The last time Boyd County and Covington Catholic faced off on the football field, the movie GoldenEye was only days away from its premeire with Pierce Brosnan starring as the 5th actor to play James Bond on the big screen, Art Modell and his NFL franchise had not yet announced their move from Cleveland to Baltimore, Boris Becker was two weeks from his 3rd and final ATP Championship with a win over Michael Chang, Kendall Jenner was a mere 1 day old, 36 year old Dave Shula was in his 4th year as head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and rookie 1st round draft pick Ki-Jana Carter was 11 weeks into recovery from his ACL tear suffered on the third play of his NFL career during the Bengals' first pre-season game that year.

Fast forward to present, 29 years later: the Boyd County Lions are fresh off of their 5-5 regular season and a 4th place finish in 4A District 6, and the Covington Catholic Colonels have just wrapped up their 8-2 regular season and a 1st place finish in 4A District 5. And the two football teams will finally meet again after a nearly thirty year hiatus in Friday night's first-round game of the 4A playoffs.

(5-5) Boyd County Lions:
Aug 23:  38-0 WIN at home over South Point (OH)
Aug 30:  36-31 LOSS on the road to 3A Bell County
Sep 7:  36-14 WIN on the road over 3A East Carter
Sep 13:  3-0 WIN at home over 4A Mason County
Sep 28:  42-12 LOSS at home to 4A Johnson Central (District)
Oct 4:  42-37 LOSS on the road to 4A Greenup County (District)
Oct 11:  49-21 LOSS on the road to 4A Ashland Blazer (District)
Oct 18:  49-13 WIN at home over 4A Rowan County (District)
Oct 25:  42-20 WIN at home over 3A Lawrence County
Nov 1:  47-35 LOSS at home to Pikeville

The Lions have had a fairly balanced offensive attack, with nearly nearly a 50/50 game plan when it comes to passing and running the ball. Senior QB Rhett Holbrook has racked up over 1609 yards in the air during the regular season, going 141-219 (64%) passing with 5 Interceptions. Holbrook's favorite receiver has been senior WR Cole Hicks, who broke both the single season receptions record for Boyd County (51) and the Lions' career receptions record (86) during Friday night's loss to 1A Pikeville. Holbrook is also the team's leading rusher with 582 yards during the regular season, followed by Erik Germann with 282 yards and Marcus Brumfield with 258 yards. Boyd County's defense has gave up 1733 yards rushing and 1105 yards passing during the regular season, for an average of 284 yards allowed per game. The Lions scored 306 total points during the regular season (avg. 31 per game) to their opponents' 263 total points (avg. 26 per game). The defense is anchored by senior linebacker Erik Germann with 42 solo tackles, junior linebacker Brody Castle with 30 solo tackles, and junior defensive back Kaleb Kelley with 22 solo tackles.

(8-2) Covington Catholic Colonels:
Aug 23:  30-14 LOSS on the road to 6A Ryle
Aug 30:  32-22 LOSS at home to 5A Highlands
Sep 6:  42-3 WIN at home over 6A Simon Kenton
Sep 13:  47-28 WIN on the road over 5A Dixie Heights
Sep 20:  49-28 WIN at home over 2A Beechwood
Sep 26:  56-0 WIN on the road over 4A Holmes (District)
Oct 4:  54-0 WIN at home over 4A Grant County (District)
Oct 18:  56-6 WIN on the road over 4A Harrison County (District)
Oct 25:  49-0 WIN at home over 4A Mason County (District)
Nov 1:  42-28 WIN on the road over 6A Campbell County

Covington Catholic has one of the more notably lopsided offensive teams in recent memory, with 71% of their offensive yardage (2592) gained on the ground and 29% of their offensive yards (1051) through the air. Despite missing the first four games of the season, senior WR Oliver Link now leads the team in receiving yardage, with 178 yards and 4 touchdowns on 7 catches, while junior RB Dylan Gaiser is second in receiving yards out of the backfield with 153 yards and 1 touchdown on 14 catches. Junior quarterback Cash Harney is the team's top rusher, rolling over his 1000 yard rushing during the regular season on Friday in the Colonels' win over 6A Campbell County, now totaling 1002 yards and 15 touchdowns with his feet. Junior running back Dylan Gaiser has nearly gained another 1000 yards, with 951 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, bringing Gaiser's total offensive yardage tally for the regular season to 1104 total yards gained and 12 touchdowns. The Colonel defense has allowed 1241 yards rushing and 801 yards passing during the regular season for an average of 204 yards allowed per game. Cov Cath scored 431 total points during the regular season (avg. 43 per game) to their opponents' 155 total points (avg. 16 per game). The defense, with a state-leading 21 interceptions, is anchored by senior Tate Kruer with 51 solo tackles, senior Andrew Bessler with 30 solo tackles, junior Brady Guard with 27 solo tackles, and sophomore Jackson Payne with 26 solo tackles.


