article NKY Power Rankings 08-30-16 - Sponsored by NKY Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

Thanks to Northern Kentucky Family & Cosmetic Dentistry -"Making Northern Kentucky Smile" for sponsoring our 2016 Northern Kentucky Power Rankings! We encourage everyone to patronize all of our sponsors, and you can visit Northern Kentucky Family & Cosmetic Dentistry at 2047 Centennial Boulevard in Independence, KY.

THE RANKINGS:

10) Beechwood (1A) 1-0 – Beechwood opened their season by beating 2A Lloyd in Ft. Mitchell this past Friday 12-0. The Tigers struggled on offense, with only 155 total yards – 134 of which were amassed in the air. Junior Brayden Burch had his first start at QB, passing for 116 yards. Beechwood’s only offensive points came on a 22 yard Daniel Mescher field goal in the 3rd quarter. The remaining points were scored on a blocked punt recovered for a safety, and a kickoff return for TD. The Tigers host 2A Somerset this Friday.

9) Conner (6A) 1-0 – Conner opened up their season in Florence at 6A district rival Boone County. Senior QB Walker Buelow connected for 12 of his 20 pass attempts, racking up 238 yards passing and 2 TD’s, and rushed for an additional 76 yards. The Cougars played 3 different QB’s on Friday, and had an additional 3 RB’s in the backfield, pointing to numerous offensive options this season. Senior Austin Cain led the defense with 5 tackles. Conner travels to Independence this week to take on 6A district rival Simon Kenton.

8) Newport Central Catholic (2A) 1-1 – The Breds took one on the chin this past Friday. After a strong 26 point win in week 0, Newport Catholic ran into a roadblock in the 6A Cooper Jaguars, losing 14-45 to the Jags. New Cath had a respectable 215 yards on the ground, but the story of the game was passing. Cooper stacked up 342 yards passing, while New Cath’s QB Henschen was only able to connect on 3 of his 13 attempts, for 11 of their total 30 yards passing. The Thoroughbreds look to improve this Friday when they host 6A Campbell County.

7) Dixie Heights (5A) 1-0 – A lot remains to be seen about how things are going at Dixie, but starting off the season with a win against a season they lost to last year is a undeniable step in the right direction for the Colonels. After a rough week dealing with the loss of a former teammate, Colson Machlitt, the Colonels played hard, with RB Jose Torres giving a great performance that included 219 total yards and 4 touchdowns. Dixie takes on Milford (OH) at home this Friday.

5T) Covington Catholic (5A) 1-1 – The Colonels racked up an impressive 8 touchdowns in Thursday nights won over Oak Hills (OH). Their biggest lead of the game was 29 points at the end of the 4th quarter, but by the time the final whistle blew, their lead had diminished to 8 points with the final score 56-48. Cov Cath will take the win, though, including 4 passing TD’s and 1 rushing TD by quarterback AJ Mayer, and an impressive 350 all-purpose yards and 3 TD’s by sophomore running back Casey McGinness. The Colonels host Sycamore (OH) this week in Park Hills.

5T) Cooper (6A) 1-1 – Cooper beat 2A New Cath by 35 in week 1 of the 2015 season, and similarly, they beat them by 31 points in week 1 this season. The Jags posted 565 yards of offense on Friday in the Skyline Crosstown Showdown, with QB Lonaker throwing for 343 yards and 3 touchdowns, RB Jackson rushing for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns, and WR Hendrix receiving for 160 yards and 2 touchdowns. Cooper host 6A Bryan Station this week in Union.

4) Highlands (5A) 1-1 – After a 4th quarter win in week 0, Highlands suffered a 4th quarter loss in week 1 at the hands of 6A Campbell County. It was a sloppy game for the Birds, and there’s no doubting they will be hard at work bringing about a some changes this week as they stare down their 6A onslaught, preparing to play Scott County this week, Ryle the week after, St. Xavier the next, and then Simon Kenton the week following.

3) Campbell County (6A) 1-1 – There are a lot of thoughts about Campbell County’s victory on Friday over 5A Highlands. The fact is, the Camels won. Coach Steve Lickert (a Highlands alum) and team was the better team on the field this week, and they improve in this week’s power rankings because of it. The Camels had 367 total offensive yards to the Bluebirds’ 338 total yards, and eked out the victory on a field goal in the final seconds. Campbell County heads down the road on Friday to take on 2A Newport Catholic.

