article NKY Power Rankings 08-22-16 - Sponsored by NKY Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

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THE RANKINGS:

10) Scott (4A) – Many expected to see more out of the Eagles this Friday past, as Scott took the field for the first time following their most successful season in program history. New Cath came out looking to play the spoiler, as they beat the Eagles by 26 on Saturday, handing them a 21-47 loss in Newport. It will be interesting to see how well Scott can rebound as they take on the 5A Dixie Heights Colonels this week in their home opener. Junior quarterback Nelson Perrin had a 95 yard kickoff return for the Eagles on Saturday, along with 78 yards passing for 1 TD, as well as 44 yards and 1 TD rushing. Scott will also be looking to improve on their 240 total yards offense and 5 fumbles from Saturday when they host Dixie this Friday.

9) Conner (6A) – No action this week for the Cougars. After finishing 8-4 last year, there were many who were surprised by the overall positive show last year by Conner. However, Conner graduated 19 seniors last year including their starting quarterback, among others. Expectations for this season are all across the board when it comes to the Cougars. Things have been quiet in Hebron in the off-season, but Conner looks to open things in winning fashion when they head to Florence to take on 6A district rival Boone County in their opener. Boone is coming in Friday following a 18-41 loss to 3A Lexington Catholic, although the Rebels surprised many by leading Lex Cath 12-7 in the second quarter of their game last week. Friday’s game should be an interesting gauge of Conner and Boone County both.

8) Beechwood (1A) – No action this week for the Tigers. Beechwood will open their 2016 season this year against the 2A Lloyd Juggernauts, with the Juggs coming in fresh off a romping 38 point shutout over 2A Walton-Verona. Beechwood and Lloyd have only faced off 4 times in the last decade, with the Tigers winning all 4 contests. Coach Rash faced a daunting task in the off-season, having to find replacements to graduated seniors Kyle Fieger, Brett Slusher, and Ethan Stringer. Junior quarterback Brayden Burch and senior RB Aiden Justice will be leading the offensive charge for the Tigers, but the defense remains the big question about Beechwood’s game this season. We’ll see how they stack up this Friday in Ft. Mitchell.

7) Newport Central Catholic (2A) – The Thoroughbreds came out with a purpose in their season opener this past Saturday, thumping the 4A Scott Eagles 47-21 at home in Newport. New Cath was looking to avenge a messy 7-8 loss from their opening game against the Eagles last season, and did so on the back of senior QB Henschen, who went 6-8 and 176 yards passing, and rushed for an additional 55 yards. WR Austin Neff had two receptions for 100 yards with a touchdown on each, and RB Jason Decker averaged over 10 yards a piece on each of his 8 carries, with a touchdown of his own. Senior LB Sutkamp logged 7 solo tackles in the victory. New Cath travels to Union this week to take on the 6A Cooper Jaguars on Friday.

6) Dixie Heights (5A) – No action this past week for the Red Colonels. We will begin to have a look at what Coach Brossart has done with the Dixie program in the off-season when they open their season this Friday in Taylor Mill against the 4A Scott Eagles. After struggling last season with a large group of new starters, the Colonels will be coming in with a more seasoned and composed team on both sides of the ball. Look for transfer Giante Hicks to have a big game for Dixie as they work to improve on their 3-8 record from last year.

5) Covington Catholic (5A) – The Colonels started off their season this year in Union against the 6A Ryle Raiders, but didn’t manage to start off with one in the W column. Ryle’s size was difficult to overcome this week, and Cov Cath struggled to push to the end zone, opting twice for field goals via senior kicker Kloska. Sophomore RB McGinness had a big first half, but was held to 22 yards rushing in the second half. Junior quarterback AJ Mayer had some difficulty connecting with his receiving corps – something that the Coach Eviston will no doubt be working on correcting as Cov Cath prepares to take on Ohio DI team Oak Hills in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown this week at Mount St. Joseph. The Colonels showed some resilience and never let Ryle run away with the game, but will be hard at work improving their game as they make their way through a very challenging 2016 schedule.

4) Cooper (6A) – Unlike last year, Cooper started off this season with a loss after traveling to 5A Highlands’ David Cecil Memorial Stadium to take on the Birds in their opener for the second year in a row. It was a high scoring affair, and even after the Jags jumped out to a 21-6 lead in the first quarter, Highlands was able to wear them down, and eventually pull ahead in the 4th quarter to come out on top 52-42. Cooper’s stud RB Dante Hendrix was covered heavily, and was held to a single touchdown on Friday, with Jaden Jackson, Shea Burns, Justin Schlarman and QG Jared Lonaker adding touchdowns as well. Cooper will be dusting themselves off and working on tightening things up for this week’s home opener against the 2A Newport Catholic Thoroughbreds.

3) Highlands (5A) – After last season’s opening loss to the 6A Cooper Jaguars, there were many predicting a repeat loss for the Birds this past Friday, but Coach Weinrich proved that, as in years past, the Highlands offseason conditioning makes their team one of THE hardest to beat in the 4th quarter. The Bluebirds came out on top of a shootout in Ft. Thomas, beating the Jags 52-42. Offensively, the two teams were within 9 total offensive yards of one another, but Highlands won the battle for field position, and their conversion of a touchdown off a Cooper fumble ended up being the deciding factors in the victory for the Birds. Highlands will travel down the road to Claryville to take on the 6A Campbell County Camels this week.

