Friday will be the 22nd edition of the Covington Catholic vs. Ryle series, with the overall series record standing at 13 wins to 8 in Covington Catholic's favor. Ryle won last year's matchup between the Raiders and the Colonels, with Coach Engler improving his record against Cov Cath to 4-6, while Coach Eviston's record fell to 6-3 against Ryle.

Coming out of their scrimmage against New Cath on Friday, most of the conjectures about starters in the Cov Cath offseason thread were confirmed, with a strong class of senior starters returning for the Colonels with the likes of QB/DB Cash Harney, RB/DB Dylan Gaiser, WR/DB Zach Brooks, WR/DB Logan Sanning, and TE/LB Brady Guard as leading players in the skills positions. OL/LB Tucker Evans, and OL/DL Charlie Reeves, OL/DL Mitchell Woolf and OL/DL Ryan Haas round out the cast of senior starters back on the gridiron for Cov Cath. Junior TE/LB Owen Pitzer, QB/LB Jackson Payne, and OL/DL Jonny Lind will also be returning as starters. Some folks we saw some increased play from in the scrimmage include junior Spencer Clukey at TE, and Jackson Payne in the offensive backfield at QB and RB. Landon Robinson has every appearance of being a major contributor to the starters as a sophomore OL/DL, and QB Evan Link is likely to start with the linebacking corps in addition to being a backup QB. With a lot of major contributors returning for Cov Cath, they're likely to make some real noise in Northern Kentucky and around the state in 4A football.

Ryle is has one of the top players in the state back in senior RB/LB Jacob Savage. Savage, who tallied over 1,000 yds and 22 TDs rushing last year, will present a major problem for any teams looking to stop Ryle from gaining yards on the ground this season, while returning senior QB Nathan Verax will be working on causing trouble in the air, as he looks to improve on his nearly 2,400 yds and 30 TDs passing from last season. Verax is also always a threat on the ground, with nearly 600 yds rushing last year. Ryle's offense also returns 4 of their 5 top receivers from last year in seniors Dylan Lee, Jacob Savage, Gavin Lyons, and Max Karwarth. On the defensive side of things, Ryle has their two best tacklers from last season in Jacob Savage and Kai Workman.

The 2025 lid-lifter should be a major battle, and is likely to be one of the best contests around the state on Friday. Kickoff is currently set for 7:00pm in Park Hills.

Complete Series Results:

1995: Cov Cath (Ray) 27 Ryle (Eckstein) 7
1996: Cov Cath (Ray) 31 Ryle (Eckstein) 31 (Overtime)
1997: Cov Cath (Ray) 22 Ryle (Eckstein) 0
1998: Cov Cath (Ray) 14 Ryle (Eckstein) 13
1998: Cov Cath (Ray) 28 Ryle (Eckstein) 14 *
1999: Ryle (Hockman) 25 Cov Cath (Ray) 25
2000: Cov Cath (Ray) 18 Ryle (Hockman) 15
2002: Ryle (Hockman) 27 Cov Cath (Ray) 22
2009: Ryle (Warner) 34 Cov Cath (Wirth) 14
2010: Ryle (Warner) 61 Cov Cath (Wirth) 7
2013: Cov Cath (Wirth) 26 Ryle (Warner) 17
2014: Ryle (Engler) 21 Cov Cath (Wirth) 14
2015: Ryle (Engler) 35 Cov Cath (Eviston) 28
2016: Ryle (Engler) 31 Cov Cath (Eviston) 13 
2017: Cov Cath (Eviston) 49 Ryle (Engler) 14
2018: Cov Cath (Eviston) 40 Ryle (Engler) 7
2019: Cov Cath (Eviston) 37 Ryle (Engler) 0
2021:  Cov Cath (Eviston) 10 Ryle (Engler) 3
2022: Cov Cath (Eviston) 47 Ryle (Engler) 21
2023: Cov Cath (Eviston) 37 Ryle (Engler) 22
2024: Ryle (Engler) 30 Cov Cath (Eviston) 14

* Playoffs

Thanks for the great recap, as always, CWB. There are a lot of great senior leaders and players on both teams. I believe both are among the top 10 teams in KY regardless of class. What an outstanding lidlifter on the 2025 season! This game could go either way.  Looking forward to making the trip to join a packed house in Park Hills.

I'm taking Cov. Cath in this one. Great first game for both teams. 

I'll take Ryle in a competitive game. Full game of Savage on the field plus Verax will be the difference.

CovCath Harney takes over the game!

There is a lot of team speed and athleticism for Cov Cath..as long as they are competitive up front, I think they pull it out in a tight one. 

I think this is definitely the most talented and deepest roster Coach Eviston has had in a while.

You talk about an absolute dream matchup for week one. This will be an extremely electric atmosphere in Park Hills Friday. I picked Ryle just based off of last seasons results and who they have coming back. But Cash is the real deal, so if Ryle can contain him they get the W in my opinion. 

I think that this game is super important for Cov Cath, not only to start the season out right with a win but also due to how arduous the schedule is. 
 

I expect the offense to pick up where they left off from last year, and with all the continuity I think that’s reasonable to assume. We know how spectacular the duo of Harney and Gaiser are in the backfield, but the passing game gives me pause. I’m interested to see what it will look like. 
 

I think this is ultimately a coin flip but I’ll say the Colonels take it at home. 

I’m taking Covington Catholic in this one and a bold prediction that I don’t think it’s going to be as close as everyone thinks. 

Just now, NKY-guy said:

I’m taking Covington Catholic in this one and a bold prediction that I don’t think it’s going to be as close as everyone thinks. 

That is bold!!

Give me Cov Cath 20-14

Ryle won 30-14 last year and returned most of team. A lot of ground Cov Cath will have to make up from last year to this year to get the win.

1 hour ago, Tigerpride94 said:

Ryle won 30-14 last year and returned most of team. A lot of ground Cov Cath will have to make up from last year to this year to get the win.

I could be wrong but I felt like this was a tie game heading into the 4th quarter and Cash Harney did not play late in that game. Cov Cath returns most of their key players as well. Maybe not as much ground to make up as the score from last year appears to show. Should be a fantastic week 1 matchup.  

15 minutes ago, FirstTimeLongTime said:

I could be wrong but I felt like this was a tie game heading into the 4th quarter and Cash Harney did not play late in that game. Cov Cath returns most of their key players as well. Maybe not as much ground to make up as the score from last year appears to show. Should be a fantastic week 1 matchup.  

Ryle got a scoop and score and a safety in the fourth quarter to put CovCath away that night, so probably not much separating the meat and potatoes of these two teams.