Now that the first round is over and out of the way, the 4A playoffs have officially gotten good. On Friday Covington Catholic, who finished 2nd in 4A District 5, travels to Paintsville to square off against Johnson Central, who finished their regular season undefeated and won 4A District 6.

Historically this rivalry has come in threes, after an initial one-off matchup in 2006, the Golden Eagles and the Colonels faced one another in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and then again in 2012, 2013, and 2014. Cov Cath finally got its first shot at hosting Johnson Central in 2023, and then once against played host last year in 2024, and the JC/CC playoff three-fers will continue with the upcoming game on Friday.

Series Record:
2006 Cov Cath (Rodenberg) beat Johnson Central (Matney) 38-14
2008 Johnson Central (Matney) beat Cov Cath (Brossart) 49-14
2009 Johnson Central (Matney) beat Cov Cath (Wirth) 51-32
2010 Johnson Central (Matney) beat Cov Cath (Wirth) 41-28
2012 Cov Cath (Wirth) beat Johnson Central (Matney) 45-15
2013 Cov Cath (Wirth) beat Johnson Central (Matney) 42-14
2014 Cov Cath (Wirth) beat Johnson Central (Matney) 19-7
2023 Cov Cath (Eviston) beat Johnson Central (Peck) 31-0
2024 Cov Cath (Eviston) beat Johnson Central (Peck) 14-13

(11-0) Johnson Central: "Hey diddle-diddle, we're coming up the middle."

Grind it out offense. That's what they know how to do at Johnson Central. It started with the late-great Jim Matney, and has continued right on under Jesse Peck. We've all heard the Woody Hayes expression "three yards and cloud of dust." Well for the Golden Eagles, its more like "eight and an half yards and a cloud of dust." 8-1/2 yards. That's the yards-per-carry figure that Johnson Central's offense has averaged rushing this season. Over the course of 11 games and 429 rush attempts, they've managed to average 8-1/2 yards per carry on the ground. If you wanna know how an offense can get away with being 91.6% run and only 8.4% pass...that's the answer: 8-1/2 yards per carry, rushing.

Johnson Central has two RBs with 1000+ yards rushing this season in senior Logan Music and junior Braxton Perry, sophomore Collin Cantrell has just over 400 yards rushing, and they still have two more rushers with over 200 yards this season, plus another three rushers with over 100 yards rushing.


(8-3) Covington Catholic: "RPO? Or maybe just R? Or maybe just P? We have whichever suits you."

Variety has been the name of the game this year for the Colonels. Maybe they're gonna pass all over the place. Or maybe they're gonna rush for almost 500 yards on you and only even try to throw it a handful of times. Or maybe the decision will be left up to senior QB Cash Harney and what he sees once he steps in behind center. Harney is 111-165 passing for 1852 yards this season...plus another 766 yards rushing for 9 touchdowns. Then add in senior RB Dylan Gaiser with 951 yards, 23 touchdowns and 9.1 yards per carry this season, plus a talented corps of receivers on top of all that, and you've got an offense with something going for itself.

Defensive Keys:

Johnson Central - Contain the pass and force the Colonels to try to beat you on the ground.

The Golden Eagle Defense has only given up about 200 yards per game this season, but almost 70% of those yards allowed have been through the air. Cov Cath's 2025 offense may feature a lot of the same faces from the 2024 offense, but it's a different animal entirely. Last year Johnson Central showed up in Park Hills facing an offense that was about 72% run and 28% pass. This year the offense that's heading from Park Hills down to Paintsville is 52% run and 48% pass. Johnson Central needs to figure out how to close down the field vertically and force Cov Cath to try to run between the hashes.

Covington Catholic - Control the line of scrimmage, control the line of scrimmage, control the line of scrimmage.