Game kicks off in Park Hills on Friday at 7:00pm. What are your predictions for this first round playoff matchup?

Series Record:
1967 Cov Cath 19 (Rasso) Boyd County (Scott) 7
1968 Boyd County (Scott) 3 Cov Cath (Lanham) 0
1969 Cov Cath (Tassini) 41 Boyd County (Scott) 0
1970 Cov Cath (Tassini) 44 Boyd County (Scott) 8
1971 Cov Cath (Tassini) 32 Boyd County (Scott) 8
1995* Cov Cath (Ray) 61 Boyd County (Bryant) 7

* Playoffs

A few photos from the last matchup between these two, on November 4, 1995 in the AAA Playoffs:


Cov Cath tailback Tommy Fowee (44) & Unidentified Boyd County Defender.



Cov Cath halfback Mike Caple† (32), Boyd County defenders Drew Claar (2) & Anthony Gould (27).



Cov Cath defensive end Matthew Kenney (99) & Boyd County fullback Ryan Gumbert.



Cov Cath cornerback Sean Aytes (27) & Boyd County wide receiver Jessie Ward (86).

Just now, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

That pick-6 by Matt Foltz was incorrectly relayed by the Courier-Journal in the game summary, above, as being 96 yards. It was actually a 99 yard pick-6, which is still Cov Cath's program record for the longest interception return for touchdown.

@Colonels_Wear_Blue is Cash the first QB to go over 1k on the ground for a season? I know the schedule has not been good the last month and a half, but he really stands out athletically compared to everyone else on the field. 

11 hours ago, CCHFC said:

@Colonels_Wear_Blue is Cash the first QB to go over 1k on the ground for a season? I know the schedule has not been good the last month and a half, but he really stands out athletically compared to everyone else on the field. 

We don't have sufficient historical stats to tell us that for sure. But having watched every team play from 1986 season on, myself, and then knowing the records of all the previous teams, I have a hard time seeing how anyone QB previous to Cash could have done it.

@Colonels_Wear_Blue Nice write up on the history of the series! I do not know nearly as much on Covington Catholic's history but know that it's a long, prestigious one. The matchups around the late 1960's and early 1970's are great. Despite it being mostly one sided, that shows how good Covington Catholic was even back then as those were great years for Boyd - they went 26-5-1 between 1968 and 1970, two of those losses coming to Covington Catholic and their last meeting before the 1995 one was two years away from Boyd County's lone state championship appearance in 1973 where they lost to Paducah Tilghman. 

This is not the typical 4 seed as Boyd ranks #15 in 4A in the RPI and has been competitive in many of their games this season. 4A District 6 is a tough district. You have Ashland, Johnson Central, Greenup County (a 3 seed ranked in the top 10 in the RPI), Boyd County (#15 in RPI) and Rowan County. Rhett Holbrook is an agile QB that is also a great returner, having returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season - one coming against Ashland and the other against Pikeville. He can throw from the pocket but when he gets running to the outside that's where he is dangerous. If I had to describe his style of running, I would say he's very slithery. Knows how to avoid defenders and there are times when it looks like he's tackled in the backfield - only for him to break away and get a throw off or run the ball for a long gain. His top target is Cole Hicks as mentioned. I have talked about Evan Ferguson and how he has turned the Boyd County program around, with them already having achieved the number of wins in the 2020's that they had in the entire decade of the 2010's. One way he has done that is by getting in the hallways at Boyd County, convincing athletes like basketball star Cole Hicks to come out for the team. Cole has been a gamer, and one that has excellent chemistry with Rhett. Cole can be utilized to get the first down or he can catch the deep ball.

I don't know much about Covington Catholic this year but know that they have relied on the run more than some years. Cash Harney has an amazing accomplishment running for 1,000 yards this year as a QB as mentioned in prior posts and it looks safe to say Covington Catholic will likely have two players that rush for 1,000. I'm fascinated with how they seem to really spread the ball around when it comes to their receiving game. Several different players have looked to play a role on that end. I'm just looking at their player stats though and have not seen them play this year. But, to accomplish what they have winning 8 in row and be in contention at the end of the year, no doubt about it this is typical smart, disciplined Covington Catholic football.

If I'm Covington Catholic, offensively I'm looking to attack with that tough running game as that is an area Boyd has struggled this year, with run defense. Defensively, you definitely want to focus on containing Holbrook and not let him run left to right from behind the line of scrimmage only to find an opening to get loose. He's a great athlete and I have seen him do that many times against quality opponents. If I'm Boyd, of course I try to get Holbrook going. They have a couple guys outside of Holbrook that can keep defenses honest running, but I think the best method of attack will be getting Hicks or Kelley open and trying to pick them apart that way. Defensively, as much as Boyd has struggled against the run it has come against powers like Johnson Central (Ranked #1 in state in rushing), Ashland, Bell County (Ranked #1 in 3A RPI), and Pikeville. I'm sure Coach Ferguson will be looking to learn from those games to see what he can put together.

