackson returning to the offensive side of the ball for their senior years. However, Coach Borchers is tasked with developing a new starting quarterback this season. Their offensive line should be solid, but after losing their OL coach in the off season it will be interesting to see what kind of changes are made to play at the offensive line of scrimmage. The defensive skills positions look solid for the Jaguars, with Hendrix once again featured as a standout, but their D-line will be a big question mark going into the 2016 season, as well as some of their linebacking corps.

2) Ryle (6A) – Ryle had a few hiccups in their 2015 season, finishing 3rd in the NKY power rankings. With star quarterback Tanner Morgan, RB Jake Chisolm and WR Bryce Ashley all returning on offense, there isn’t much doubt about their offensive skill positions. Most of their 2016 OL saw significant starting time over the course of the season last year, and will bring a solid front to the Raider offense. On defense, similarly, there are numerous skills players returning, and senior middle linebacker Jackson High will lead their defensive charge. Coach Engler has a lot to work with at Ryle this season, and Ryle will be one of the toughest teams to beat amongst the NKY programs.

1) Simon Kenton (6A) – There’s no doubt that Simon Kenton was the top Northern Kentucky football program in 2015. They were the only NKY team to go 10-0 in the regular season, and had their season ended in the state semifinals to the 6A runners up, Lafayette. With third year starter Cameron Racke returning under center for his senior year, and Sr. Dylan Hampton in the backfield, there are high expectations for the Pioneer offense this year. The bigger task for Jeff Marksberry and the rest of the SK coaching staff will be replacing over half of their defensive starters for the 2016 season. However, with a solid group moving up from the undefeated 2015 junior varsity squad, there is a lot for the coaches to work with as they near the opening kickoff of the 2016 season. Simon Kenton is once again the team to beat in Northern Kentucky.

Honorable Mention: Campbell County, Holy Cross

Week 0 Game Of The Week:

Scott (4A) vs. Newport Central Catholic (2A)

The Eagles travel to Newport to take on the Thoroughbreds. Last year this game was decided by 1 point, with Scott eking out an 8-7 victory. It will be interesting to see how the two programs have developed over the subsequent months as they start things off at 7:00pm on Saturday, August 20th.

Northern Kentucky Football Programs:

Beechwood

Bellevue

Bishop Brossart

Boone County

Bracken County

Campbell County

Carroll County

Conner

Cooper

Covington Catholic

Covington Holy Cross

Dayton

Dixie Heights

Gallatin County

Grant County

Highlands

Holmes

Lloyd Memorial

Ludlow

Newport

Newport Central Catholic

Owen County

Pendleton County

Ryle

Scott High

Simon Kenton

Walton-Verona

For what it's worth, the margin between #6 & #7, and the margin between #8 and #9 are both extremely slim.

Any indication of how the remainder would rank?

Holy Cross in over Conner.

Any indication of how the remainder would rank?

11) Holy Cross

12) Campbell County

13) Lloyd

14) Holmes

15) Grant County

16) Walton-Verona

T17) Ludlow

T17) Boone County

19) Bishop Brossart

20) Bellevue

The tea leaves are too sparse beyond that to make any real determination.

CovCath then Highlands then Scott

Let that sink in for a moment

Holy Cross in over Conner.

I agree.

Holy Cross has Derrick Barnes (cousin to Shaun Alexander) getting looks from the likes of Ohio State, and then Xavier Abernathy joining him in the backfield.

The Indians also have a tackle on their O-line who is going to be worth keeping an eye on for various reasons...particularly the fact that he spent this past summer with the Governer's Scholar program, has been reached out to by Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, and is getting heavy recruitment from MIT.

CovCath then Highlands then Scott

 

Let that sink in for a moment

I think at this point the arguement could be suggested. Week 1 will tell more about both teams.

I agree.

 

Holy Cross has Derrick Barnes (cousin to Shaun Alexander) getting looks from the likes of Ohio State, and then Xavier Abernathy joining him in the backfield.

 

The Indians also have a tackle on their O-line who is going to be worth keeping an eye on for various reasons...particularly the fact that he spent this past summer with the Governer's Scholar program, has been reached out to by Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, and is getting heavy recruitment from MIT.

Thats not how you have them listed though?

11) Holy Cross

12) Conner

13) Lloyd

14) Holmes

15) Grant County

16) Walton-Verona

T17) Ludlow

T17) Boone County

19) Bishop Brossart

20) Bellevue

 

The tea leaves are too sparse beyond that to make any real determination.

Then who is 10 Supposed to be?

Keep an eye on Bracken Co. this year. I see them making a run similar to what Brossart did last year. I put them ahead of Bellevue and Brossart, both of which lost several key players from last year. That's just my take.

Thats not how you have them listed though?

Then who is 10 Supposed to be?

I got my wires crossed there. I was thinking you meant Campbell County, not Conner....and I actually typed Conner into my ranking for #11-20 (which I've now fixed, for what it's worth). :ohbrother::ohbrother:

Conner and Holy Cross are really close together, and I think Holy Cross has the potential to prove me wrong in the regular season, but personally, I've got to start out 6A Conner over 2A Holy Cross to begin things.

I think Scott is a little to high and the Holy Cross running attack is going to be really tough for most teams to stop. The Indians would be in my top 10

Dixie Heights (5A) – Coach Brossart has shown that he can make things happen at Dixie. It was only two seasons ago that he led the Colonels to the 6A state finals, finishing as runners up. Last year proved to be a struggle for Dixie though, after having graduated a very talented class of seniors. After fighting their way through a 3-8 season last year with a team built on young starters, the Colonels are going to come out swinging with virtually a full team of returning starters. Senior Noah Smedley will likely be leading the offensive charge at QB, with Winton Woods (OH) transfer Giante Hicks coming in to support at wide receiver. Seniors Cameron Barrett, Austin Rice, and Logan Robinson will be leading the defensive team for Dixie.

I was told over the weekend that one of the Rice boys at Dixie has been moved to QB. Any one have the inside info on that?