The 5A defending champions are coming off from one of the best seasons in school history and are once again sitting atop the throne in class 5A. Last season the Colonels came charging out of the starting gate with an impressive 49-17 win over 6A Ryle. This season these two teams look a little more evenly matched, but will it be enough for the Raiders to take advantage of playing on their home field and walk away with a win in their home opener?

I think Cov Cath wins.

I’m not going to pretend to know enough to handicap this game, I just think CovCath wins handily. Whether it’s a solid 3 touchdown win, or a running clock melee, I’ll take CovCath.

Closer than last year: CCH wins though.

Ryle has nowhere to go but up from their beat down last week.Not the Cov Cath of last year but they still have better players and are coached better. Cov Cath by two touchdowns

Ryle's defensive line had a decent first quarter in their scrimmage with Trinity, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the linebacking corps, and the defense really struggled with bringing down the Rocks' RBs and WRs once they made it past the D-line.

 

With Cov Cath returning their entire O-line from 2017, with Casey McGinness back for a 3rd varsity season, with Mayer at TE, and with Coldiron, Coburn and Summe receiving, this has the potential to be a long night for Ryle if their offense doesn't do an effective job of keeping the Raiders defense off the field.

I felt that the coaches blitzed the linebackers a lot against Trinity or it appeared that way. They left the flats wide open all night for receivers! Missed a great deal of tackles in the back field or the line of scrimmage. All those things are correctable. a good week of practice and coaching and this could be a good game.

 

That being said. Cov. Caths experience and talent will weight out in the end. 35-21!

35-14... a few big runs from England is the only offense you’ll see for Ryle.

I felt that the coaches blitzed the linebackers a lot against Trinity or it appeared that way. They left the flats wide open all night for receivers! Missed a great deal of tackles in the back field or the line of scrimmage. All those things are correctable. a good week of practice and coaching and this could be a good game.

 

That being said. Cov. Caths experience and talent will weight out in the end. 35-21!

 

That was a great observation about the linebackers. After watching the game film over we were in position to make many stops on Trinity's running backs and just didn't make the plays. It was either lazy feet or bad tackling form. Hopefully that is seen and gets addressed immediately. And yes we blitzed a lot of linebackers and definitely left a lot of areas on the field uncovered.

I don't know exactly how good CCH is this year. I'm never going to vote against my own team. I expect us to rebound and be much more competitive. CCH will probably the second best team we see all year.

I'm getting excited for tomorrow!

 

Covington Catholic 35-14.

I’m not going to pretend to know enough to handicap this game, I just think CovCath wins handily. Whether it’s a solid 3 touchdown win, or a running clock melee, I’ll take CovCath.

 

So a 3 TD win or a melee, I don't know..... I think Cov Cath wins but a new sophmore QB going into Ryle game 1 in the rain..... There will be hiccups, the question is how many? I think the 3 TD win is probably a lot more accurate than a melee. If Ryle had Chisholm this year I'd say its a coin flip.

So a 3 TD win or a melee, I don't know..... I think Cov Cath wins but a new sophmore QB going into Ryle game 1 in the rain..... There will be hiccups, the question is how many? I think the 3 TD win is probably a lot more accurate than a melee. If Ryle had Chisholm this year I'd say its a coin flip.

 

I agree that the rain is going to change Cov Cath's strategy a bit, but with the entire offensive line back, and Casey McGinness still in the backfield I think they should be able to do more than fine shifting to a more run-based game plan for tomorrow. I think Cov Cath wins by 3 or 4 touchdowns.

I agree that the rain is going to change Cov Cath's strategy a bit, but with the entire offensive line back, and Casey McGinness still in the backfield I think they should be able to do more than fine shifting to a more run-based game plan for tomorrow. I think Cov Cath wins by 3 or 4 touchdowns.

 

Cov Cath has a freak roster no doubt. The thing that is sneaky is that the green QB will make mistakes. It will change from an "easy read into a first down" (Mayer) to a "didn't see that safety cheat up" mistake here and there (new QB). The question is will that kind of stuff be enough to change the obvious better roster Cov Cath has... Probably not even close, Eddie is a really good head coach and he will protect that QB. It will just be interesting to see how plays out, especially in the rain, @ Ryle, first ever start. If I was Ryle I would be blitzing my brains out and changing up coverage like a mad house.