Should be an enjoyable atmosphere!

 

10 hours ago, TCR said:

@Colonels_Wear_Blue Nice write up on the history of the series! I do not know nearly as much on Covington Catholic's history but know that it's a long, prestigious one. The matchups around the late 1960's and early 1970's are great. Despite it being mostly one sided, that shows how good Covington Catholic was even back then as those were great years for Boyd - they went 26-5-1 between 1968 and 1970, two of those losses coming to Covington Catholic and their last meeting before the 1995 one was two years away from Boyd County's lone state championship appearance in 1973 where they lost to Paducah Tilghman. 

This is not the typical 4 seed as Boyd ranks #15 in 4A in the RPI and has been competitive in many of their games this season. 4A District 6 is a tough district. You have Ashland, Johnson Central, Greenup County (a 3 seed ranked in the top 10 in the RPI), Boyd County (#15 in RPI) and Rowan County. Rhett Holbrook is an agile QB that is also a great returner, having returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season - one coming against Ashland and the other against Pikeville. He can throw from the pocket but when he gets running to the outside that's where he is dangerous. If I had to describe his style of running, I would say he's very slithery. Knows how to avoid defenders and there are times when it looks like he's tackled in the backfield - only for him to break away and get a throw off or run the ball for a long gain. His top target is Cole Hicks as mentioned. I have talked about Evan Ferguson and how he has turned the Boyd County program around, with them already having achieved the number of wins in the 2020's that they had in the entire decade of the 2010's. One way he has done that is by getting in the hallways at Boyd County, convincing athletes like basketball star Cole Hicks to come out for the team. Cole has been a gamer, and one that has excellent chemistry with Rhett. Cole can be utilized to get the first down or he can catch the deep ball.

I don't know much about Covington Catholic this year but know that they have relied on the run more than some years. Cash Harney has an amazing accomplishment running for 1,000 yards this year as a QB as mentioned in prior posts and it looks safe to say Covington Catholic will likely have two players that rush for 1,000. I'm fascinated with how they seem to really spread the ball around when it comes to their receiving game. Several different players have looked to play a role on that end. I'm just looking at their player stats though and have not seen them play this year. But, to accomplish what they have winning 8 in row and be in contention at the end of the year, no doubt about it this is typical smart, disciplined Covington Catholic football.

If I'm Covington Catholic, offensively I'm looking to attack with that tough running game as that is an area Boyd has struggled this year, with run defense. Defensively, you definitely want to focus on containing Holbrook and not let him run left to right from behind the line of scrimmage only to find an opening to get loose. He's a great athlete and I have seen him do that many times against quality opponents. If I'm Boyd, of course I try to get Holbrook going. They have a couple guys outside of Holbrook that can keep defenses honest running, but I think the best method of attack will be getting Hicks or Kelley open and trying to pick them apart that way. Defensively, as much as Boyd has struggled against the run it has come against powers like Johnson Central (Ranked #1 in state in rushing), Ashland, Bell County (Ranked #1 in 3A RPI), and Pikeville. I'm sure Coach Ferguson will be looking to learn from those games to see what he can put together.

Should be an enjoyable atmosphere!

 

That's a GREAT take @TCR! And I appreciate the kind words.

Those blue over blue uniforms were the best IMO

Probably a running clock unless the Colonels calm off the dogs to rest a bit  for the second round. 

Cov Cath enjoys these next 2 weeks before their season comes to a screeching halt in Danville. 

Cov Cath-55

Boyd Co-7

3 hours ago, burreaux said:

Cov Cath enjoys these next 2 weeks before their season comes to a screeching halt in Danville. 

Cov Cath-55

Boyd Co-7

Is that really necessary??

On 11/4/2024 at 6:35 PM, Paul Dean said:

Is that really necessary??

Not one damn bit

Boyd will not play to lose small. They will leave it all on the field. When you play a team like that you need to be physically and mentally prepared. Cov Cath needs to forget about what is supposed to happen and prepare like they're playing a top contender. I don't see Boyd winning under any scenario but if Cov Cath is not ready for a fight this game will be much closer than necessary. 

On 11/4/2024 at 2:50 PM, burreaux said:

Cov Cath enjoys these next 2 weeks before their season comes to a screeching halt in Danville. 

Cov Cath-55

Boyd Co-7

calpreps.com

CCH 40 Boyd County 21