article NKY Power Rankings 09-21-16 - Sponsored by NKY Family & Cosmetic Dentistry

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THE RANKINGS:

10) Newport Catholic (2A) 2-3 – After a few tough weeks for New Cath, the Breds put things together last week by putting a 42-10 thumping on the 4A Harrison County Thorobreds. Senior linebacker Drew Bravard showed up in style on Friday, tallying 11 solo tackles and 4 more assisted tackles. After allowing almost 400 yards rushing in their loss last week to 3A Belfry, the Breds defensive line stepped it up by only allowing 40 yards rushing this week. QB Henschen threw for 102 yards and 1 TD, while RB Kyle Kelly rushed 21 times for 169 yards and 3 TDs. New Cath has their work cut out for them this week when they head to Hebron on Saturday to take on 6A Conner.

9) Dixie Heights (5A) 2-2 – The Colonels lost for a second week straight, this time only managing a single touchdown in a 8-40 loss at the hands of the 6A Conner Cougars. With a mere 156 passing yards in the last 3 games, Dixie’s air-strike is struggling immensely as they only managed 41 yards passing this week. The Colonels had a total 227 yards on Friday. Dixie will try to build on their strengths this week against 6A Boone County, but have their work cut out against them with games agsint 6A Cooper, 5A Highlands, 5A Cov Cath and 6A Ryle all looming in the second half of their season.

8) Beechwood (1A) 3-1 – The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season in what is likely to be their toughest game of the regular season, against 5A Covington Catholic. Despite leading 3-0 going into the 2nd quarter, Beechwood’s offense struggled – to say the least – failing to total any positive offensive yards in the first half, and posting a scant 58 yards in the second half. The Tigers were outmatched in size and depth on the field, and it showed on the final scoreboard as Beechwood left Park Hills with a 10-44 loss. Beechwood will look to shake things off as they prepare to take on 2A Holy Cross in Covington on Friday.

7) Highlands (5A) 1-4 – It was another tough week for the Bluebirds, who found themselves on the negative side of a running clock for a second week in a row, this time losing 18-45 to 6A St. Xavier. It was also a second straight week that Highlands had less than 100 yards rushing (64), and a second week in a row for QB Gosney throwing for over 200 yards (259), with 3 TDs in the air. Evan Fickenscher, Nick Veneman, and Jared Wogan all scored for the Birds. Things don’t look to get much easier this week, as the undefeated 6A Simon Kenton Pioneers will be rolling into Ft. Thomas on Friday.

6) Campbell County (6A) 2-3 – It was a second straight loss for the Campbell County this week, as they dropped one on Friday to 6A Ryle, losing 7-38. The defense had very few answers to the Raider offense, who were able to pass and run at will against the Camels. Although QB Austin Hoeh was able to put up 181 yards passing in the game, their running game never found a foothold and was kept to 56 yards on the ground. Campbell County finishes the first half of the season as the apparent kings of their side of the Licking River, but they still have to face down the likes of 6A Simon Kenton and Conner in the second half of their schedule. This week the Camels head to Mt. Orab, OH to take on the Western Brown Broncos (1-3).

5) Conner (6A) 3-1 – Conner came out firing on all pistons on Friday, welcoming the 5A Dixie Heights Colonels to Hebron and sending them home on the short end of a 40-8 Cougar victory. Senior RB Armand Jackson had a huge game, with 205 yards and 3 TD’s rushing, while QB Buelow tacked on another 160 yards and 2 TD’s in the air. Senior Peyton VanHorn followed up his 10-tackle games against 4A Scott and 6A Simon Kenton with three-peat against Dixie, bringing his total for the season to 35 solo tackles. The Cougars will host 2A New Cath this week on Saturday.

4) Covington Catholic (5A) 4-1 – After narrow 1-point victories two weeks on a row for the Colonels, Cov Cath decided to put one away this week, beating 1A Beechwood 44-10 at home. The game started out rough, with the Tigers leading 3-0 at the end of the 1Q, and Cov Cath only holding a 10-3 lead going into the half – despite 0 offensive yards in the half by Beechwood. But the Colonels came out and dominated the 3Q, adding on 34 points to their score. 302 of Cov Cath’s total 462 offensive yards came thanks to junior quarterback AJ Mayer’s arm. The Colonels travel to Columbus this week to take on an undefeated St. Francis DeSales team on Friday.

3) Cooper (6A) 3-2 – After enjoying a 3 week long winning streak, the Jags hit a speed bump this week when 6A Simon Kenton came to town in Union. Despite losing 20-46, Cooper had a respectable 319 yards total offense with QB Lonaker going 17-37 with 222 yards and 1 TD passing, but even so, they were unable to keep up with the Pioneers’ high powered, multi-faceted offense, who came up with 540 yards of their own. At the halfway point of their season, the Jags still have their work cut out for them with games against 6A district foes Ryle and Conner to contend with. Cooper travels to take on 3A Lex Cath (1-4) this week in Lexington.

2) Ryle (6A) 5-0 – Ryle extended their undefeated streak this season, this time by beating 6A Campbell County 38-7 on the road. The Raider defense stymied the Camel offensive line, holding them to a mere 56 yards on the ground, but allowed another 181 yards in the air. Tanner Morgan and the Ryle offense put up 503 total yards offense, with RB Chisholm rushing for 89 yards and receiving another 108 for 3 total TDs. Ryle has the week off to rest and prepare for 6A George Rogers Clark (1-3) on September 30th.

