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THE RANKINGS:

 

 

10) Lloyd Memorial (2A / 5-3) – The Juggernauts were looking fairly solid on Friday, particularly in the first half, but New Cath appeared to be a team of inconsistency, and the Juggs were certainly capitalizing on it. Lloyd held on to a lead through the beginning of the 4th quarter, but New Cath continued chipping away at the Juggernauts’ lead until the Breds finally pulled ahead for the win with just over a minute left in the game. It was a tough loss for Lloyd, who will be hosting the 2A Holy Cross Indians this week, who will come into the game with a 4-4 record.

 

9) Newport Central Catholic (2A / 4-4) – I said last week in my rankings that New Cath and Lloyd would be “fighting it out”, and that’s certainly how the game ended up playing out. The first half left New Cath looking shaky and a little out of control, and despite Lloyd leading for most of the game, it was New Cath who ended up fighting the hardest in the 4th quarter and managing to come from behind and take home the victory, winning 29-26 over the Juggs. New Cath has their annual cross-town match against the 2A Newport Wildcats this week.

 

8) Scott (4A / 7-1) –The Eagles struggled a little to get their 7th win of the season. Even with over 500 total yards of offense, Scott trailed for most of the game, only pulling ahead of 4A Bourbon County in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s game. Regardless, with Danny Fitzgerald, Roberto London, and Deondre Pleasant all rushing for 100+ yards the Eagles were able to send the Colonels home with a loss, winning 42-35. Scott will take on the 4A Holmes Bulldogs this week on the road.

 

7) Conner (6A / 6-2) – I may have questioned Conner a bit last week in my rankings, but this week the Cougars left it all on the field, despite losing to 6A Ryle 46-34. Conner was leading 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, and kept the game tied at 7 at the half. Ryle really only began to pull away with the win when they scored to go up 36-28 with 6 minutes left in the game. It’s tough to gauge #7 Conner against #6 Beechwood - particularly due to their size and because of a couple of shaky performances from the Cougars this season - bit there is not much margin, if any, between the two teams as far as I can see. Conner will host the 6A Cooper Jaguars this week.

 

6) Beechwood (1A / 7-1) – Beechwood has average over 58 points per game in their last four wins. To say that they have their offense firing on all cylinders would be an understatement. This week Beechwood’s high-powered offense put up 62 points on the 1A Ludlow Panthers in a 62-6 victory over their district competitors. The Tigers will host 1A Dayton this week for their final district game.

 

5) Covington Catholic (5A / 2-6) – Cov Cath will have to fight for a second shot at the Bluebirds in the playoffs if they hope to get their first victory over 5A Highlands since 2006. The first half of Saturday’s game looked good for the Colonels, who than doubled the Birds’ offensive yardage in the first half. Highlands was able to essentially put a complete stop to Cov Cath’s run game in the second half, and put the game away with a 3rd quarter touchdown, holding on to beat the Colonels 14-10. Cov Cath will have to rebound against the 5A Dixie Heights Colonels this Friday in their final district game of the season.

 

4) Highlands (5A / 3-5) – This may not be a “usual season” for the Birds, but they definitely did one thing as usual…they put away another win against 5A Covington Catholic. Despite Cov Cath’s 10-7 lead at halftime, the Bluebirds were able to make adjustments and successfully control the pace of the game and stop the Colonels’ offense in the second half of Saturday’s game. Highlands takes on the 5A Grant County Braves this week in Ft. Thomas.

 

3) Ryle (6A / 7-1) – Ryle hosted the 6A Conner Cougars this week, and beat the Cougars 46-34. What was most surprising in this game was the fact that things were all tied up at the half, and Conner only trailed by 1 point as late as the fourth quarter of the game. Not exactly what most of us were expecting going into this game, but as I’ve said before, a win is a win. The Raiders will need to shake things off from Friday, and move on to preparing themselves to take on the undefeated 6A Simon Kenton Pioneers this week.

 

2) Cooper (6A / 7-2) – Cooper traveled to Florence on Friday, and come home with a 43-7 victory over the immensely struggling 6A Boone County Rebels. The story of this game was the absence of Torrey Cordell-Armstrong, who was injured in the previous week while playing 6A Ryle. TCA has been their go-to running back this season, and will be a must-have in the backfield if the Jags hope to make a run at reappearance in Bowling Green. Cooper heads to 6A Conner on Friday night for their final game of the regular season.

 

1) Simon Kenton (6A / 8-0) – All signs are pointing towards a 10-0 regular season for the Pioneers. After a commanding 51-15 win over 6A Campbell County this past Friday, Simon Kenton will be taking on the 6A Ryle Raiders this week in one of their tougher games this season. Still, given the way this season has gone, there’s no reason not to expect another win this week out of the Pioneers, as they are the clear favorite going into the game.

 

 

Player Of The Week:

 

Danny Fitzgerald (Scott)

 

Fitzgerald went 7 for 8 and 54 yards passing, and rushed 12 times for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns in Scott’s 42-35 win over the 4A Bourbon County Colonels.

 

 

Game Of The Week:

 

Holy Cross (2A) vs. Lloyd Memorial (2A)

 

The 5-3 Juggernauts will host the 4-4 Indians this week. With Holy Cross beating 2A Newport by 42 and losing to 2A New Cath by 7, and Lloyd beating Newport by 36 and losing to New Cath by 3, this game looks to be a pretty even matchup between these two district competitors.

 

 

Trending Up:

 

6A Conner – Despite a loss this week, the Cougars’ ability to hang tough with the 6A Raiders through three quarters on Friday night shows that Conner is putting things together as they near the beginning of the playoffs.

 

2A Holy Cross – In their last three games, the Indians have won twice, and played 2A New Cath to within a touchdown. Holy Cross may only be 4-4 right now, but in the midst of district competition and heading towards the playoffs, things aren’t looking half bad in Latonia.

 

 

Trending Down:

 

5A Covington Catholic – The Colonels still only have two wins this season, taking a tough loss on senior day this past Saturday to arch-rival and district competitor, 5A Highlands.

 

5A Grant County – After starting out 3-2 and having an early season lead in their district, the Braves’ strength of schedule is beginning to show, after losing their 3rd game straight, and their second straight game in district competition.

You must have this perfect. No comments from anyone objecting.

You must have this perfect. No comments from anyone objecting.

 

My thoughts exactly :lol2: