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By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter Some fans may not have thought it would not be a good game. Thus, they did not brave the 28-degree weather to see another Class 4A, Region 4 championship game between the Highlands Bluebirds and Covington Catholic Colonels on Friday at Cecil Memorial Stadium. But the ones that did saw the Bluebirds survive a 37-34 scare. The difference between Friday and Sept. 26 is the Colonels did not give up despite trailing at halftime. CovCath fell behind just 14-0 during the regular season and the Bluebirds pulled away for a 42-7 win. But on Friday, the Colonels fell behind 27-13 at halftime and did not crumble. It took Highland running off the final 4:57 of the game to escape with its 13th straight win in the series and eighth consecutive region title. “I think they have a lot of athletes. They never slowed down. They never flinched, and we knew they wouldn’t,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “We figured 20 points wouldn’t be enough, and if it was, great. I thought our guys played hard and I thought their guys played hard. It was another Highlands-CovCath classic. We’re both going to watch film and see our mistakes. We’re going to see ours and feel fortunate and we could have won by more. They’re going to see their mistakes and see it should have gone the other way. We’re really happy to be in the left column as the coaches were saying.” The Bluebirds tried to put away the Colonels in the second half. But CovCath clawed its way back into the game with two turnovers to none for Highlands. Those two turnovers gave CovCath short field position. The Bluebird turnovers came with one lost fumble and an interception. Sam Kathman intercepted a Hoge pass and Nate Bailey picked up a Hoge fumble and returned it 16 yards before Highlands wide receiver Mitch Cain saved a touchdown by tackling him from behind. Highlands still put up impressive offensive numbers. The Bluebirds gained 534 yards on 63 plays to 350 yards on 55 plays for the Colonels. That included 357-116 on the ground. Highlands senior quarterback Beau Hoge committed to Brigham Young University over the weekend and put up another impressive game behind another great game from the offensive line. Hoge rushed for 191 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns and threw for 177 more. Hoge completed 13-of-21 passes and two touchdowns to go with one interception. “You have to take what you get,” Weinrich said. “Sometimes a guy is going to be such a dynamic playmaker. There are going to be some things that happen. You can’t make plays unless you take some chances. We didn’t want to do some things until we had to. But we let (Hoge) loose.” The Bluebirds displayed their usual balance as the offensive line allowed just two quarterback sacks. Junior Nick Kendall rushed for 97 yards on 15 carries and Griffin Urlage ran for 52 on 10 carries. Kendall also led Highlands with five catches for 36 yards. Junior Eric Miller recorded four receptions for 64 yards as CovCath again focused on senior Alex Veneman. The record-setting Veneman had just one catch for 30 yards. “We’re always prepared for CovCath so that really helped,” said Evan Richardson, Highlands junior center. “From a mental perspective, we watched a lot of film just really drilling in our plays making sure we got our steps right. We expected the pass to be more in our game. But it wound up being more of a running game. When teams shift to defend the pass, we have to be able to revert back to the running game.” The Bluebirds had 22 first downs to 14 for the Colonels. But Adam Wagner gave a valiant effort for CovCath. The senior quarterback completed 14-of-21 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 49 yards on 20 carries. Logan McDowell led CovCath with four catches for 108 yards and Lee McClure had four for 55 yards. “Beating CovCath is always awesome,” said Patrick Schoepf, Highlands senior linebacker. “Whatever the score is, we still beat them. We’re moving on. That’s all that matters. We’ll be ready for (Lexington Catholic). We have a whole week of practice to get ready for them. We’ll be ready to go.” The Bluebirds came out strong moving the ball at will. Hoge had 13 and 3-yard touchdown runs to give Highlands a 13-0 lead. He then completed a sideline pass to Veneman. Veneman made a few moves and scored his 21st receiving touchdown of the season with 2:55 left in the first to put the Bluebirds up 20-0. CovCath hit the scoreboard with two touchdown in the final five minutes of the second quarter. Wagner scored from six and a yard out to trim the margin to 20-13. But the Bluebirds took back the momentum before halftime. Miller took a pass on the right side and scored from 20 yards out with 34 seconds left to put Highlands up 27-13 at halftime. Highlands went on a nice drive to open the second half. Jared Dougherty hit a 28-yard field goal with 9:18 left in the third to put Highlands up 30-13. Just a few minutes later, Hoge had an amazing run for all-time with 4:26 left. He took a read-option right, ducked and dodged eight CovCath defenders on his way to an 81-yard touchdown run that made the ESPN Top Plays. That gave Highlands a 37-13 lead. But CovCath scored 21 straight to make things interesting. It started when Wagner ran it in from three yards out with 1:23 left in the third quarter. With 8:48 left in the game, McDowell got behind the Highlands secondary for an 81-yard score to cut the margin to 37-27. Then following a lost Highlands fumble, the Colonels struck quick again. Wagner found McClure for a 34-yard score with 4:57 remaining. “They found some matchups they liked,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “Whenever you throw the ball up, it’s 50-50.” Highlands takes on Lexington Catholic in the state semifinals for the fourth straight year Friday in Fort Thomas. Game time is 7:30 p.m. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Highlands escapes CovCath again

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The Highlands Bluebirds football team feels fortunate because it held off the pesky Covington Catholic Colonels, 37-34 on Friday. The Bluebirds (11-2 overall) have come out on the positive side many times against their arch-rivals. But even though they accomplished the tough feat a fourth straight year, it has not always turned out that way. Even recently retired Highlands Head Coach Dale Mueller came into the locker room after the game and said it’s never easy facing the Colonels (8-5) in the playoffs. The Bluebirds had a stellar 250-36 record during Mueller’s 20-year tenure as head coach with an unmatched 11 state championships. Many in Fort Thomas have not forgotten what happened to the 1997 and 2001 teams. In 1997, the Bluebirds edged the Colonels, 24-22 during the regular season. But CovCath came back to beat Highlands, 41-35 in double overtime in the region championship game on its way to the AAA state championship that year. Highlands responded with three consecutive state championships the following three years. But in 2001, the Bluebirds crushed the Colonels, 52-22 during the regular season only to lose 18-15 in the second round of the playoffs. CovCath later lost 17-14 to eventual state runner-up Rockcastle County in the state semifinals that season. The Colonels trimmed the lead to the final score with 4:57. But the CovCath offense did not touch the ball again. “They have dynamic players. Their quarterback (Adam Wagner) is a playmaker,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “They have speed on the outside. We knew we didn’t want to give them the ball back. They had the momentum. We had to get the first first down, then we had to get the second first down. We had to keep the ball moving and keep it out of their hands. We ran the clock out and were fortunate to win that game.” The Bluebirds avoided any Kurt Bovard-type situations as a result. Bovard hauled in the game-winning pass on Oct. 27, 2006 during the regular season for a 29-27 Colonel win. The Colonels then beat the Bluebirds, 25-15 on Nov. 11 that same year for the last win in the series. The Bluebirds ran behind their offensive line with quarterback Beau Hoge and running backs Nick Kendall and Griffin Urlage to run out the clock. They moved to 47-17 against the Colonels all-time and extended the longest winning streak in the series to 13 games. “We had some success running the ball (in September),” Weinrich said. “We came out firing the ball. We said it is time to win the game. We’ll get behind you guys and lets go. If they can’t stop us, we’re going to keep going. We got just enough each time. We really took control at the end of the game. That’s what you do all year long. It comes down to that last drive. No one was tired. No one was panicking. We were ready to go.” In terms of the playoffs, this Bluebird team will be lumped in with the ones of the previous three years in addition to the 2007, 2004, 2000, 1998, 1995, 1989 and 1982 teams. Those teams beat the Colonels in both the regular season and playoff games. The 2012, 2011, 2007, 2004, 2000, 1998, 1989 and 1982 teams went on to win state championships as a result before last year’s team and the 1995 squad finished state runner-up. Highlands plays host to Lexington Catholic (10-3) on Friday in the state semifinals. Game time is 7:30 p.m. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Bluebirds find themselves lumped in with 10 other teams

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter It came down to beating their in-town rivals another time to earn a trip into the mountains of eastern Kentucky. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team had to beat the Newport Wildcats (8-5) in the Class 2A, Region 3 finals to earn a third straight trip to the state semifinals. They used their balance and turnovers to accomplish that feat with a 42-26 win at Newport Stadium on Friday. NewCath (7-5) travels to Region 4 winner Shelby Valley (11-2) this upcoming Friday in the Class 2A state semifinals as a result. Host Shelby Valley held off Prestonsburg, 20-14 in overtime in the region title game. The Thoroughbreds had beaten the Somerset Briar Jumpers in the previous two state semifinal contests. But Somerset finished a winless 0-10 this year so NewCath will have to travel further away this season unlike two years ago. NewCath avoided the fate of three years ago. The Thoroughbreds also beat Lloyd Memorial for the second time in the second round of the playoffs that year but lost to Covington Holy Cross, 24-21 in another regular season rematch in the region title game. Holy Cross won the 2A title that year. In Friday’s win, NewCath took advantage of five Newport turnovers while committing none. The Thoroughbreds recovered 4-of-5 Wildcat fumbles and recorded an interception. “We told the kids all week there are two things we wanted to learn,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “We wanted to win the turnovers and we definitely won the turnover battle. The other thing was the discipline end. We had some penalties but they weren’t unsportsmanlike conducts. They were holds. Anyone who knows football knows you can call holding on every play. Those two areas were huge.” The Thoroughbreds outgained the Wildcats, 415-338 in total offense, including 228-146 on the ground. The Wildcats had 14 first downs to 12 for the Thoroughbreds. Junior Jacob Smith had another wonderful game for the Thoroughbreds. He rushed for 177 yards on 26 carries and added five touchdowns. John Harris followed with 34 yards on 11 carries. “Our offensive line played really, really well,” Smith said. “They had great blocks and gave great protection on everything. I give all the credit to the offensive linemen. We thought they’d make some changes (defensively based) on what happened in the last game. But they didn’t and we executed very well.” The NewCath offensive line protected sophomore quarterback Patrick Henschen well. Henschen completed 12-of-19 passes for 187 yards. Brandon Gray led the Thoroughbreds with five catches for 78 yards and Nate Enslen recorded four for 92 yards. “Pat had a very confident, mature game,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “He did some things he hasn’t done all year. It’s nice to see. The whole group played well. We had to do some five-step drops because (Newport was) taking (the quick stuff) away.” The one area where NewCath struggled was penalties. The Thoroughbreds had 15 for 125 yards and the Wildcats had just four for 35 yards. The Thoroughbreds contained the dynamic rushing duo of quarterback Paul Price and running back Dominic Joseph. Price completed 11-of-19 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Ochoa led the way with five catches for 135 yards and Brian Burton had five for 40 yards. “We knew it was either screen pass or turn and chuck it as far as you can,” Wagner said. “We got burned three or maybe four times on the long pass. We were disappointed with that. But we got the win so that’s all that matters.” But neither Price nor Joseph ran wild on the ground. Price had 15 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown with Joseph gaining 35 yards on 17 carries and a score. The Thoroughbreds led 6-0 after the first quarter. Smith scored from a yeard out with 4:32 left in the first quarter. Newport cut the lead to 6-3 just two seconds into the second quarter when Taylen Spicer hit a 24-yard field goal. But the Thoroughbreds went on a 19-0 run to build a 25-3 advantage. That started when Smith ran it in from a yard out with 10:33 left in the quarter and continued when Henschen hit Enslen for a 33-yard touchdown pass with 9:29 left. The Thoroughbreds then made it 25-3 when Smith broke free for a 68-yard touchdown. Newport gained some momentum with 13.1 seconds left in the quarter. Joseph ran it in from a yard out to trim the margin to 25-11 Thoroughbreds at halftime. The Wildcats kept things close in the third quarter. Price hit Ochoa for a 35-yard score with 9:58 left in the quarter. NewCath led 25-18 at that point before Ryan Hans made a 30-yard field goal to put the Thoroughbreds up 28-18 with 5:53 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats came closer with 10:14 left in the game. Price scored from three yards out and he ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Newport lead to 28-26. But the Thoroughbreds put the game away. Smith had runs of a yard and 24 yards with 4:52 and 3:33 left in the game. NewCath has won 16 straight against Newport dating back to 1999. The Thoroughbreds moved to 43-18-1 in the all-time series. Fort Thomas Matters Sports: Thoroughbred football wins another district rematch

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The prospects for a big season exist. Like veteran Head Coach Jaime Walz-Richey would say, it’s a matter of daily improvement and understanding certain qualities that make teams successful. Richey became the Head Coach in 2002. The Ladybirds have gone 225-133 since then including three district championships and a 9th Region runner-up finish two years ago. The Highlands Ladybirds return 12-of-13 players from last year’s 23-8 squad that lost to eventual 9th Region champion Newport Central Catholic in the 36th District championship game and Notre Dame in the 9th Region semifinals. That team also made it past the region quarterfinals in consecutive years for the first time since the 2001 and 2002 teams led by current Dixie Heights Head Coach Tara Boothe-Smith. That includes all five starters. The only player not returning is graduated senior Tomi Blanton. The Ladybirds achieved a second straight 20-plus win season despite some inexperience. They had some big wins such as its first win at NewCath since 1999. “We (recently) had a heart-to-heart,” Richey said. “We had a terrible practice. They realize it’s going to be a team that wins it. It can’t be an individual that wants to go out and score 30 points per game because that’s not going to happen.” Depth might be a big asset for Highlands this year. The Ladybirds have 19 players pushing to make an impact on the hardwood. Teams can dress 15 players pushing for varsity games. Highlands saw 22 players try out so the coaching staff had to make cuts this year. “We’ve had everyone back for about a week now so it’s a work in progress just getting everyone back into basketball shape and into a basketball mind,” Richey said. “Our practices are much more competitive now. We’re pushing each other, which is great to see.” Richey said rebounding will be a key to this season. The Ladybirds will face some height down low such as twins Ally and Cessie Mayhaus. Highlands nabbed 838 rebounds last year. That’s where senior returning starters Alex Combs, Lydia Graves and junior returning 6-foot-1-inch center/forward starter McKenzie Leigh will have a huge responsibility. Combs, Leigh and Graves averaged 9.2, 8.7 and 7.9 points per game respectively last year. Leigh averaged 6.6 rebounds and Combs had 5.1. “We’ll probably have to pack it in and use what little height we have,” Combs said. “We’ll also use our aggressiveness and put a lot of ball pressure (on the guards) so they can’t get it in to the tall people.” Those three also can shoot from outside giving the Ladybirds versatility. Graves finished second on the team making 23-of-65 three-point tries for 35.4 percent and Leigh hit 18-of-53 for 34 percent. The overall shooting was also good for Highlands. The Ladybirds made 534-of-1,373 shots for 39 percent including 132-of-446 from three-point range for 29.6 percent. Highlands outscored the opposition, 1,671- 1,365 last year. Juniors Haley Coffey and Brianna Adler return for their third seasons as full-time starters. They also started some as eighth graders filling in for injured Ava Abner. Adler led Highlands averaging 10.4 points per game last year and Coffey averaged 8.6. Coffey has done a great job setting up the Highlands offense for years and Adler gives the Ladybirds a solid three-point threat. Adler led Highlands in three-point shooting last year making 101-of-127 attempts for 79.5 percent. “As a point guard, I’m looking to set up plays, get assists and if the points happen, they happen,” Coffey said. “I’m looking to score every time. But I’m also looking to get my teammates open and make us look better and get better. We have to make sure everyone is in the right spots making the plays among other things.” The Ladybirds mostly went eight deep last year. Sophomore forward Kiersten Clukey and eighth-grader Zoie Barth return after giving Highlands solid minutes last year. Five other players return to help give Highlands that needed depth. Two are seniors Kristyn Lukjan at center and guard Whitney Quillen. Quillen and Coffey helped the Highlands softball team to its first 9th Region crown last spring. The other three are juniors Mikayla Reichert at center and Isabella Schultz at forward along with sophomore guard Macy Gabbard. Highlands opens the season on Dec. 2. The Ladybirds hit the road for a tough contest at Louisville Sacred Heart at 7:30 p.m. Fort Thomas Matters Sports: What will it take for the Highlands basketball team to succeed this year?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter If Friday’s 43-0 domination of host Warren Central served as a clear indication, the Highlands Bluebirds football team (8-2 overall) is out to win one for their injured teammates. Three Highlands seniors are out for the season in running back Josh Watson, defensive back Andrew Abner and tight end Jack Telek with torn anterior cruciated ligaments. Abner and Watson injured their legs in the loss against Cincinnati Elder and Telek hurt his in the scrimmage against Louisville Trinity in August. Telek has said there is a chance he may return in the playoffs. They still made the trip to Bowling Green to support their teammates. “These guys have played together since they were in elementary school,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “So when one guy goes down, other guys have to step up. They feel bad for those guys. But at the same time, it was an opportunity for the other guys.” Two of the main guys that had not played on varsity until Friday were sophomore Bradley Greene and junior Taylor Perez. The staff converted them from wide receivers to defensive back to fill in on an injured backfield. In addition to Abner, senior James Hinkel and junior Austin Beal did not play. The Bluebirds can look to the 2006 state championship Ladybird soccer team as an example of a team rallying around a teammate to win a state championship. Senior standout and 2007 Highlands graduate Alicia Browning tore her right ACL late in the championship game against Louisville Sacred Heart. “For the injured guys, my number one take-home by far is that it is totally surmountable,” Browning said. “With good training, medical advice and doing everything the doctor tells you, you will be back on your feet in six months. For the teammates, rally around your teammates because there’s nothing more they want than to be out there on that field playing.” Highlands scored the game-winning goal a few minutes later with 1:01 remaining. Stephanie Newman-Durbin tracked down a ball near the line and crossed it to Amber Barth-Wells to give Highlands its second straight championship. “At that point (of the injury), we knew we had to win the game for (Browning),” said Megan Leahy, former Highlands teammate. “She was our rock in the middle of the field who always gave our team 110 percent every game. We had no option but to win it for her, especially being our senior year.” Browning admitted nervousness in telling then University of Kentucky Head Coach Warren Lipka the news. But Lipka supported her and her rehab got her in good shape the following fall in Lexington. Browning also advises people with injuries to keep an eye on the legs because she’s had to work through some things since the injury first occurred. Abner and Watson’s older sisters suffered similar injuries when they played at Highlands. Ava Abner, a 2013 Highlands graduate and current Arkansas State soccer player, tore her ACL as a junior during the 2011-12 basketball campaign when Sydney Moss undercut her going for a loose ball. Sydney Watson, a 2012 Highlands graduate, tore her ACL as a junior during the 2010 volleyball season and could not play basketball until the 2011 basketball postseason. “I’ve told him it’s just a minor setback,” Sydney Waton said. “It sucks that it had to happen three times to him, especially on his Senior Night. But he has to stay strong and believe that he will be healthy once again in the end. He’s a smart kid. I just tell him that he has to keep his head up and stay positive.” Junior Varsity, Freshmen seasons commence: The Highlands junior varsity and freshmen teams just completed their seasons. The junior varsity finished 1-5 following a 56-0 loss at Cincinnati Elder on Saturday and the freshmen finished 3-5 following a narrow 34-33 loss to Dixie Heights on Thursday. Those records may have some concerned. But the underclassmen hope to prove people wrong in future seasons. “I think that all boils down to how much work we put in the offseason and how much we’re willing to get better,” said Austin Hergott, Highlands senior quarterback. “It’s so different going from freshman year to sophomore year to junior year. It’s a new intensity. It’s a lot more competitive.” First-round opponent questions: The Ashland Daily Independent original reported that the Bluebirds will be taking on the Rowan County Vikings (2-8) in the first round of the 4A playoffs next week. But Weinrich said the Bluebirds will face the Boyld County Lions again. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Highlands has faced Boyd County in the previous three years in that round. Boyd County, Greenup County and Rowan County all finished 1-3 in District 8-4A action tied for third. Greenup County took the third seed because of its 4-6 record while both Boyd County and Rowan County finished 2-8. Rowan County beat Montgomery County (2-8) on Friday, 60-54 and Boyd County lost to Tolsia (West Virginia), 7-6. The three first-round 4A meetings have been the only three times the Bluebirds have faced the Lions. They had also beaten Rowan County in the only two meetings in 1996 and 1997. Class 4A report: Johnson Central (10-0) finished as the class’ lone undefeated team with a 35-0 win over defending Class 3A champion Belfry on Friday in Paintsville. The Golden Eagles play host to winless Harrison County on Friday then could see either Covington Catholic (6-4) or Greenup County (4-6) in the second round. State contenders Lexington Catholic (7-3) and Boyle County (9-1) continued to roll on Friday. The Knights won their sixth straight with a 36-14 win at Boone County on Friday and the Rebels took down Madison Southern, 43-7. The Owensboro Red Devils (8-2) looked like the team to beat in the western half of the bracket. They lost 44-18 at Henderson County on Friday. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: How sharp were the Bluebirds on Friday?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter BOWLING GREEN – Their focus looked so sharp on Friday that if it were a laser, it would burn through steel. The Highlands Bluebirds football team (8-2) ventured south and put together its most complete game of the year dominating the host Warren Central Dragons, 43-0. The Bluebirds recorded their second shutout of the year making sure Warren Central did not have any hopes of winning late in the game like they did in last year’s 71-69 Highlands shutout win in Fort Thomas. Highlands also avoided its first two-game losing streak since 2006. The Bluebirds moved to 8-0 against Kentucky teams dominating from the opening kickoff. The Bluebirds overcame some adversity to win the game. Game time temperatures were 41 degrees and the strong wind did not help things. The game also did not start until 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time because the team arrived late. The team ventured down Interstate-75 to Lexington and took the Bluegrass Parkway over to Interstate-65 near Elizabethtown then went south. Traffic around Louisville and south also did not help the situation. “We got out of school late,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “We were running behind schedule. We were on the bus when we normally would be on the field warming up so we told them we could either let this disrupt us or we can focus in even sharper than we normally do. They came out and didn’t miss a beat.” Highlands outgained Warren Central, 372-248 in total offense. The Bluebirds ran for 164 yards and passed for 218 in another balanced night. Defensively, they held the Dragons to 98 yards rushing and 150 passing. “A lot of things are a lot easier if you just communicate and the guys were able to run around, have fun and get to the ball,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “I give all the credit to the inside linebackers, the defensive line getting pressure. We covered well so I was really happy with the overall play.” The Bluebirds moved up and down the field with ease offensively in its spread formation, especially in the first half when Highlands hit the running clock. Quarterback Beau Hoge completed a lot of short to medium passes to wide receivers like Alex Veneman, Eric Miller and Mitch Cain. That opened up the running lanes for Nick Kendall and Griffin Urlage and set up a few deep passes. The wind limited the deep passing game. “We tried to keep them off-balance a little bit,” Weinrich said. “We were trying to take advantage of a couple things we saw on film. The guys executed really well. They played hard.” The Highlands offensive line also had another big game. The Bluebirds saw Urlange run for 86 yards on two carries and two touchdowns and Kendall go for 80 yards on four carries. Warren Central had problems punting so Highlands took advantage of short field position all game. “We were just geared toward shutting down their defense,” said Carson Haas, Highlands junior offensive lineman. “They came out in a little different front than we were expecting from what we prepared for the week (leading up to the game). We had to relearn what we were preparing for last week. We came out and we did great.” Hoge completed 14-of-20 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown. Alex Veneman again led the Bluebirds with seven catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. His go route to the left side of the end zone gave the Bluebirds the only touchdown they needed to win the game with 7:16 left in the first quarter. Kicker Jared Dougherty then made the first of five extra-point attempts. Defensively, Highlands contained senior running back Colin Burnham and wide receiver Jensen Feggins. Burnham had 84 yards on 12 carries as the Highlands front seven won the line of scrimmage. Former Highlands wide receiver Feggins had 10 catches for 74 yards. Defensive backs like Grayson Heck and Bradley Greene stayed 10 yards off him to take away the deep pass and the team gang tackled him when he caught the ball on short routes. “I have to give a lot of credit to our upperclassmen,” Greene said. “They helped me a lot out there talking and communicating. That’s a big thing. We were keying on (Feggins) all night. I think we did a good job sticking with him. We had to have good technique and let everything take care of itself.” The Bluebirds intercepted two Chance Shanklin passes. Heck and Greene had them. Urlage added two touchdown runs in the first quarter. The first one came with 4:55 left from a yard out and the second on a 19-yard run with 3:44 left in the first. The second score gave Highlands a 21-0 lead. Hoge then scored his two rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came from a yard out with 11:56 left in the first then the second on a counter with 4:06 left in the half. The Bluebirds open the 4A playoffs on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Thomas. The opponent will again be the Boyd County Lions (2-8). FORT THOMAS MATTERS: How sharp were the Bluebirds on Friday?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The Highlands Bluebirds football team just can’t seem to find ways to beat the Cincinnati Elder Panthers consistently. They dropped to 1-7 all-time against Elder (6-3) with a 49-35 defeat in Fort Thomas. Their lone win against the Panthers came three years ago on Oct. 21, 2011 at The Pit, 34-29. Donovan McCoy, playing for the injured Patrick Towles, quarterbacked the Bluebirds to victory. McCoy threw the game-winning touchdown pass to David Christian as the Bluebirds went 15-0 in their last undefeated season. While the Panthers have won all but one of the eight meetings between the schools just a drive over the Ohio River from each other, the games have been within 14 points in all but the 1999 meeting. Elder won that one, 35-14. Highlands Injury Notes: Highlands seniors Josh Watson and Andrew Abner appear done for the season. Watson reinjured his right leg against Elder and Abner was hurt on the second-to-last play of the game. Trainers wrapped up Abner’s leg heavily and took him inside. Watson missed all of last season because of a torn Anterior Cruciated Ligament. Linebacker Conner Welsch also did not play Friday and senior tight end Jack Telek is still questionable after he tore his ACL in a scrimmage against Louisville Trinity. Lack of yellow flags: The officials did not threw any penalty flags in the first half even though Elder appeared to commit a couple late hits and numerous holding penalties. The first one came in the first couple of minutes when the Panthers committed a personal foul penalty. The Panthers had four for 27 yards compared to none for the Bluebirds. Playoff Picture: Unlike the previous few years, the Bluebirds do not know who their first-round 4A playoff opponent will because of what happened in the District 8-4A race. The Green County Musketeers ventured to Boyd County and won 18-17 on Friday. That left those two and Rowan County (1-8) tied for third in the district standings with 1-3 records. But the Musketeers (3-6) will travel to Covington Catholic in the first round because of overall wins Highlands has played Boyd County (2-7) for the previous three seasons. The Bluebirds have beaten the Lions a combined 189-27 during that time. The Bluebirds may still face the Lions a fourth straight year. The Lions can wrap up that chance with a win over Tolisa (West Virginia) on Friday or a Rowan County loss at Montgomery County. The Johnson Central Golden Eagles won 8-4A with a 42-7 win over Ashland Blazer (5-4) on Friday. The Golden Eagles could wrap up another undefeated regular season with a win at home against defending Class 3A champion Belfry (8-1). Johnson Central will play host to Harrison County (0-9) in the first round. Ashland plays host to Covington Holmes (2-7). Class 4A Notes: The Lexington Catholic Knights (6-3) continued to roll on Friday. They beat Marion County to wrap up an undefeated run through District 5-4A. Boyle County (8-1) and Owensboro (8-1) also won Friday and remain state contenders. Owensboro downed Hopkins County Central, 56-7 and Boyle County rolled over Mercer County, 51-0. Rallying for Brady: Highlands fans did an “orange out” in the stands for freshman Brady Walz. He was diagnosed with leukemia in May. Walz has huge family connections in Fort Thomas. His uncle is University of Louisville womens’ basketball coach Jeff Walz and his aunt is Highlands girls basketball Head Coach Jaime Walz-Richey. Walz’ grandfather Roger quarterbacked the Bluebirds to back-to-back state championships in 1960 and 1961. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Who might the Bluebirds play in the first round of 4A playoffs?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter COVINGTON – It had been a little more than a year since the Blue and White kept an opponent off the scoreboard. The Highlands Bluebirds football team did that Friday. Highlands (7-1 overall, 3-0 District 7-4A) ventured into the River City and handled the Covington Holmes Bulldogs, 36-0 to earn that shutout. Highlands earned its 18th district championship in 19 years and avoided anything close to its first two-game losing streak since 2006. The Bluebirds moved to 107-6 including 28-0 against district opponents since the start of 2007. “We executed well enough,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “We played a little sloppy in the beginning. But we ended up fixing it. We had to get a little more crisp with what we were doing.” Highlands scored all 36 of its points in the first half. The Bluebirds outgained the Bulldogs, 250-126 in total offense taking advantage of shot field position. The Bulldogs had four punts for 75 yards averaging a mere 18.8 yards per kick. The Bluebirds once again torched the suspect Bulldog secondary mostly with the senior tandem of quarterback Beau Hoge to wide receiver Alex Veneman. Hoge completed 9-of-19 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns and Veneman had six catches for 119 yards and two scores. Hoge surpassed the 2,000-yard mark on the season. He has completed 130-of-203 passes for 2,006 yards with 24 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Highlands rushed for 95 yards on 19 carries in the game. Junior Nick Kendall led the way with 62 yards on five carries. Senior James Grau had three carries for 12 yards but had two touchdown runs. The Bulldogs tried to pound the ball between the tackles in the spread offense. But the Bluebirds did not give up more than 16 yards on one rushing play. “We did a good job of flying around,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “We’re trying to build on what we’ve been doing each week – being confident and communicating pretty well and having fun. We’re going to continue to get better each week and each practice and take it day by day.” Junior Andrew Arnold had 56 yards rushing on 17 carries for 56 yards to lead Holmes. Fellow junior Sean Sullivan was second with 27 yards on eight carries. “We were being real aggressive, maybe too aggressive at times trying to strip the ball out that they were able to slip away from us a couple times,” Jones said. “We’re trying to play fast and create turnovers. Sometimes they’re going to squeak out and get a yard here or there.” Holmes quarterback Desean Brumfield completed just 7-of-16 passes for 47 yards. He throw an interception that Highlands defensive back Austin Beal returned 39 yards in the first quarter. The Bluebirds had one tackle for a loss of three yards by sophomore Carter Burke. “It was pretty hard (to wrap up),” said Phillip Arce, Highlands senior defensive end. “But the starting defensive line did a pretty good job. It was nice getting some time in there. It was a good week of practice and we all came together.” Highlands had 11 first downs to nine for Holmes. The Bluebirds were also penalized twice for 20 yards and the Bulldogs had three for 34. One Holmes penalty came for 15 yards in the third quarter on an unsportsmanlike penalty on second-year Head coach Ben Nevels. He continued to yell at the officials over a no-call even though the head judge warned him and his assistants tried to pull him back. The Bulldogs did pick off two Austin Hergott passes in the second half. Sophomore strong safeties Jashaun York and Salih Abdullah had them. Highlands scored 15 points in the first quarter. Grau had a 1-yard run with 8:27 left in the quarter. The Bluebirds converted a 4th-and-10 on the drive when Hoge completed a 16-yard pass to Veneman. Hoge then completed the two-point conversion to Eric Miller to put the Bluebirds up 8-0. Beal’s interception set up Highlands at the Holmes 46. Hoge then took a sweep right and scored from five yards out with 2:08 remaining. Highlands used some trickery to go up 22-0 after jared Dougherty hit his second of four extra-point attempts. Hoge handed off to Kendall going right and Kendall handed off to Justin Weyer on a reverse. But Weyer pitched it back to Hoge and Hoge fired a pass to the right post to Veneman for a 28-yard touchdown. The Blubirds made it 29-0 with 7:12 left in the game. Hoge found Veneman for a 32-yard score. After holding Holmes on fourth down, Highlands scored its final touchdown. After a 33-yard run by Kendall, Grau took an off-tackle run right for an 8-yard score with 1:12 left in the half. Highlands play host to Cincinnati Elder on Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Cecil Memorial Stadium. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Bluebird Notebook: How did the younger players develop Friday?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter In lopsided contests, the younger Highlands Bluebirds earn some playing time. That has been the case in all three district contests this year. Highlands (7-1 overall, 3-0 District 6-4A) hit the running clock in the three district contests and the wins over Paducah Tilghman and John Hardin. “They practice all week too,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “They’re excited about the change to get to play on a Friday night unlike their usual Saturday, which is a little different. It’s good for them.” Some may be concerned about life after this season because the younger players have not been scoring in the second half like past years. The Bluebirds did not score in the second half against Harrison County or Covington Holmes. But the coaching staff is not concerned. “They just need time and (reptititions),” Weinrich said. “There’s just not enough reps to go around. We have 100 guys so we try to take advantage of all of them. We try to get things in practice. We also play as many JV (junior varsity) games as we can. That’s how they’re going to get some confidence.” Junior wide receiver TJ Sipple earned some playing time against Holmes. The Bluebird Junior Varsity entered Saturday’s contest at Cincinnati St. Xavier with a 1-3 record and the freshmen were 3-3 coming off a 43-0 domination of Boone County on Thursday. “It’s pretty cool to get in after the ones do their job,” Sipple said. “We got that experience we need for next year and (following years), to get better and work out all the (kinks). We just need to get our confidence up some and get more excited about playing when we get in during the second half.” Both Highland sub-varsity teams have two games left after Saturday. The junior varsity goes to Cincinnati Elder and plays host to Scott county the next two Saturdays and the freshmen take on Ryle and Dixie Heights the next two Thursdays. Injury Report: The Bluebirds saw a number of players not play Friday. That included junior defensive lineman Tyler Robinson, senior tight end Jack Telek, senior defensive back James Hinkel, senior linebacker Brady Murray and senior running back Griffin Urlage. Robinson left during the first half of the game Saturday against Miami (Fla.) Christopher Columbus. But he expects to return this week. Series Report: Highlands improved to 51-20-2 all-time against the Bulldogs with the win. The Bluebirds have met the Bulldogs more than any opponent in school history. The Bluebirds have won 14 in a row in the series dating back to 1995, which marked Dale Mueller’s second year as head coach. In 1995, Holmes edged Highlands, 27-25 during the regular season. But the Bluebirds came back to beat the Bulldogs, 13-6 in the region finals before losing to Bowling Green, 28-12 in the 3A title game. Holmes will not be on the Highlands schedule next year. Holmes will stay in Class 4A while Highlands moves to 5A. The next in line is Dixie Heights with 70 meetings. The Bluebirds are 62-8 against the Colonels all-time. The two have not played since 2011 and will resume their series next year in the same district in Class 5A. Class 4A update: Johnson Central improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in District 8-4A action with a 48-14 thumping of Rowan County on Friday. The Golden Eagles meet rival Ashland Blazer (5-3 overall, 3-0 district) for the district championship in Paintsville this Friday. Aside from Highlands, four other schools have one loss in Class 4A. Owensboro and Boyle County are 7-1 while Franklin-Simpson and Knox Central are 6-1. Owensboro’s lone loss came to three-time defending 5A champion Bowling Green, 42-34 on Sept. 12. Owensboro led at halftime in that game. Valdosta suffers first loss: The Bluebirds had not gained anything on Valdosta (Georgia) in terms of all-time program wins. They in fact lost a game with the defeat against Christopher Columbus on Saturday. But Valdosta lost its first game to South Georgia Region 1-AAAAAA rival Colquitt County, 48-20 on Friday at home. The Wildcats are 889-215-34 good for the most wins in the country while the Bluebirds are 862-228-26. Up Next: The Bluebirds take on Cincinnati Elder on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the regular season home finale. The Panthers come in at 5-3. They snapped a two-game losing streak with a narrow 28-21 win over Cincinnati Winton Woods on Friday. They suffered consecutive losses to Greater Catholic League South rivals Cincinnati St. Xavier (32-24) and Cincinnati Moeller (26-17). Highlands has beaten Elder just once in seven tries. That came by a 34-29 count at Elder in 2011. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Bluebird Notebook: How did the younger players develop Friday?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter High school football fans in Northern Kentucky know this line real well. The Highlands Bluebirds own a perfect 27-0 mark against district opponents since 2007. That includes a 5-0 mark against Friday’s opponent in the Covington Holmes Bulldogs. Game time is 7 p.m. in Covington. Holmes also happens to be the most common opponent in school history for Highlands. The Bluebirds are 50-20-2 against the Bulldogs. They have not lost to the Bulldogs since 1995. A win for Highlands would wrap up an 18th district championship in the last 19 years. The Bluebirds (6-1 overall, 2-0 in District 7-4A action) also want to bounce back from Saturday’s 38-34 loss to Miami (Fla.) Christopher Columbus. “Really, there are three games in a season that matter and this is one of them,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “That gives us home field in at least the first two rounds (of the playoffs). That’s huge.” Holmes is struggling again this year at 2-5 and 1-0. The Bulldogs snapped a five-game losing streak with a 12-6 win at Harrison County on Friday. The Bluebirds will play on a grass field for the second time this season. The other came at Harrison County. Grass fields pose challenges after it rains. “You can’t really simulate that other than playing on it,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “We work on when you slow down, you get your feet moving faster. What we teach is actually really beneficial for when you have to be on sloppy fields.” The Highlands spread offense has torched the Holmes secondary in recent seasons. The Bluebirds average 41.4 points and 455.4 yards per game. Bluebird senior quarterback Beau Hoge is questionable for Friday’s game with a foot injury. He has completed 121-of-184 passes for 1,857 yards, 22 touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior wide receiver Alex Veneman has 42 catches for 787 yards and 12 touchdowns. Griffin Urlage leads the Bluebirds rushing the ball 69 times for 385 yards and two touchdowns. Hoge has 342 yards on 46 carries for 11 touchdowns. Highlands had been clicking offensively behind an improving offensive line. The starters are setting good examples for the younger linemen. “We’ve been learning what you have to do to get the job done and try to keep up the tradition,” said Michael Davidson, Highlands sophomore offensive lineman. “We try to play until the whistle blows. If you block your guy down to the ground, you go downfield and block the next guy. That’s pretty much what they teach us to do.” Holmes runs a 3-3 stack defense that Highlands has seen a couple times this year. The Bluebirds make things difficult on opposing defenses with their versatility. “They run around and get a lot of guys to the ball,” Weinrich said. “We’ll probably have some sloppy conditions Friday so ball security is a big point of emphasis this week.” Defensively, Highlands employs a 3-4 defense. The Bluebirds hope to line up better in this game. Junior Tyler Robinson leads Highlands with six tackles for a loss. Defensive back James Hinkel has a team-high two interceptions and senior linebacker Patrick Schoepf has three fumble recoveries. “We’ll line up and do our job,” Jones said. “That’s what we’ll continue to get better at. We’re finding guys who will step in, play fast and get to the ball. That’s what defense is.” Junior Desean Brumfield quarterbacks the Holmes spread offense. The leading running backs have been Andrew Arnold and Delijah Ross-Tyus. The top wide receivers have been Arnold and Fred Vickers. “You have to stick with (opposing wide receivers) and make sure you don’t give up anything deep,” said Thomas Wood, Highlands junior defensive back. “You employ the right techniques. We’ll play our normal defense this week. We had one safety and two defensive backs against (Christopher Columbus). We ran a 5-3 against them.” Highlands moves up to Class 5A with Covington Catholic next year. Holmes will stay in Class 4A the next four years. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Who is the most common opponent in Highlands school history?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter It was only fitting this one went to penalty kicks. The rival Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Bred soccer teams had to do that after neither team put one home in either the 80 minutes of regulation or the two five-minute overtime periods. Highlands won the penalty kicks, 4-2 for a 1-0 victory Wednesday in the 36th District championship. This marks the eighth district title in nine seasons for the Ladybirds. Highlands and Newport Central Catholic have met in three straight realigned 36th District championships after playing in the old 19th District for years with Bishop Brossart and Campbell County. “Kevin (Turnick) does a great job keeping his defense organized,” said Brian Wiefering, Highlands Head Coach. “I felt they were starting to pack it in. It was tough to break that line. We had a few opportunities where we didn’t finish. Our team stayed organized defensively more than we had all year.” The only difference between this year and the last two years is Dayton also participated in the tournament. Highlands beat Dayton, 10-0 Monday in the district semifinals to make it to the championship game. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association put teams in districts similar to basketball because more schools have soccer teams. NewCath (13-5-1 overall) beat Highlands (11-9-1), 2-1 on Sept. 12 to earn the top seed. The Lady Breds also won the regular season meeting last year before the Ladybirds claimed the district championship. “Both teams left chances on the field throughout the game,” Turnick said. “We let those chances go by and we didn’t capitalize. A winner had to be done so it went to (penalty kicks). It’s not a great way to win or lose. We’d rather see someone win it with a goal on the field.” Highlands turned it around after a 3-8 start to the year. Wiefering is in his first year as head coach. “(The midfilders) stepped up and played with intensity,” said Lydia Graves, Highlands senior defender. “We were winning balls out of the air just controlling the ball most of the time. We need to continue that in the region games.” Highlands often plays freshman Olivia McQueary at goalkeeper in the first half and sophomore Shannon Eaton in the second. The Ladybirds put McQueary out there on the penalty kicks. “We play together and as a team,” McQueary said. “Like Coach (Wiefering) said, we want to be an unselfish team and I think we accomplished that (Wednesday). It says something about our character to pull it out.” Both teams made the first two penalty kicks in the best-of-five battle. Kiersten Clukey and Eaton scored for Highlands with Loren Zimmerman and Michaela Ware scoring for NewCath. Neither team scored on the third shots. Kayla Nehus put the kick high for Highlands and McQueary blocked Jenna Ahlbrand’s shot. Senior Lydia Graves stepped forward and scored in the right corner for Highlands. McQueary then came through again blocking Taylor Tolle’s shot. That put Highlands in a good position on the last shot. Junior Kylie Schuerman put the ball in the right corner to win the game for the Ladybirds. “I was worried, but I knew the team had it,” Schuerman said. “This team is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better team. It honestly brings tears to my eyes. Everyone worked incredibly hard.” Both teams had their chances in regulation. Highlands outshot NewCath just 13-12 including 7-6 on goal. McQueary had two saves and Eaton four for Highlands with Martin making six for NewCath. Ansley Davenport had a free kick just outside the attacking box with 6:24 left in the game. But Eaton stopped it. In the final minutes of the second overtime, the leading goal-scorer for the Ladybirds in senior Taylor Vaughn had a great look. But her shot went just wide left into the outside net. Highlands focused on keeping the ball away from Zimmerman. Zimmerman hurt the Ladybirds with a runout that turned into a goal during the regular season. “When you spend 30 minutes of practice in pouring down rain worrying about Loren Zimmerman and her throw-ins, that means she’s a very good player,” Weifering said. “That’s what we did. I sat at the out of bounds line. I can’t throw it as far as Loren Zimmerman. I had to actually punt it to let the girls time it and get their head on it and clear out. I thought we did a good job as a team.” The regional tournaments begin Monday with the draw taking place over the weekend. Highlands will play host to a region quarterfinal on Monday and NewCath will hit the road. “Highlands is a very good team,” Turnick said. “There’s no doubt about that. We played well. They played well. Both teams need to continue to play and make runs off that. We have to bounce back from the loss, but I’m confident we can make a good run in the region.” Both teams lost to eventual state champion Notre Dame in the 9th Region Tournament last year. Highlands lost to the Pandas in the title game and NewCath lost to them in the semifinals. Fort Thomas Sports: What decided the latest 36th District girls soccer championship?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter Both football teams may be focused more on themselves than the opponent on Thursday. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (2-4 overall, 2-0 district) enter the game in the driver’s seat for their 10th consecutive district championship following Friday’s 22-17 win over the Newport Wildcats in District 6-2A action. They moved to 26-0 in district action since 2007 and are heavy favorite’s to extend the mark to 27-0 against the visiting Bishop Brossart Mustangs (1-5, 0-3) at 7 p.m. at Newport Stadium. A look on the sidelines tells that reason. The Thoroughbreds have 44 seniors, juniors and sophomores listed on the roster while the Mustangs will dress 23 in all four grades. “Football is a numbers game. Sometimes I don’t know if fans realize it, but if you’re playing team with 80 guys and you have 40, you’re at a big disadvantage,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “It’s the same thing here. We have to get after it and take care of what we can take care of like we always say. We think we’re making strides each week and that’s our goal again.” Coaching continuity has been a big key to the Thoroughbreds’ success over the years. They’ve had just three head coaches since 1966 while the Mustangs have had three head coaches in the last three years alone. Paul Wiggins took over the program a matter of weeks before the season moving up from the middle school program. He was able to convince some former players at the junior high level to come out bringing the total number of players up from last year’s 18 total. “I like that despite being the smallest 2A team in the state and playing in the best 2A district, these boys made a commitment to fight the fights in front of them,” Wiggins said. “I only ask them to put their best foot forward and challenge themselves.” Newport Central Catholic has won all three meetings between the two teams. The Thoroughbreds have shut out the Mustangs by a combined 161-0 including 41-0 last year. The Mustangs’ lone win came against Bracken County on Sept. 5. They have not come within 21 points of any of the district opponents. But they did score 28 against Lloyd Memorial on Saturday. Bishop Brossart operates out of the spread and I-formations offensively. Senior quarterback Clay Kramer recently returned from injury for the Mustangs. He’s completed 15-of-36 passes for 315 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior Jarred Martin has 11 catches for 113 yards for Bishop Brossart. Junior Frank Cetrulo leads the Mustangs on the ground and junior Logan Schoulthies is second. Cetrulo has 49 carries for 295 yards and two touchdowns with Schoulthies going for 184 yards on 43 carries and two scores. NewCath will counter with its vaunted 4-4 defense. Junior linebacker Kobe Tallon leads the Thoroughbreds with 67 tackles and junior defensive back Erik Anderson has a team-high three interceptions often drawing the opponents’ top wide receiver. “As a defensive end, you just have to play your position,” said Matt Frey, NewCath Senior defensive end. “You have to make sure you’re not running in circles. You have to go as hard as you can against the guy across you every play because you don’t know what play it’s going to be unless you study film.” NewCath has allowed 1,085 yards rushing and 905 passing mostly against the bigger schools in the first four games. Offensively, the Thoroughbreds have rushed for 441 yards and passed for 717. The Thoroughbreds run a spread offense. Junior Jacob Smith has turned things up lately running the ball 103 times for 450 yards and six touchdowns. Junior slotback John Harris has had some big carries lately going for 79 yards on 25 attempts and three touchdowns. NewCath sophomore quarterback Patrick Henschen continues to develop. He has completed 49-of-81 passes for 502 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior Brandon Gray continues to lead NewCaht with 23 catches for 208 yards. “We need to execute and perform better,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “We’re not doing the little things well. We left way too many points on the field against Newport. That’s as simple as it gets.” Those things come in a variety. The Thoroughbreds had people out of position at times against the Wildcats and had two men in motion once. The Mustangs play a four-man front and switch things up with the linebackers and defensive backs. Senior linebacker Justin Schack owns a team-high 94 tackles and junior Craig Pfefferman has the team’s lone interception. “It’s difficult to prepare for arguably the best team in 2A,” Wiggins said. “We try to coach them to see the world through their individual responsibility whether it be offense or defense. With a team like NCC, you have to look beyond the jersey and play the individual.” Bishop Brossart moves down to 1A next year while NewCath stays in 2A. The Mustangs will be in a district with Berea, Paris, Bracken County and Nicholas County. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: What do the Thoroughbreds need to do to move to 27-0 in district play since 2007?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter A normally-intense soccer game took longer to decide in this one. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds and Highlands Bluebirds soccer teams had to use penalty kicks to decide the 36th District championship on Tuesday at Tower Park. The Bluebirds won it in the ninth round, 2-1 for their first district championship since 2010. The Bluebirds (9-8-5) won the district championship after starting off the season 0-6-3. But things started to change when they beat the Thoroughbreds (11-7-3), 1-0 on Sept. 11 at Tower Park. “The boys are getting healthy,” said Matthew Winkler, Highlands Head Coach. “We’re playing well and starting to peak at the right time. It’s exciting for them. It’s what they worked hard for. It shows all the long days were worth it.” Highlands beat NewCath, 1-0 in overtime in the 9th Region title game at Ryle last year on its way to the state quarterfinals. But NewCath won the district championship, 2-1. The Thoroughbreds had won three straight district titles entering the contest. NewCath had not played in 10 days. But that did not hurt the Thoroughbreds. “We took off the last week last year,” said Mike McDonald, NewCath Head Coach. “We wanted to leave it for rainouts. It really gets us healthy for the end of the season. We were ready for this game. I thought we played well at times and at times, I thought they had us on our heels. Congrats to them and I hope we see them in the finals.” Teams play two 40-minute halves before two five-minute overtimes. The game ends when someone scores in overtime. It then goes to a best-of-five on penalty kicks before sudden-victory rounds. The teams had to go to sudden-victory rounds because they both made four penalty kicks in the first five rounds. Both Highlands goalkeeper Nick Breslin and Newport Central Catholic goalkeeper Paul Grosser made one violation on penalty kicks and the opponents made the kicks after the violations. Goalkeepers have to stay on the line until the opponent hits the ball. “It was a great game overall with two of the best keepers in my mind,” McDonald said. “We knew going in that it was going to be a battle. They’re playing good soccer now. We’re playing good soccer. There were a lot of opportunities missed both ways.” Breslin made the game-winning save off Andrew Liles in that ninth round diving to his left and blocking the shot. Highlands freshman Drew Robb made his kick in that round to set up Breslin’s heroics. “I look for their hips to open up or look for their knee. If their knee opens up, they’re going to my left or down the gut,” Breslin said. “If they curve it and keep it close, they’re going to my right side. You have to be on your toes looking for the right thing.” Newport Central Catholic put up 11 shots to eight for Highlands. But the Bluebirds had more on goal, 5-4. Breslin and Grosser made three saves each. Both teams had three corner kicks each and the fouls were nearly even. NewCath had 13 and Highlands had 12. “We have huge respect for their team and their program,” Winkler said. “Both teams know how to play hard but respect each other at the same time. You don’t go out to hurt people. It’s fun.” Junior Noah Sellers expressed disappointment to the coach staff after missing a one-on-one opportunity wide left with Grosser with 12:55 left in the game and his penalty kick. But Sellers did help get the game to overtime. “As soon as we got the foul, I was thinking I had to put this ball to the back post and try to find the guy who wins the ball a lot in Adam Barbro,” Sellers said. “Luckily, he got his first varsity goal in an important game. I was glad to give that to him.” An interesting turn of events came with 23:02 left in the game. One player from each team tangled near the line and NewCath drew a foul and the game’s lone yellow card. Sellers placed the free kick to Adam Barbro for the game-tieing goal. NewCath scored with 16:11 left in the first half. Seth Freppon played a free kick into the box and Liles punched it in. The region quarterfinals start Tuesday. Highlands will play host to its game and NewCath will hit the road. The semifinals and championship game will also take place at Tower Park. Fort Thomas Sports: How many rounds of penalty kicks decided the latest Highlands-NC soccer rivalry?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter It is not often that the Highlands Bluebirds football team comes out flat. But one of those rare times came Saturday. Class 4A’s top-ranked Bluebirds found themselves down 28-7 at halftime as a result. They rallied in the second half but fell 38-34 to the eighth-ranked Miami (Fla.) Christopher Columbus Explorers of Florida’s largest Class 8A, District 14. Both teams are 6-1 on the season. “You have to come out ready to play,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “In the first half, we struggled executing. We knew against these guys coming into the game. There is no margin for error. You can’t miss your assignment and still have a successful play against a team like this. Once we calmed down and started executing, some things happened.” The Explorers outgained the Bluebirds 465-415 in total offense. Highlands ran 75 plays to 65 for Christopher Columbus. But the Explorers had 23 first downs to 18 for the Bluebirds. Christopher Columbus used its size advantage along the trenches to build the halftime lead. The Explorers gained 217 yards rushing on 42 carries pounding the ball behind the likes of offensive linemen such as Bryce Handy, Kevin Housholder, Kyle Mann and Danny Fernandez. Andres Fernandez and Ivan Smith did most of the damage for the Explorers. Andres Fernandez had 119 yards on 17 carries and Smith ran for 61 yards on 13 attempts. “I’ll be honest with you. From the film we had, we had no idea we had a size advantage until the first quarter,” said Chris Merritt, Christopher Columbus Head Coach. “They were very sound. We picked our spots. We found where we had the mismatch and we tried to attack it. They made their adjustments too. They played different fronts.” The Bluebirds entered the game averaging 42.7 points per game. They’d scored in the 40s every game except the season-opening 23-16 win at Campbell County. Highlands quarterback Beau Hoge got banged up in the first half. But he came out in the second half and completed 24-of-38 passes for 330 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Alex Veneman had another monster game for the Bluebirds. He had seven catches for 133 yards. Nick Kendall followed with six catches for 54 yards and Justin Weyer had five for 73. Teammate Cashel Coughlin grabbed four catches for 34 yards and Chandler New had three for 43 yards. “In the second half, we executed better,” said Eric Miller, Highlands junior wide receiver. “We have to play more like the second half than the first half and build from there.” Highlands only rushed for 71 yards on 31 carries. The Bluebirds struggled against the Christopher Columbus 4-3 defense. The Bluebirds put the clamps down on the Explorers defensively in the second half. They did not allow an offensive touchdown in that half. Bluebird Defensive Coordinator Shelby Jones said the difference was lining up right. “We had to make some adjustments defensively and scheme-wise to put our better players on the field this week,” Jones said. “The most important thing is we kept fighting and kept playing. Early on, we gave up some stuff but we seemed to be figuring it out as we went along. Sometimes, you bury yourself to far and you can’t get back.” Like Highlands, Christopher Columbus is a two-platoon team and runs a balanced spread offense. Quarterback Tucker Beirne compleed 17-of-23 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. Jerron Rollins led Christopher Columbus with six catches for 65 yards and Austin Maloney had four for 89 yards. Fullback JP Wassman added four catches for 65 yards. “Their guys were superior athletically to anyone we played. I felt like I was at a college game,” Weinrich said. “It was a great experience for our guys. But we have to win those.” Penalties allowed Highlands to get back in the game. The Bluebirds scored 27 points in the fourth quarter. The Explorers had 12 for 105 yards and the Bluebirds had just seven for 45 yards. Christopher Columbus came out running the ball. The Explorers scored just 2:20 into the game. Smith finished off the drive that started at the Highlands 36 after a long Maloney kickoff return with a 1-yard run. Highlands tied the game later in the quarter. Veneman ran the deep route and Hoge found him for the 47-yard touchdown with 3:31 left in the quarter. But the Explorers scored 21 unanswered in the second. It started when Beirne found Rollins for a 1-yard strike just four seconds into the quarter. He then found Nick Hernandez for an 11-yard touchdown with 4:14 left in the half. The Explorers regained the ball with 3:14 left from their 46. That’s when Andres Fernandez ran it in from a yard out. Christopher Columbus extended the margin to 31-7 with 2:06 left in the third quarter as both offenses struggled. Joseph Toigyesi hit a 23-yard field goal. “The defense came out and played big in the first half,” Merritt said. “We knew they’re a very potent offense so we knew we had to build the lead. We also knew they were also going to come back. We unfortunately didn’t match up there, but we were lucky to get the win.” Hoge found the end zone on a sweep right with 11:57 left in the game. But Christopher Columbus responded when Joshua Jobe returned the kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. The Explorers led 38-14 at that point. But with 10:22, Highlands got that quick score. Hoge found Kendall open in the right flat and he broke a few tackles on his way to a 36-yard score. The Bluebirds trimmed it to 10 at 38-28 with 6:47 left. Veneman again burned the Explorer defense for a 44-yard touchdown. After not converting a fourth down following a recovered onside kick, Highlands scored with 18 seconds left. Hoge hit New wide open in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard score. The final score came after the Explorers blocked the extra-point attempt. Highlands recorded one more turnover as Patrick Schoepf and John Abner recorded fumbles and Rocco Pangallo picked off a Beirne pass. The Bluebirds threw two interceptions. Highlands will try to wrap up its 18th district championship in 19 years on Friday. The Bluebirds travel to Covington Holmes for a 7 p.m. game. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Who won the showdown between state-ranked Kentucky, Florida opponents?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The Highlands Bluebirds hoped to use that same home advantage that has helped them over the years. They entered Saturday’s game with a sparkling 59-1 record at David Cecil Memorial Stadium since the start of 2007. But the Miami (Fla.) Christopher Columbus Explorers became the second team to win there during that time with a 38-34 victory. The other loss came 38-24 to Cincinnati Elder on Oct. 19, 2012. The Bluebirds have not lost to a Kentucky team at home since Covington Catholic did it by a 29-27 on Oct. 27, 2006 when Kurt Bovard caught a last-second touchdown pass. “The ultimate goal is to get better every week,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “In the first half, we weren’t better than we were last week. By the end of the game, I think we got better at some stuff. Some guys stepped up on offense and defense. We had a lot of injuries coming into the game. The ultimate thing is to get ready for the playoffs. If we step on the field, we want to win the game.” The Explorers flew to Northern Kentucky unlike University Christian of Jacksonville, which rode up on busses last year. The Bluebirds had not played anyone outside Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana before University Christian came to Fort Thomas last year. The distance between Christopher Columbus and Highlands High schools is 1,138 miles. That is the furthest any team has even traveled to Fort Thomas to play a game. Explorer Head Coach and former Indiana University safety Chris Merritt had been wanting to bring the Explorers to the Midwest for some time. The 1992 IU grad is from Bloomington (Ind.). He took the players to see the Greater Catholic League battle between Cincinnati LaSalle and St. Xavier on Friday that the Bombers won 24-21. Both teams hope to use this game for experience in the playoffs. Christopher Columbus still has to qualify for the largest Class 8A playoffs having gone 2-0 in the six-team District 14-8A so far while Highlands automatically qualifies in 4A. The top two teams in each of 8A’s 16 districts make the playoffs in Florida. Merritt said the Explorers would have to go on the road in tough environments in the third and fourth rounds. “We are the Highlands High School of Dade County. We have similar demographics with our kids,” Merritt said. “We have maybe some more athletic kids. They’re very disciplined. That’s what we bank our success off in Dade County. We are the underdog team constantly. That’s the reason that part of the country is what it is when it comes to college recruiting and the NFL players they have down there.” A number of the Explorers had not been on a plan before. Christopher Columbus offensive guard Matthew Deville said he chewed gum as the plan rose into the air to alleviate the air pressure. “At first, it was a little nerve-racking,” Deville said. “As the plane took off and we were in the air, it was quite calm and soothing. As we got here, it was nice landing here in a different environment. It was a good change in scenery from Miami.” Christopher Columbus quarterback Tucker Beirne had previously played in cold weather. He recently moved from Colorado to Miami. Beirne said his teammates were concerned the game might be played in 30-degree weather. But it turned out to be a nice day in the 60s. Beirne faced Highlands quarterback Beau Hoge in an all-star game in Canton (Ohio) in 2011. They both wear number 7. “When that much time passes away and you come back and play someone you’ve spent some time with, that’s kind of a cool opportunity that not many people get to do,” Beirne said. “(The Bluebirds) are amazing. There’s a reason they have 22 state championships and are the second-winningest program in (the country). But we play a little bit of a different brand of football down there. It’s a little bit faster and bigger. South Florida has the most (NCAA) Division I recruits of anywhere and it shows. For me, it was like playing back (in Colorado). It was good to play in the cold again.” It is obviously not cheap to fly. But Merritt said the Explorers had some help from benefactors and did some fund raising. “I wasn’t telling nine, 10 kids they couldn’t go on a trip,” Merritt said. “I didn’t tell my president (Brother Kevin Handibode) that yet. We’re going to take the win, go home, get him in a good mood and maybe I’ll take him out to dinner and say we went about $5,000 over budget.” Bouncing Back: The Bluebirds are still 106-6 since the start of 2007. They have not lost consecutive games since dropping two in a row to Cincinnati Elder and Louisville St. Xavier On Sept. 1 and 9, 2006 respectively. Highlands has won the next contest following a loss with wins by an average of 30 points. The Bluebirds edged Warren Central, 71-69 to finish last season after dropping a tough 30-27 contest at Cincinnati Elder. The Bluebirds hope to do it playing more like they did in the second half. They outscored Christopher Columbus, 27-10 in that half. “I hope we keep playing with the intensity we did. It would have been easy just to give up being down 28-7,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “But we kept fighting and that’s what we ask of our guys. I’m not taking anything away from (the Explorers). They’re going to win a lot of games. They’re big and physical.” Injury Report: Highlands had some players go down in the game. Junior defensive lineman Tyler Robinson went down in the first half and came out in crutches in the second half. Senior tight end Jack Telek hold out hope he might return despite a torn right anterior cruciated ligament. He’s been encouraging his teammates during that time. Last unbeaten in 4A: With the Highlands loss, Johnson Central remains the lone undefeated team in Class 4A. The Golden Eagles moved to 7-0 and 2-0 in District 8-4A action with a 42-0 blanking of Greenup County in Paintsville on Friday. The Golden Eagles have two tough games remaining. They play host to Ashland Blazer on Oct. 24 and defending Class 3A state champion Belfry on Oct. 31. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Did the home-field advantage once again help Highlands?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter NEWPORT – The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team faced two big challenges on Friday. They were the pouring rain and an improved and determined host Newport Wildcat squad. While the Thoroughbreds did not finish their in-town rivals the way they wanted, they came through with a 22-17 District 6-2A victory. NewCath (2-4) moved to 2-0 in district play and Newport (3-4) fell to 1-1. NewCath has not lost a district contest since 2006, which marked the last year of four classes in Kentucky. The Thoroughbreds moved to 26-0 in district contests since 2007 when Kentucky expanded to six classes. NewCath also moved to 459-343-10 all-time including 300-173-4 against Northern Kentucky teams. The Thoroughbreds put themselves in great position to win their 10th straight district championship with the win now that every other district opponent has at least one loss. NewCath’s lone remaining district contests are against Bishop Brossart (1-4 overall, 0-2 district) and Covington Holy Cross (1-6, 1-1). Newport outgained NewCath, 303-268 in total offense. But the Thoroughbred defense held up on fourth down a couple times including the last drive. The Thoroughbreds forced Newport quarterback Paul Price out of bounds short of a first down with 23.6 seconds left in the game before running out the clock. “Give Newport credit,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “They have a nice football team. Stats don’t really matter. The only thing that matters is (the) 22-17 (score). I thought the offensive line early in the game and at the end got after it well.” Penalties also made a huge difference. Newport had 14 for 90 yards and NewCath recorded eight for 74. There was jawing going on in the game, but Wagner said the staff will do what it takes to correct that after the play finishes. “We’re putting that on our seniors and they’re supposed to be leaders,” Wagner said. “Our seniors should not even begin to jaw. They should take care of each other and pull people away. Sometimes, we didn’t do that (Friday). I was a little disappointed in that. Number one, there are obviously penalties. Number two, you’re not thinking about what you’re doing the next play because you’re worried about what the guy over there is doing. You can’t control the other guy. We’ll keep harping more.” Turnovers also made a difference in the rain. Newport lost two fumbles and threw an interception while NewCath lost one fumble. The one Newport fumble did not count as a turnover because it happened on a two-point conversion run. Seniors Colin Hoover and Brent Moore had fumble recoveries for the Thoroughbreds and junior defensive back Erik Anderson recorded his team-high third interception for NewCath. “I made this comment to them before the game,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “We want to be cautious and protect the football, but we don’t want to play scared. We did a pretty good job with the football.” Both teams struck to the ground game in the rain. NewCath outrushed Newport, 204-187 rushing the ball. Junior Jacob Smith had 26 carries for 177 yards and two touchdowns, but John Harris added 13 rushes for 34 yards and a touchdown often picking up crucial short-yardage first downs. “It always starts with the big fellows up front,” Harris said. “The way they block really opens up the holes for us and makes our job easy. It feels great running behind them. Then we always fight for yardage.” The Thoroughbreds knew they had to contain Newport’s tandem of Price and running back Dominic Joseph. Price finished with 100 yards rushing on 19 carries and completed 10-of-19 passes for 116 yards. Joseph finished with 58 yards rushing on 18 carries. Price’s leading target was junior Ryan Ochoa. He had four catches for 46 yards and a touchdown. “(Price and Joseh) are big guys and quick,” Moore said. “They know to run the ball and pound. You have to hit them well and try to hold on.” NewCath quarterback Patrick Henschen only threw the ball nine times completing it six times for 64 yards. Nate Enslen led the Thoroughbred wide receivers with two catches for 21 yards and Harris had a crucial catch for 16 yards on a scoring drive. Both teams scored on their opening drives. Smith took a handoff up the middle and bounced to the right for a 36-yard touchdown just 1:38 into the game. Ryan Hans made the extra-point try to give NewCath a 7-0 advantage. But Newport responded with its own drive. With 6:13 left in the first quarter, Tyree Bolden scored and Price ran in the two-point conversion to put the Wildcats up 8-7. The Thoroughbreds did not take the lead for good until 10:42 remained in the first half. Smith bounced right and cut back to the middle for a 12-yard touchdown and Henschen completed the two-point conversion pass to Brandon Gray to give NewCath a 15-8 advantage. Smith had a 17-yard screen pass on the drive. The Wildcats trimmed the margin to 15-11 at halftime. They hit a 28-yard field goal with .8 seconds left. Neither team scored in the third quarter. But Harris had a 1-yard run with 10:13 left in the game to put the Thoroughbreds up 22-11. Smith had 16 and 38-yard runs on the drive. NewCath tried to run out the clock after receiving the ball back. But Josh Mullins recovered a Thoroughbred fumble on the NewCath 45 with 4:55 left in the game. The Wildcats cashed in on the turnover. Price completed a 24-yard pass to Ochoa with 3:56 left to cut the margin to 22-17. NewCath had to punt the ball back to Newport with 2:21 remaining. The Wildcats started the drive from their 11. NewCath has won the Fireman’s Bell 15 straight years dating back to 1999. The Thoroughbreds lead the all-time series, 42-18-1. NewCath takes on Bishop Brossart on Thursday. Game time is 7 p.m. at Newport Stadium. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: How did the Fireman's Bell Turn out last night?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter A lot of non-surprising hype came with their first-ever meeting against a team from the Sunshine State to open last season. The then six-time defending state champion Highlands Bluebirds welcomed the defending Florida Class 2A champion University Christian Fighting Christians from Jacksonville to Fort Thomas in a nationally-televised game. But the game did not live up to the buzz. The Bluebirds pulled away from the worn-down Fighting Christians for a 47-17 victory. The visitors from even further south into Florida this Saturday look to put up more of a fight in the game that starts at 1 p.m. The Christopher Columbus Explorers from Miami fly in to town with a sparkling 5-1 record and a ranking of eighth in Florida’s largest Class 8A in the latest Associated Press poll. “If you like high school football, this will be a great game to come to,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “They’re a great, great football team. They have guys everywhere. They execute at a high level.” The Explorers finished 7-5 last year losing in the second round of the playoffs to District 14-8A rival Coral Gables after starting the season 1-4 and losing three of those games by a total of 10 points. They are the only private high school that competes in 8A. Their head coach is Bloomington (Ind.) native Chris Merritt. Merritt played football for the Indiana Hoosiers in the early 1990s. Columbus jumped on the opportunity when Highlands announced the opening on its schedule on ListProc after University Christian could not return to Fort Thomas. “I’ve wanted for a long time to take these kids to another part of the country to experience high school football in the Midwest,” Merritt said. “Many of our kids have never been on a plane much less met another player from another state. Playing a team with their tradition can only make us better. I was unaware they were the second-winningest team in the country (at 861-227-26 in school history). That is only going to make the trip that much more meaningful.” Columbus enters the game off a 61-7 win over Miami Beach on Monday in 87-degree weather. Bad weather forced the game’s postponement on Thursday. On the home side, the Bluebirds come in off a 46-13 District 7-4A win at Harrison County moving one step closer to their 18th district championship in 19 years. Highlands has outscored opponents, 256-101 on the season. The Bluebirds are outgaining the opposition by an average of 462.2-313.8 yards per game. They face a team that has outscored opponents, 190-109. The Bluebirds hope to use their home of David Cecil Memorial Stadium to their advantage where they’ve lost just once since 2006. The weather may also favor Highlands as it is predicted to be between 43 and 61 degrees. Both teams run spread offenses. Senior quarterback Beau Hoge leads the Highlands attack. Hoge has completed 97-of-146 passes for 1,527 yards and 18 touchdowns to go with two interceptions. He has also rushed for 325 yards on 39 carries with 10 touchdowns. Hoge spread the ball out well in the win over Harrison County. Senior Griffin Urlage leads the Highlands running backs with 371 yards on 65 carries and two touchdowns. Fellow senior Josh Watson ranks third on the team with 248 yards on 59 carries and three touchdowns. They’ve enjoyed solid protection from the offensive line led by senior Kyler Dalton and Lou Bunning. Hoge and junior backup quarterback Austin Hergott have completed passes to 13 different wide receivers. Senior Alex Veneman leads the way with 35 catches for 654 yards and 10 touchdowns. Junior Mitch Cain is second with 18 catches for 292 yards and three touchdowns and senior Cashel Coughlan ranks third with 11 receptions for 117 yards. “They’re an extremely sound defense,” Weinrich said. “They’re the best defense we’ll have seen this year in terms of executing. You can’t get them out of position. They run to the ball well. They get off tackles well. They keep their leverage. Every single play we run has to be executed well for it to be successful.” The Bluebirds want to do better converting third and fourth-down opportunities. They have completed 32-of-66 on third for 48 percent and 7-of-19 on fourth for 37 percent. Columbus’ lone loss came on Sept. 18, 42-14 to Class 6A’s second-ranked Miami Central Rockets. Central junior quarterback Jerrod Thomas completed 12-of-15 passes for 211 yards in the win. The Rockets took a 35-0 halftime lead prompting the mercy-rule running clock in the second half. “Miami Central is a very talented football team,” Merritt said. “I will say nothing to take away from that fact. We fell they were the better team just not a 42-14 better team. We hope our kids learned what level they must perform in order to be competitive with a Top 10 national team. I was pleased with our ability to come out in the second half and play them well.” Columbus plays a 4-3 defense. Senior Mike Montag anchors the defensive line with senior Mike Sierra and junior Bryce Handy holding things down at linebacker. Sophomore Marlin Brooks sees a lot of time at the defensive back spot. The Highlands 3-4 defense will be challenged. But the Bluebirds have played well there lately having recorded 30 tackles for a loss. Junior defensive lineman Tyler Robinson leads the way with six tackles for a loss and senior linebacker Brady Murray has 4.5. Senior defensive lineman D.J. Mills, Robinson, senior linebacker Jacob Noe and senior defensive lineman Daniel Kremer have two quarterback sacks. “A lot this week is going to depend on how we communicate on the back end,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “As long as we’re talking, I think we’ll put ourselves in good position. (Maloney) is a great receiver. He gets the ball and finds ways to gain yards after catching the ball. They come out in a lot of formations. They make you prepare for every one of them.” The Bluebirds have recorded four interceptions and recovered four fumbles. Senior defensive back James Hinkel leads Highlands with two picks and senior lienbacker Patrick Schoepf has recovered two fumbles. Highlands did a good job timing the snaps in the win at Harrison County. The Bluebirds snuck senior defensive back Andrew “The Cowboy” Abner near the line of scrimmage. He timed the snap well and quickly brought down the running back from behind for a loss. “That’s one of the things you can’t really get on film,” Jones said. “You adjust to it on the field. We talk about getting used to the timing. You don’t get that on film. Once we get there, I think we’ll be in good shape.” The Explorers also like to spread the ball around. Junior Ivan Smith leads Columbus with 60 carries for 462 yards and six touchdowns. Senior quarterback Tucker Beirne has completed 47-of-89 passes for 504 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. “As long as we squeeze the run and squeeze our C gaps, I don’t think they’ll be able to get outside of us,” said Conner Myers, Highlands sophomore defensive lineman. “They have some good skill players.” Beirne throws to a number of receivers such as senior Austin Maloney. Malone has 20 catches for 236 yards and four touchdowns. Juniors Michael Ricardo and Kevin Housholder anchor the offensive line. Prior to this year, Highlands had not played a team outside of Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana. The Bluebirds are slated to have only Kentucky teams on the schedule next year. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Which highly-rated Florida football team comes to Fort Thomas on Saturday?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter A year ago, no one guessed the annual city championship would also decide the District 6-2A championship. But the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds handled the challenge doubling up the Newport Wildcats, 42-21 on their way to their ninth straight district crown. That could again be the case this year as the two squads lock horns Friday in the annual Fireman’s Bell contest at 7 p.m. at Newport Stadium. NewCath has won 14 in a row in the series dating back to 1999 and leads the all-time series, 41-18-1. “They are doing what their talent is allowing them to do,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “He’s doing a really good job down there. They’re well-coached. We have our work cut out.” The Thoroughbreds (1-4) hope to stay unbeaten in district play with a perfect 25-0 record in such contests since 2006 while the Wildcats (3-3) hope to take a huge step in the building process. Both teams enter the game 1-0 in district play. NewCath shut out Lloyd Memorial, 28-0 two weeks ago and Newport took care of Bishop Brossart, 55-0 a week ago. “You get banged up so our bangs are pretty much taken care of (during the bye week),” Wagner said. “You watch film. We’ve been working on things we can control. That bell means a lot. Our kids don’t want to give it up and they want it. It should be a good atmosphere.” This marks the second Matthew Schmitz as Newport Head Coach. The Thoroughbreds finished 10-5 last year falling to Louisville DeSales in the 2A title game while the Wildcats finished 5-6 last year losing 29-21 to Carroll County in the first round of the 2A playoffs. The Wildcats have won two straight entering the contest. They pummelled Pendleton County, 62-13 after losing just 31-22 to defending Class 1A runner-up Williamsburg. Newport gave undefeated Mason County a scare on Aug. 23 losing just 32-28 before handing Walton-Verona its lone loss of the season, 36-26 on Aug. 29. “I like the progress,” Schmitz said. “I think there is no doubt we are a better football team than at this point last year. But the goals stayed the same – keep getting better every week. We want to be playing our best football come November.” The Wildcats received some major help in the offseason when senior offensive and defensive lineman Breandon Johnson transferred across the Licking River from Covington Holmes. He’s given headaches to opponents with 22 tackles. “(Johnson) is a man up there,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “He’s our biggest concern. It’s tough to get him blocked.” Teams have rushed for 872 yards and passed for 612 against the 3-4 and 4-4 Newport defenses. The Wildcats could try to take away the Thoroughbred running game and make sophomore quarterback Patrick Henschen beat them. Henschen has completed 43-of-72 passes for 438 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in the spread offense. Senior Brandon Gray remains his top target with 23 catches for 208 yards and Nate Enslen has nine for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Defenses have constantly put pressure on Henschen blitzing at many different angles. The Thoroughbreds have rushed for 225 yards and passed for 653. Junior Jacob Smith has 77 carries for 273 yards and four touchdowns. “You have to be diverse offensively,” Schneider said. “You have to be able to use all the quadrants of the field. You can’t just sit there and plunge it up the middle all night.” Senior linebacker Gage Jones leads Newport with 47 tackles and junior defensive back Ryan Ochoa follows with 43. The Wildcats have eight players with at least 20 tackles. Senior defensive back Brian Burton has three interceptions. The Thoroughbreds hope to continue to play well defensively in the 4-4 defense. Junior defensive back Erik Anderson had two interceptions in the win over Lloyd Memorial. A number of different players have emerged for NewCath defensively. Junior linebackers Kobe Tallon and Peyton Davis lead the Thoroughbreds with 49 and 42 tackles respectively. Teams have rushed for 898 yards and passed for 653 yards against the Thoroughbred defense. NewCath will face a shotgun spread Newport offense that has put up 1,387 yards rushing and 615 passing. Quarterback Paul Price and running back Dominic Joseph have rushed for 464 and 416 yards respectively with five touchdowns each. They run the read option in many different directions. “We just have to stay disciplined and make sure they don’t get on the outside (lanes),” said Ben Barbara, NewCath senior defensive back. “If we stop them outside, the inside (defenes) should take care of itself. We need to stay home and not follow the ball.” But junior Tyree Bolden and senior David Lynam have helped out the Newport attack rushing for 249 and 191 yards respectively. Price’s top passing targets have been Brian Burton with 20 catches for 294 yards and six touchdowns along with Ochoa with 14 catches for 197 yards. “Two main things that good defenses must be are disciplined and aggressive, and that’s exactly what Coach Wagner’s defenses are,” Schmitz said. “We know we are going to have to earn everything we get against their defense. We hope we get our guys in space where they can make some things happen.” The two teams will be in the same district next year along with Covington Holy Cross and Lloyd Memorial. Bishop Brossart drops to 1A next year. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Why might NewCath's game with the in-town rival be closer this year?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter NEWPORT – This volleyball game portrayed what often happens with life. The 36th District rival Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds and Highlands Ladybird volleyball teams looked good one game then not so good the next. But the Thoroughbreds (13-9) fought through the adversity for a 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-8, 25-18) win to clinch the top seed in the district tournament to be played at Bellevue. They have a winning record against a tough schedule. “It’s paying off huge. It’s a great combination of young and old and they all have bought in to what we’re doing,” said Vicki Fleissner, NewCath Head Coach. “They’re all working toward that one goal. There’s not one person that they rely on. It gives us a good, diverse offense.” NewCath has won 18 of the last 19 meetings and finished 4-0 in district action. Highlands (11-14) still has to beat Bellevue and Newport to take the second seed in the district tournament. The Ladybirds are 1-1 in district play. “You can never underestimate the power of the psychology of this game,” said Katelyn Sallee, first-year Highlands Head Coach. “I think coming in with confidence is one thing, but you have to maintain that. That’s something we’ll work on and develop as we become more mature as a team. We can’t expect a group of three girls to carry us. With a team like that, it has to be all six girls.” The NewCath duo of freshman setter Mikah Freppon and sophomore outside hitter Rachel McDonald dominated. Freppon had 40 assists and McDonald 22 kills. The Thoroughbreds once again dominated the net. Senior Keyaira Lankheit and Jamie Lohr made contributions at the net. Lankheit had 15 kills and nine blocks with Lohr going for eight kills and two blocks. “We try our best to be a family and stick together so we know what’s going on the court,” Lankheit said. “We try to keep each other up as much as we can.” NewCath also played great defense in the back row. Amanda Ruwe, Laura Brannon and Olivia Owens constantly made good digs back to Freppon. “It’s about going after the ball, wanting the ball and beating it to the ground,” Ruwe said. “You need to have that confidence. My teammates need this giving my all. This shows us what we’re capable of.” Highlands had some shining moments, especially when they attacked from the outside instead of right into the NewCath blocks. Senior Jessica Ginter led the Ladybirds with eight kills and Kaitlin Hall had 16 assists and two aces. NewCath won the first game never trailing. But Highlands came out and scored the first four points of the second game. NewCath came back and took the lead briefly before the Ladybirds pulled it out. The Thoroughbreds came out and scored the first seven points of the third game. They led 17-1 before the Ladybirds scored again. “It is extremely frustrating,” Fleissner said “We won our five-setter against Cooper then we turned around and played Conner (on Monday). We were flat. We won but it’s hard to keep that intensity up. That’s something we have to work on. They’re getting there. It’s crunch time. This is the time of year you want to peak.” Highlands led 2-1 to start the fourth game. But Lankheit recorded a block-kill and NewCath never looked back. Highlands can still do some great thing to finish the season. Two more wins will equal the total of each of the past two years. “Í’m not just looking ahead. I think every coach needs to look into the future, but right now in this season, I think we’ve made strides so I have to be happy with that but not satisfied,” Sallee said. “I’d like to have a winning season. I’d like to see the girls come into their (groove) entering the postseason and win some big matches.” Both teams return to action Thursday. Highlands plays host to Bellevue and NewCath ventures to Lexington Tates Creek. Both games start at 7:30 p.m. Fort Thomas Sports: Did the trend in the NC-Highlands volleyball series continue or swing the other way?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter CYNTHIANA – Believe it or not, the hosts had a brief glimmer of hope on their football Homecoming game. The hosts held a one-point lead for 25 seconds in the first quarter of the Class 4A, District 7 match-up. But the top-ranked Highlands Bluebirds, ranked number one in the class, quickly squashed those hopes with 40 straight points in the rest of the half en route to a 46-13 victory here Friday over the Harrison County Thorobreds. Highlands played on a grass field for the first time this year. Campbell County and Lexington Bryan Station have artificial turfs like David Cecil Memorial Stadium. Grass fields are often difficult to play on when it rains near gameday. It rained off and on throughout the area Friday. It poured like crazy right after the game ended. “You only get so many chances to play a game so we really emphasize taking advantage of every opportunity you get when you get in a game,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “We were sharp on everything we were doing. Mother Nature made for some muddy conditions. But the guys didn’t use it as an excuse.” This marked the fourth straight game the Bluebirds reached the running clock on an opponent. That happens in Kentucky when an opponent takes a lead of 36 points or more. Undefeated Highlands (6-0) took another step toward its 18th district championship in 19 years improving to 2-0 in district action. On the other hand, Harrison County fell to 0-7 losing its first district contest. The Bluebirds led 46-7 at halftime and let the starters rest in the second half. The reserves did move the ball some in the second half, but Harrison County recorded an interception in the end zone. Highlands ended up outgaining Harrison County, 331-309 in total offense. But that stat was deceiving because Highlands won the field-position battle and Harrison County had a good chunk of its yardage on two 83-yard touchdown passes. The Bluebirds recovered a fumble deep in Thorobred territory at the 13 by senior linebacker Patrick Schoepf. They also started three other drives on the Harrison County side of the field on an Austin Beal kickoff return to the five, a James Hinkel interception return to the 42 and at the 13 following a Harrison County minus-9-yard punt. “We tried to do some extra things to see if we were good at certain things,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “We had several guys who did not play, but we hope to get them back from injury and move on.” Harrison County had three turnovers to two for Highlands. Junior linebacker Caleb Mullikin recovered a Thorobred fumble with 4:51 left in the game for the Bluebirds. Highlands also lost a fumble. “We just have to get out there and play (hard) every day,” Mullikin said. “We didn’t play as hard as we should, but we still pulled out the win. That’s all that matters.” The one moral victory for Harrison County is the score was closer than the 68-point average the previous three years. Highlands beat Harrison County, 68-0, 69-10 and 77-0 from 2011 through last year respectively. The Bluebirds moved to 9-0 all-time against the Thorobreds. The Bluebirds have consistently picked apart Harrison County’s suspect secondary. The tandem of senior quarterback Beau Hoge and wide receiver Alex Veneman had big games. Hoge completed 16-of-20 passes for 273 yards and six touchdowns and Veneman had nine catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Justin Weyer added two catches for 19 yards and two scores. “The receiver position is one of the most heavily stacked on our team,” said Matt Bowman, Highlands senior wide receiver. “We can get fresh bodies out there all the time and (opponents) can’t keep up. Nobody complains about the rotations. There’s no need to complain because the rotations are what get us all the receptions and yards.” The two teams may not meet again for a while. Highlands moves to Class 5A, District 5 next year with Covington Catholic, Dixie Heights and Grant County while Harrison County will stay in 7-4A with Holmes, Bourbon County, Mason County and Scott. The Bluebirds took the lead first when Hoge found Griffin Urlage in the right flat for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 7:42 left in the quarter. The missed two-point conversion pass failed leaving Highlands up 6-0. That’s when Harrison County quarterback Mark Taylor completed his first of two long touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Jovon Williams. Austin Jackson made the extra-point kick to put the Thorobreds up 7-6 with 6:44 left in the quarter. “I think we really didn’t have our feet under us,” Jones said. “(Williams) is a good player. They try to take their best player, put him in position to run down the field and throw the ball in the air. He ran by our guys. I don’t know if we misjudged his speed or what it was. But we’ll get better.” But after Beal’s long kickoff return and a holding penalty, Hoge found Weyer for the 10-yard pass and Jared Daugherty made the extra-point kick to put the Bluebirds up 13-7 with 6:19 left in the quarter and Highlands never looked back. The Bluebirds scored two more touchdowns to go up 26-7 after one quarter. “(The Bluebirds) were ready to go from the start,” Weinrich said. “(Harrison County) has some good players. I don’t care what their record is. (Williams) could play for any team we’ve played this year. That didn’t do anything to us one way or the other. We had to come back and play the next play.” Hoge hit Mitch Cain for a 13-yard touchdown with 4:29 remaining and Veneman for a 2-yard score with 3:19 left. Highlands added three more touchdowns in the second quarter. Hoge hit Veneman for a 14-yard touchdown with 11:03 left in the half to put Highlands up 33-7. After Schoepf’s fumble recovery, James Grau scored a 2-yard touchdown for the Bluebirds with 10:14 left. That put Highlands up 39-7. The last Bluebird touchdown came with 2:45 left in the half. Hoge hit Weyer for an 11-yard touchdown. The only score of the second half came with 4:37 left in the third. Williams broke free for the long touchdown pass for the Thorobreds. They’d scored just one touchdown against the Bluebirds in the previous three meetings. Highlands welcomes another Florida team to Fort Thomas on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bluebirds face the Miami Christopher Columbus Explorers from the largest 8A class. Fort Thomas Sports: How many consecutive points did Highlands score in the win in Cynthiana?

