Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 (edited) 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) Holy Cross (2A) 3-2 – After two seasons of the Northern Kentucky power rankings, the Indians have finally made their way into the top 10. They may have lost on Friday, but they did so while still putting up 432 yards total offense against the Tigers in the 33-40 loss. Holy Cross averaged more yards per play in the game and outscored the Tigers in the second half, and if it weren’t for penalties, they may have been able to win an upset and get their first ever victory against Beechwod…but it wasn’t in the cards last week. RB Derrick Barnes was a rushing powerhouse with 250 yards and 2 TDs, while RB Xavier Abernathy added on 105 yards and 2 TDs of his own rushing. Holy Cross plays 1A Bethlehem on the road this week. 9) Newport Catholic (2A) 2-4 – The first half of New Cath’s regular season has put their team through the ringer, and after taking on three 6A teams and the three-time defending 3A state champs, their record shows it. Friday’s game brought on the 6A Conner Cougars. The Breds fought hard, with 144 yards rushing and 159 yards in the air, but Conner came out on top, winning 27-14. New Cath will be taking a few deep breaths as they recuperate during their bye week this week and prepare for 2A district rival Holy Cross (Covington). 8) Beechwood (1A) 4-1 – With Friday’s 40-33 win over 2A Holy Cross (Covington), it looks like 2A New Cath is the only team that can stand in the way of Beechwood winning out the rest of their regular season. Beechwood’s team is fast moving, and their passing game is quick to strike. It wasn’t a bed of roses for the Tigers on Friday, though, with Holy Cross’ offense threatening throughout all four quarters of the game, but Beechwood managed to come out on top. Aiden Justice posted an impressive 238 all-purpose yards and 3 touchdowns for the Tigers. Beechwood heads to Newport to take on the 2A Wildcats on Friday. 7) Highlands (5A) 1-5 – The first half of Friday’s matchup against the 6A Simon Kenton Pioneers was looking extremely hopeful for the Bluebirds, with a barnburner of a first half and a score of 42-41 in favor of the ‘Neers going into the locker rooms at halftime. But Simon Kenton came out and pulled away with a 77-53 victory in the Ft. Thomas shootout. There were an incredible 1,389 yards total offense between both teams, with 637 yards for Highlands and 752 for Simon Kenton. Highlands has the week off before returning to the field on October 7th for district play against 5A Dixie Heights. 6) Campbell County (6A) 3-3 – After two weeks and two losses in 6A district competition, the Camels proved that turnabout is fair play when they headed to Mt. Orab, Ohio and took on the Western Brown Broncos. Western Brown thumped the Camels last year by beating them 42-14, but Campbell County got their revenge on Friday by beating the Broncos 48-21 on the road. QB Austin Hoeh went 21 for 27 for 279 yards and 4 TDs passing, and Nic Mayer had 11 receptions for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns on Friday. The Camels will be resting on their bye week before taking on 6A Conner on October 7th. 5) Conner (6A) 4-1 – Conner is definitely on their game right now, but Friday didn’t seem to be their best showing of the year. The Cougars beat the 2A New Cath Thoroughbreds 27-14 at home, and they posted a very solid 389 yards of offense, with Troy Greenlee leading the defensive front with 11 solo tackles. However, 6A district rival Cooper beat the same New Cath team 4 weeks ago with a score of 45-14, leaving it in question how things will look come October 21st when the Cougars head to Union to take on the Jags. This week Conner looks to improve their record against 2A Lloyd Memorial. 4) Covington Catholic (5A) 4-2 – I have to say…if Cooper is #3, then Cov Cath is #3A . The Colonels took a tough 17-49 loss to Columbus DeSales on Friday. With 5 seconds to go in the first half the Colonels had pulled within 1 score of DeSales, ranked at #13 in Ohio statewide polls, they had forced and recovered a fumble, and were going for a hail Mary to try to head into the half with a lead…only to be intercepted in the endzone and watch one of the Stallions' defenders take back a 102 yard pick-6 with no time on the clock. Cov Cath failed to score in the second half. The Colonels have the week off to recoup and heal up before their first district match up this season against 5A Grant County. 3) Cooper (6A) 4-2 – After a few questions about putting Cooper over Cov Cath last week, I’m going to maintain my decision from last week following Cooper’s 38-20 victory over a 3A Lex Cath team that Cov Cath only beat by 1 point two weeks prior. Jags’ QB Lonaker had another HUGE game passing this week, with 342 yards by air and 3 TD passes. Dante Hendrix had 8 receptions for 140 yards and 2 TDS, with 5 solo tackles and a pick-6 on the defensive side of things to boot. A really nice showing for the Jags, who will head to Edgewood to play the 5A Dixie Heights Colonels on Friday. 