2) Ryle (6A) – It took less than 3 minutes for the Raiders to get their first points of the 2016 season. Tanner Morgan orchestrated a 7-play, 82 yard drive that ended with 7 points on the scoreboard for Ryle, and proved that they were prepared to grind it out all night against 5A Covington Catholic. The Raiders won 31-13, with Morgan ending his night with nearly 300 yards and 2 TDs passing, and an additional rushing TD to boot. RB Chisholm rushed for almost 150 yards and had 1 TD, and WR Cusick added 100 yards receiving and a TD of his own. Ryle ended the night with over 550 total offensive yards, and kept Cov Cath’s offense to just over 300 yards. Ryle takes on 6A Henry Clay in the 2016 Bluegrass Bowl. The game can be streamed live

1) Simon Kenton (6A) – The Pioneers had a gimme in week 0 with their matchup against the Christian Academy Louisville Centurions, winning 41-14 in Louisville on Friday night. CAL, who is currently BGP’s #2 team in 2A, just couldn’t stand up against 6A Simon Kenton. Racke led the offense to over 400 total yards, with two touchdowns passing and one rushing. Senior linebacker Brian Carter led the defense with 6 solo tackles and 5 assisted tackles. We will learn a lot more what the ‘Neers are made of when they host the 6A Bryan Station Defenders in Independence this Friday.

Trending Up:

2A Holy Cross – The Indians came out a little slow in the first quarter, failing to put any points on the board, but they kicked it up in the second quarter scoring 4 times and eventually winning 42-7 over crosstown rivals 4A Holmes.

2A Lloyd Memorial – The Juggs made a statement in their season opener, shutting out 2A district rival Walton-Verona in a 38-0 win over the Wildcats. Senior RB Justin Durham rushed for 4 touchdowns.

5A Highlands – The Birds beat 6A Cooper in week 0, getting revenge for a week 0 loss to the Jags last season. Highlands showed that they are multi-dimensional, and have the ability to fight through all 48 minutes of the game. Highlands moved up from a #4 pre-season ranking in NKY to the #3 spot.

Trending Down:

2A Walton-Verona – The Wildcats suffered a tough loss on Friday, failing to score in a 0-38 loss to the 2A Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts. Walton-Verona remains unranked in NKY.

4A Scott – The Eagles took a tough loss this week at the hands of 2A Newport Catholic . It came as a surprise to many following a banner season for Scott last year. The Eagles drop from a #6 NKY pre-season ranking to #10.

6A Cooper – The Jags started off at #3 in Northern Kentucky, but dropped to #4 this week after losing to the 5A Highlands Bluebirds in their season opener. They played hard for much of the game, but handed over too much positive field position to the Birds, including a fumble turned over inside of their own 20 yard line resulting in a Highlands TD.

Player Of The Week:

Justin Durham (Lloyd Memorial)

Lloyd’s senior running back posted 175 yards and 4 touchdowns rushing for the Juggs this week in their 38-0 win over Walton-Verona. Durham nearly tripled Walton-Verona’s first half 37 offensive yards with his own 93 yards in the first half of the game.

Week 1 Game Of The Week:

Bellevue (1A) vs. Dayton (1A)

There are less than 2 miles separating these two single-A river schools. Both programs have struggled to see success on a state level in recent years, but there is always a lot of emotion packed into their meetings on the field. Bellevue has dominated the series in recent years, and won their two regular season matchups by a combined score of 73-0. On Friday the Dayton Green Devils host the first of their two meetings this season, and we’ll see if the Bellevue Tigers continue the domination, or if Dayton can fight them off this year.

Nice job! Informative, concise, and stimulating.

I would have Lloyd at #10 over Scott based on the results of each team's opener and Lloyd's 27-0 scrimmage victory over Scott. It is hard to argue with the rest of the rankings. Good job as always.

I would have Lloyd at #10 over Scott based on the results of each team's opener and Lloyd's 27-0 scrimmage victory over Scott. It is hard to argue with the rest of the rankings. Good job as always.

I thought pretty hard about both Lloyd and Holy Cross when it came to the rankings. I based most of my decision on Scott's opponent, New Cath, being a bigger challenge than Holy Cross' opponent, Holmes, or Lloyd's opponent, Walton-Verona. I admittedly didn't consider the Scott/Lloyd scrimmage, which is a great point that you make.

I honestly think the argument is there to be made for both Lloyd and Holy Cross though.

I thought pretty hard about both Lloyd and Holy Cross when it came to the rankings. I based most of my decision on Scott's opponent, New Cath, being a bigger challenge than Holy Cross' opponent, Holmes, or Lloyd's opponent, Walton-Verona. I admittedly didn't consider the Scott/Lloyd scrimmage, which is a great point that you make.

 

I honestly think the argument is there to be made for both Lloyd and Holy Cross though.

so when Lloyd beats Beechwood this Friday do they make it into the top ten

so when Lloyd beats Beechwood this Friday do they make it into the top ten

If Lloyd beats Beechwood on Friday there would be zero doubt that they make the top 10 in Northern Kentucky.

Holy Cross puts a running clock on Scott no doubt

I would have Lloyd at #10 over Scott based on the results of each team's opener and Lloyd's 27

 

I would have Lloyd at #10 over Scott based on the results of each team's opener and Lloyd's 27-0 scrimmage victory over Scott. It is hard to argue with the rest of the rankings. Good job as always.

 

What has happened to Scott this year? Seemed like they were on a roll for a couple of years and had built the program into a solid program? No love for them this year?

NCC should be at least 4th.

NCC should be at least 4th.

Why?

NCC needs to beat Cooper if you want to make people believers.

NCC should be at least 4th.

Where would you have them at best?

Where would you have them at best?

3rd.

7-8??

3rd.

I hate comparing scores, but I'm really interested in the NCC/Cooper matchup. If NCC takes care of business, you have a legit argument.