The Colonel defense managed to make stops when it counted last year, but they nearly allowed a season-high for rushing yards in the game, largely in part to the bulldozers Johnson Central put up front on the line of scrimmage. Johnson Central posted 293 rushing yards and 317 total yards in the game last year...fairly similar to the 368 yards rushing and 402 total yards they've averaged per game thus far this season. Cov Cath's defensive front is going to have to find a way to stymie the Golden Eagles up front. Johnson Central's offensive averages this season haven't been quite as impressive as last year, when they averaged 421 yards rushing and 442 total yards per game, but their perfect 11-0 record (with wins over Pikeville, Belfry, Corbin and a 35-0 swamping of Ashland) speaks volumes for their offensive potency.

At the end of the day, this playoffs-only series stands at 6 wins to 3 in Cov Cath's favor, but with last year's game coming down to a blocked extra-point kick to make the difference, this year's rematch is primed and ready to be a MAJOR showdown in Kentucky 4A football.

What are your predictions for the game on Friday night?

(11-0) Johnson Central Golden Eagles
Aug 23:  48-6 WIN on the road over 3A Letcher County Central
Aug 29:  15-14 WIN at home over 6A Madison Central
Sep 6:  46-21 WIN on the road over 2A Belfry
Sep 12:  35-14 WIN at home over 1A Pikeville
Sep 19:  50-30 WIN at home over 5A Pulaski County
Sep 26:  21-14 WIN at home over 4A Boyd County (District)
Oct 3:  37-34 WIN on the road over 4A Corbin
Oct 10:  63-6 WIN on the road over 4A Rowan County (District)
Oct 17:  48-14 WIN on the road over 4A Greenup County (District)
Oct 24:  35-0 WIN at home over 4A Ashland (District)
Nov 6:  48-16 WIN at home over 4A Harrison County (Playoffs)

(8-3) Covington Catholic Colonels
Aug 22:  26-20 LOSS at home to 6A Ryle
Aug 29:  28-20 LOSS on the road to OH-DI Elder (OH)
Sep 5:  62-15 WIN on the road over 6A Simon Kenton
Sep 12:  49-7 WIN at home over 5A Dixie Heights
Sep 19:  42-14 WIN on the road over 2A Beechwood
Sep 26:  35-6 WIN on the road over 3A Central
Oct 3:  31-28 LOSS on the road to 4A Highlands (District)
Oct 10:  17-10 WIN at home over IN-5A Cathedral (IN)
Oct 17:  56-0 WIN at home over 4A Harrison County (District)
Oct 24:  52-0 WIN on the road over 4A Mason County (District)
Nov 7:  48-21 WIN at home over 4A Boyd County (Playoffs)

I'll go with Cov Cath in a close one. Basically a toss up game that could go either way. This is a big 2nd round game with a heavyweight being eliminated early.

I don't know who to pick in this one but it is the biggest 2nd round match this year and probably biggest 2nd round match up in years...is this game being streamed anywhere?

Cov Cath had a HARD scedule and feel that scedule will now pay off.

Go CCH!

How do JC folks think their team compares to previous ones? 

Also how was the game vs Boyd County so close? I know transitive property in sports does not always apply but 21-14 as opposed to a non-competitive running clock is a big difference in the only common opponent. 

Give me JC in a close one. I think they will defend CC pass better than CC defends JC run.

Covcath by 14 or more.

Cov Cath by two scores. Colonels will dominate a 1 dimensional team. Cash will take over the second half. 

9 hours ago, Tigerpride94 said:

I'll go with Cov Cath in a close one. Basically a toss up game that could go either way. This is a big 2nd round game with a heavyweight being eliminated early.

I think this match up really plays into Cov Cath's favor. Cov Cath is designed for this type of one.

Rooting for JC but think CC will figure things out against the Eagles.  

Covcath will win this one. Covcath is to well coached to let a one dimensional team beat them

CCH by at least 3 scores. 
 

Speed. Kills. 

JC 27-21. Close game until the end. 

Give me the Colonels.....Just a different Animal this time of year!