2) Simon Kenton (6A) 6-0 – In two years of writing up NKY Power Rankings, this marks only the second time Simon Kenton has had anything other than a #1 in front of their name. The first was in my 2015 pre-season rankings, when I had Highlands listed at #1 before having seen any live game action from the Birds…but I digress. Simon Kenton may have put up an astounding 77 points on 5A Highlands (I’d be interested to hear if any other team has ever done that in the history of Highlands football), but that’s only after heading into the locker room at the half with a mere 1 point lead on the Birds, and allowing Highlands to put up a season high 53 points as well. Simon Kenton is going to need to prepare their defense for Ryle if they hope to win come 24 days from now. The Pioneers have the week off before returning to action against 6A Boone County on October 7th. 1) Ryle (6A) 5-0 – Ryle makes the big move up. The Raiders didn’t see any action this week, but this move is primarily due to their action in week 3 against 5A Highlands. Against Highlands, Ryle accumulated 367 total yards offense and allowed 251 yards by the Birds. This past week 6A Simon Kenton may have accumulated 741 total yards against the Birds, but they also allowed Highlands to put up 643 yards of their own. Based on those numbers, plus record and schedule thus far, I’m going to go ahead and say it…I think (barring injuries) Ryle will beat Simon Kenton on October 21st. Ryle takes on 6A George Rogers Clark this Friday on the road. Trending Up: 2A Holy Cross (3-2) – The Indians lost on Friday in a battle of a game under the lights against Beechwood at Cov Cath’s Wooten Stadium, still making a lot of noise with their dominant running game. 6A Ryle (5-0) – Taking over the top spot in the Northern Kentucky rankings can’t be called anything other than “trending up”. Trending Down: 5A Grant County (3-3) – The Braves dropped another game this week, losing 13-41 to 2A Holy Cross (Louisville). 4A Scott (1-5) – In their third straight loss, the Eagles are struggling as they prepare to take on the 4A Harrison County Thorobreds (3-3)this week. Player Of The Week: Jarod Lonaker (Cooper) In his first season at starting quarterback, QB Jarod Lonaker went 23 for 37 passing with 342 yards and 3 touchdown passes on Friday in the Cooper’s win over 3A Lex Cath. Game Of The Week: Conner (6A) vs. Lloyd Memorial (2A) Conner is the undeniable favorite in the game this Friday, but the Lloyd defense has been hard at work this season, and will be looking to stop the Cougars and revenge their 0-6 loss from last year when the Cougars and Juggs take the field in Hebron this Friday. Edited September 28, 2016 by Colonels_Wear_Blue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel-fan Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 NewCath's record is 4-2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK#1fanisback Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Ryle is only 5-0. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenR Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Saw the post this morning, the 2:17am post time and thought: Taking a note from the FBI playbook... Posting Ryle ahead of SK when no one is looking! Nice write up as usual Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75center Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKY Bandit Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Spot on. Nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cane Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Looks good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 NewCath's record is 4-2? Ryle is only 5-0. Thanks for catching. Corrected them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Nope. What's your take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKY Bandit Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 What's your take? Consider me old school, but you stay on top until someone knocks you off the top. Ryle may do that in a few weeks but as long as both are undefeated don't see how you can swap the two of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Consider me old school, but you stay on top until someone knocks you off the top. Ryle may do that in a few weeks but as long as both are undefeated don't see how you can swap the two of us. I understand your thinking, but using that line of logic alone it would make it 100% impossible for Cov Cath to ever get ranked higher than Cooper since there is never an opportunity for either team to knock the other one out of their standing. For that matter, there's not any basis for being able to rank Beechwood above Walton-Verona...or Carroll County...or Boone County. Let me ask you this...Cov Cath hasn't beaten Highlands since 2006. Would you put Highlands above Cov Cath in the rankings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HCalumni32 Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Happy to finally see holy cross on here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonels_Wear_Blue Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 All of the teams in NKY have made it to the halfway mark of the season...so here's how I would say things stand in the region, top to bottom: 1) Ryle 2) Simon Kenton 3) Cooper 4) Covington Catholic 5) Conner 6) Campbell County 7) Highlands 8) Beechwood 9) Newport Catholic 10) Holy Cross 11) Dixie Heights 12) Lloyd Memorial 13) Boone County 14) Walton-Verona 15) Holmes 16) Gallatin County 17) Ludlow 18) Grant County 19) Scott 20) Bracken County 21) Bishop Brossart 22) Carroll County 23) Owen County 24) Pendleton County 25) Dayton 26) Bellevue 27) Newport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrcarrier Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I agree with this. Ryle and Simon Kenton will know who's best between them soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK#1fanisback Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 (edited) All of the teams in NKY have made it to the halfway mark of the season...so here's how I would say things stand in the region, top to bottom: 1) Ryle 2) Simon Kenton 3) Cooper 4) Covington Catholic 5) Conner 6) Campbell County 7) Highlands 8) Beechwood 9) Newport Catholic 10) Holy Cross 11) Dixie Heights 12) Lloyd Memorial 13) Boone County 14) Walton-Verona 15) Holmes 16) Gallatin County 17) Ludlow 18) Grant County 19) Scott 20) Bracken County 21) Bishop Brossart 22) Carroll County 23) Owen County 24) Pendleton County 25) Dayton 26) Bellevue 27) Newport It should be. 1. SK 2. Ryle 3. CovCath 4. Conner 5. Cooper Edited September 29, 2016 by Footballforever74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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