1) Simon Kenton (6A) 5-0 – Simon Kenton did some work in distancing themselves from the rest of the pack last week by beating 6A Cooper 46-20 at Cooper. There’s not much denying that the Pioneers are #1 in Northern Kentucky…particularly when they’re putting up 540 yards against the #3 team in the area. QB Racke had a fantastic night, adding another 254 yards and 5 TDs passing to his numbers this season, while Markie Rider put up 8 solo tackles, and Brian Carter added another 7 tackles on the defensive side of the ball. Simon Kenton heads to Ft. Thomas to take on 5A Highlands on Friday.

Trending Up:

5A Covington Catholic (4-1) – At the halfway point of their season last year, the Colonels were 1-4. This season they are 4-1, with their latest win coming over 1A Beechwood.

1A Dayton (2-2) – The Greendevils have turned around and beat two teams that they lost to last season, with a victory over 1A Bellevue and this week with a victory over New Miami (OH).

2A Holy Cross (3-1) – After a disappointing loss last week to Taft (OH), the Indians came back by shutting out 4A Scott 27-0. The Indians have only given up 34 points in the first 4 games of their season.

Trending Down:

1A Beechwood (3-1) – A loss to a 5A team isn’t the worst thing imaginable for a 1A team, but 58 total yards in a game is never a good thing. The Tigers lost 10-44 to 5A Cov Cath this week.

5A Dixie Heights (2-2) – The Colonels struggled for a second week straight, this time losing 8-40 to the 6A Conner Cougars.

5A Highlands (1-4) – Two weeks in a row that teams have had a running clock against Highlands. The Birds dropped a 4th game straight, this week losing 18-45 to 6A St. Xavier.

Player Of The Week:

AJ Mayer (Covington Catholic)

In his second year starting as the Colonels’ quarterback, junior AJ Mayer is starting to turn a few heads. Mayer passed for 302 yards and 3 TDs in Cov Cath’s 44-10 victory over 1A Beechwood on Friday.

Game Of The Week:

Beechwood (1A) vs. Holy Cross - Covington (2A)

The 3-1 Indians are looking to be an improvement on last year’s team with a stout defensive front and a strong running game on the offensive side of the ball. The Tigers are 3-1, with a respectable defense of their own, and an athletic offense that’s built for speed. Beechwood will try to maintain their perfect winning record against Holy Cross, while the Indians are looking to stop the Tigers and get their first win against the Beechies.

No change in the top 10 rankings this week. However:

Conner and Cov Cath added some space between the 3/4 spots and the 5/6 spots in the rankings.

Campbell's shaky performance against Cooper makes the margin between the Camels and the Birds look slimmer and slimmer.

I would really like to see what a regular season matchup between Beechwood vs. Dixie would bring. The same can be said about a Cooper vs. Cov Cath matchup and a Conner vs. Cov Cath matchup.

The 2A district fight between New Cath, Holy Cross, and Lloyd is something worth definitely keeping an eye on.

Holy Cross is 3-1 not 2-3.

Holy Cross isn't 2-3

Also, I think Covcath should be ahead of Cooper at this point. Cooper's loss doesn't look very good right now

That 1 vs 2 is going to be fun.

I think I like CovCath ahead of Cooper and Ryle ahead of Simon.

I think I like CovCath ahead of Cooper and Ryle ahead of Simon.

You are not the only one to think that about SK/Ryle so I am curious what you are basing it off of. SK's closest game was to a 3-1 Conner team while Ryle's was a one score win against HC who then got pasted by an average Tate's Creek team.

Hopefully this week will prove that holy cross deserves to be in the top 10

You are not the only one to think that about SK/Ryle so I am curious what you are basing it off of. SK's closest game was to a 3-1 Conner team while Ryle's was a one score win against HC who then got pasted by an average Tate's Creek team.

I have seen both teams on film.

Ryle's QB/Offense looks like the difference to me.

I wouldn't necessarily argue against Cov Cath over Cooper - especially in light of Cooper's loss to Highlands, given Highlands performance in the four following games.

However, Cov Cath has struggled to put together an entire game, with their defense struggling in the second halves of the Oak Hills and Sycamore games, both. The Sycamore and Lex Cath games were both tough on the offensive running game, and they never really did get much of a run game going against Sycamore. Last week against Beechwood they couldn't finish things at all in the first quarter, and only went into the half with a 1 touchdown lead after shutting out Beechwood on offensive yards, and putting up 214 of their own 1st half yards.

I think a lot of the decision I made was based on the fact that Cooper's passing game is a definite offensive strength in comparison to Cov Cath's defensive secondary, which allowed 1,155 yards in the air in their first four games this season.

Conner will be one of the top 4 in NKY by the time everything is said and done this season. Maybe top 3.

Holy Cross is 3-1 not 2-3.

Holy Cross isn't 2-3

Edited. Had it right in the "trending up" section, but messed it up in the GOTW:ohbrother: Thanks for catching that for me.

I have seen both teams on film.

 

Ryle's QB/Offense looks like the difference to me.

Ryle has yet to see a defense!

I wouldn't necessarily argue against Cov Cath over Cooper - especially in light of Cooper's loss to Highlands, given Highlands performance in the four following games.

 

However, Cov Cath has struggled to put together an entire game, with their defense struggling in the second halves of the Oak Hills and Sycamore games, both. The Sycamore and Lex Cath games were both tough on the offensive running game, and they never really did get much of a run game going against Sycamore. Last week against Beechwood they couldn't finish things at all in the first quarter, and only went into the half with a 1 touchdown lead after shutting out Beechwood on offensive yards, and putting up 214 of their own 1st half yards.

 

I think a lot of the decision I made was based on the fact that Cooper's passing game is a definite offensive strength in comparison to Cov Cath's defensive secondary, which allowed 1,155 yards in the air in their first four games this season.

CovCath has beat tough teams. Cooper has beat teams with losing records and was beaten by a 1-4 team.