2) Ryle (6A) 2-0 – The Raiders improved to 2-0 on Friday, beating the 6A Henry Clay Blue Devils 34-28 at the Bluegrass Bowl in Lexington. Tanner Morgan went 16 for 26, passing for 153 yards and 1 touchdown. Jake Chisholm caught for 49 yards, rushed for 127 yards, and had 2 touchdowns on the ground.

1) Simon Kenton (6A) 2-0 – Simon Kenton beat the 6A Bryan Station Defenders 50-7 this past Friday. That means the Pioneers have beaten their first two opponents this season by a combined score of 91-21. They have over 900 total yards of offense, compared to the 417 yards that they’ve allowed their opponents. Until someone in NKY is able to step up and challenge the ‘Neers, there isn’t anything pointing to their being de-throned in NKY. Simon Kenton host 6A Conner this week in Independence.

Trending Up:

2A Holy Cross (2-0) – The Indians are now 2-0 after shutting 2A district opponent Walton-Verona 44-0. Holy Cross has beaten their first two opponents by a combined score of 86-7.

2A Lloyd Memorial (1-1) – The Juggs didn’t win their second game of the season, but their defense impressed for a second week in a row, only allowing 3 offensive points by 1A Beechwood in their 0-12 loss to the Tigers this past Friday.

6A Campbell County (1-1) – After losing their first game of the season, the Camels were able to pull off a last-minute field goal to upset the 5A Highlands Bluebirds, previously ranked 3rd in NKY. The Camels were unranked last week in NKY.

Trending Down:

2A Walton-Verona (0-2) – The Wildcats were shut out for a second week in a row, losing 0-44 to 2A Holy Cross (Cov) and have given up over 80 points this season to their opponents.

4A Scott (0-2) – A surprise to many, the Eagles have lost both of their first two games this season. Scott was beaten 7-34 this week by the 5A Dixie Heights Colonels.

5A Highlands (1-1) – After beating 6A Cooper in their season opener, there weren’t many who expected a loss to 6A Campbell County, but 4 quarters of sloppy play, the Birds lost to the Camels on a last second field goal on Friday.

Player Of The Week:

Jose Torres (Dixie Heights)

The Colonels’ senior running back Torres had a heck of a game against Scott on Friday, rushing for over 200 yards and an impressive 4 touchdowns.

Week 2 Game Of The Week:

Cooper (6A) vs. Bryan Station (6A)

Cooper will be welcoming Bryan Station to Union on Friday after a convincing win over 2A New Cath, while Bryan Station is going to be coming in with a chip on their shoulder after losing 7-50 to 6A Simon Kenton. Both teams have 1-1 records going into the matchup this week, with Cooper having lost to 5A Highlands and Bryan Station having beaten 4A Wayne County in week 0.

I think 1 and 2 are correct. 3-6 is still up for debate. Any of them could be in any order. Think Conner might be better than #9 as well. If Holy Cross beats Taft next week, they will easily be in the top 10 and should probably already be there, in my opinion. NCC should be lower than 9 with the way they lost to Cooper

I think 1 and 2 are correct. 3-6 is still up for debate. Any of them could be in any order. Think Conner might be better than #9 as well. If Holy Cross beats Taft next week, they will easily be in the top 10 and should probably already be there, in my opinion. NCC should be lower than 9 with the way they lost to Cooper

I'm not disagreeing with you on a lot of things. There are a lot of things still getting ironed out with most of the teams in NKY and around the state right now - and the success or failure in getting those things ironed out will have implications in the successes of teams in the second half of the season, and particularly in the post-season.

Conner may well be better than #9, but only having played an extremely shaky Boone County team thus far, that's pretty tough to judge. Similarly, Holy Cross looks like they're the real deal....but Holmes and Walton-Verona aren't exactly the toughest teams to beat right now either.

I'm not disagreeing with you on a lot of things. There are a lot of things still getting ironed out with most of the teams in NKY and around the state right now - and the success or failure in getting those things ironed out will have implications in the successes of teams in the second half of the season, and particularly in the post-season.

 

Conner may well be better than #9, but only having played an extremely shaky Boone County team thus far, that's pretty tough to judge. Similarly, Holy Cross looks like they're the real deal....but Holmes and Walton-Verona aren't exactly the toughest teams to beat right now either.

That is an excellent assessment!