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter Some people might be coming impatient with the idea their beloved high school football team has not beaten the Highlands Bluebirds in a while. But that is the case with many teams. For instance, the Harrison County Thorobreds have not beaten them in any of the nine meetings including the last four in Class 4A, District 7 action including Friday. Highlands handed Harrison County a 46-13 defeat in Cynthiana to stay undefeated at 6-0 and 2-0 in district play and move to 106-5 since the start of 2007. The Bluebirds beat the Thorobreds, 77-0, 69-10 and 68-0 respectively the previous three seasons. The two had never been in the same district until then. Highlands edged Harrison County, 14-12 during the 1985 regular season in the first-ever meeting. That was the closest the Thorobreds have ever come to beating the Bluebirds. The teams met four times in the playoffs including Tom Duffy’s last year as head coach in 1993 and Dale Mueller’s first season coaching Highlands in 1994. The Bluebirds beat the Thorobreds, 28-21 in the first round of the playoffs in 1994 before losing 7-3 to eventual state champion Covington Catholic. Highlands also handled them in 1999 and 2000 when Gino Guidugli was the quarterback on their way to state championships. Highlands moved to 104-37-2 all-time against this year’s district opponents. The Bluebirds are 46-17 against Covington Catholic and 50-20-2 against Covington Holmes. Highlands travels to Holmes on Oct. 17 hoping to wrap up its 18th district championship in the last 19 years. The only time the Bluebirds did not win the district since 1995 is 2006 when the Colonels won both the regular and postseason meetings. Injury Report: The Bluebirds has several players out against Harrison County including senior offensive lineman Matt Gall. Gall sprained his ankles in the win over Harrison County but plans to come back next game. Senior tight end Jack Telek has not played since the scrimmage against Louisville Trinity. Telek said he hopes to return this season, but does not know for certain. Highlands senior linebacker Ben Ellison left with an injury during the first half and came out in the second half on crutches. Teammates Tyler Sexton, Jack Jager, Grayson Heck and Drew Bravard were also on the sidelines with their jerseys on Friday. The last of two 4A unbeaten: Highlands and Johnson Central are the only undefeated teams remaining in Class 4A. In a showdown of District 5-4A powers Lexington Catholic and Boyle County on Friday, the Knights (4-3) handed the Rebels (6-1) their first loss of the year by a 26-17 count. LexCath has won three straight after starting the season 1-3. Johnson Central stayed undefeated at 6-0 with a 48-12 win over Lutheran East (Ohio) located near Cleveland. The Golden Eagles have played two Ohio and one Pennsylvania team at home this year. Sub-Varsity updates: The Highlands freshman team lost a close one, 21-20 to Covington Catholic earlier this week on Wednesday. They are 2-2 on the season. Their next game is Thursday against Conner at 6 p.m. The Highlands junior varsity team takes on Louisville Trinity this week. The Bluebirds are 1-2 on the season. Up Next: Highlands takes on another first-time opponent on Saturday at 1 p.m. when another team from Florida comes to town in the Christopher Columbus Explorers from Miami. They are in Florida’s largest Class 8A, District 14. Christopher Columbus is 4-1 so far. The Explorers were supposed to play district rival Miami Beach on Thursday. But lightning postponed the game until Monday. The Explorers were ranked ninth in a recent Miami Herald poll. Their only loss came to second-ranked Miami Central, 42-14 on Sept. 18. Christopher Columbus figures to give Highlands a bigger challenge than University Christian from Jacksonville did to open last season. The Bluebirds pulled away from University Christian in the second half for a 47-17 victory. Valdosta update: In terms of all-time wins in program history, Highlands has not gained any ground on Valdosta (Georgia). The teams entered the season separated by 27 victories. The Wildcats also improved to 6-0 on Friday winning a rugged Class 1-AAAAAA 13-10 win at Camden County on Friday. Valdosta entered the game ranked fifth in AAAAAA and Camden County was ranked second. They are 888-214-34 all-time and the Bluebirds are 861-227-26 good for first and second in the country. Valdosta’s toughest two region games left are against top-ranked Colquitt County and third-ranked Lowndes County. Valdosta has won 23 state championships, but none since 1998. Fort Thomas Sports: Has Highlands gained any ground on Valdosta in terms of all-time program wins?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter The hopes of it being ‘the year that’ things turn around in this series rise like crazy just before the season begins up until the game in Park Hills. But the Highlands Bluebirds football team turned those annual hopes into the same adjective they’ve used to handle the Covington Catholic Colonels in all 12 meetings since 2006 on Friday. Crushed. Things were not perfect. But undefeated Highlands (5-0) pulled away from CovCath (3-2) in the second half for a 42-7 victory and its third straight game enforcing the running clock. The score came one off last year’s 42-6 win over the injury-riddled Colonels in Park Hills about a year ago. “You know the old cliché. It starts up front. Our offensive line played great,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “They’re getting better every week at what they’re doing and the backs are getting it. The wide receivers were unselfish. After what we throw for last week (352 yards in a 49-17 win over Paducah Tilghman) they came out and blocked hard. We left some points out on the field and we’ll fix that.” Highlands outgained CovCath, 540-362 in total offense. The Bluebird offensive line blocked so well that the Bluebirds rushed for 319 yards on 56 carries. Highlands graduated 12 offensive linemen from last year and recently saw senior Kyler Dalton return from a foot injury. Senior Lou Bunning has helped out there playing football for the first time since his freshman year. “Coach Weinrich had been talking all week about making the other team quit,” Bunning said. “We got up 7-0 and we said to ourselves, ‘We need to step on the gas petal and just keep running it down their throats and keep pouring it on.’ That’s what we did. Every week, we’ve been making small improvements and (Friday), it really showed. It was a real good game.” Senior Josh Watson led Highlands with 18 carries for 107 yards and Griffin Urlage had 73 on 14 carries with Nick Kendall following with seven carries for 56 yards. Highlands quarterback Beau Hoge rushed for 47 yards on eight runs and two touchdowns. Hoge gave the Bluebirds the lead for good with a 1-yard run over right tackle with 8:08 left in the first half. Hoge also hurt CovCath with his arm. He completed 16-of-23 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. Cashel Coughlin led Highlands with six catches for 51 yards and Mitch Cain had four for 76 and a score as CovCath focused on senior Alex Veneman. “We put in a whole new offense this year and had a whole new offensive line,” Hoge said. “We’re just getting better each game. Like Coach Weinrich always tell us, we’re putting another brick in the wall so we’re building every day.” Veneman had just one catch, but he made the most of it. He hauled in a 39-yard reception on the left side of the end zone with 4:16 left in the quarter as CovCath blew coverage. Jared Dougherty’s second of six made extra-point kicks put Highlands up 14-0. Defensively, Highlands allowed a few big plays. CovCath quarterback Adam Wagner had a 61-yard run in the first half. That made up the majority of his 106 net yards. But he only passed for 90 yards completing 10-of-22 passes to go with two interceptions. The Bluebirds took away the Colonels’ bread and butter of the read-option. Brady Murray and James Hinkle had interceptions and Andrew Abner recovered a CovCath fumble. Hoge threw one interception so the Bluebirds finished plus-two in the turnover battle. “I enjoyed sitting back and watching the guys play,” said Shelby Jones, Highlands Defensive Coordinator. “They’re really the ones that came out and did what they were supposed to do. They were flying around and making plays. That’s what we asked of them.” Highlands recorded five tackles for a loss and a sack. Highlands senior defensive lineman Tyler Robinson had a sack and combined with linebacker Patrick Schoepf for a tackle for a loss. Schoepf also had a tackle for a loss. Teammates Daniel Kremer, Luke Lindeman and Rocco Pangallo had the other three. “We’ve been hoping for a shutout for a while. I believe the varsity got the shutout,” Robinson said. “If they don’t want to say it was a shutout, so be it. I just hope we get more games like that this season and we prove everyone wrong.” The Bluebirds would have led by more. But they did not score any points on three trips into the red zone. But they did put the game away in the second half scoring 14 points in each quarter. Hoge broke free for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:32 left in the third and Watson had an 11-yard run with 53 seconds left. Hoge threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Cain with 11:41 left in the fourth quarter. The final Highlands touchdown came with 4:52 left when sophomore Grant Murray scored on a 6-yard run. Highlands travels to Harrison County on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: How did the Highlands-CovCath game turn out?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter When asked whether it is still a rivalry or not, Highlands senior cornerback Andrew Abner did not hold back his thoughts. “It’s not,” Abner said. “The goal is to beat CovCath every single year and go as hard as we can. We did it this game. They have signs in their weight room and school saying, ‘Beat Highlands.’ That fires us up a bunch. We’re definitely going to get better and we’re going to come out and execute.” Others like former Highlands quarterback Patrick Towles have said the same thing because of the recent Bluebird domination. The Bluebirds (5-0) beat the Colonels (3-2) for the 12th straight time Friday, 42-7 in the Class 4A, District 7 opener. They lead the all-time series, 46-17 including 27-4 since 1994. The series has been a far cry from the late 1980s and 1990s when the teams constantly battled each other for state championships. Highlands has not lost to CovCath since a 25-15 loss in the second round of the playoffs in 2006 in addition to the 29-27 loss to Covington Catholic on a last-second Kurt Bovard touchdown reception in Fort Thomas during the regular season. The current seniors on both teams were fourth graders when that happened. But the Bluebirds did quickly acknowledge they may see the Colonels in the regional finals again this year like they have the previous three years. Highlands beat CovCath, 42-6 in Park Hills last year before beating the Colonels again, 28-13 in the Region 4 finals. “In this game, all that matters is where the third-round game is going to be played,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Head Coach. “That’s what we’ve been talking about all week. We’ll come in (Saturday). We have a lot of mistakes to correct. We know we’ll play them in a couple weeks. We know they’re only going to get better. We have to keep working.” Weinrich has been on staff since 1995. Even though it has been a while, the first-year head coach remembers when the Bluebirds won the regular season meetings against the Colonels in 1997 and 2001 before CovCath came back and won the playoff rematches. That is why the Bluebirds seek improvement each and every day. That has shown constantly throughout the year. “They’re a really mature group,” Weinrich said. “Since Day one in January, it’s been amazing. I’ve said this all year. When we ask them to do something, they do it as hard as they can. I don’t care what day of the week they’re playing. I know it was CovCath week, but I didn’t see a difference from this week to last week from that.” Other teams in Class 4A, Region 4 can say whether the rematch could happen or not. But only undefeated Johnson Central (5-0) appears to be a serious threat for that. The Golden Eagles have restocked their vaunted wishbone attack in the backfield despite losing all three running backs. But they have not been tested. The other two District 7 opponents in Covington Holmes and Harrison County are a combined 1-10 and every other District 8 opponent has a losing record. Highlands Junior Varsity beats CovCath: The Bluebirds took care of the Colonels, 34-20 on Saturday in Park Hills. The Highlands junior varsity (1-2) had lost to CovCath, 21-6 12 days ago in Fort Thomas. Their next game is Oct. 18 at 10 a.m. against Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Highlands freshman team is 2-1 on the season. The Bluebirds take on Covington Catholic in Park Hills on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Class 4A Notes: Aside from Highlands and Johnson Central, Boyle County stayed one of three undefeated teams with a 38-6 District 5 win over Taylor County on Friday in Danville. Valdosta update: The Valdosta Wildcats of South Georgia had their bye week this week and are a perfect 5-0 so Highlands has not gained any ground in terms of overall wins in program history. The Wildcats are 887-214-34 all-time and the Bluebirds are 860-227-26. Valdosta is about to be tested though. The Wildcats play in the rugged 1-AAAAAA in the largest of Georgia’s six classes in south Georgia. Up Next: Highlands travels to Harrison County on Friday continuing District 7 action. The Thorobreds are 0-6 coming off a 48-18 home loss to defending 1A state runner-up Williamsburg. They’ve not scored more than 18 points all season. Highlands has beaten the Thorobreds, 77-0, 69-10 and 68-0 in district play the last three years. The Bluebirds are 24-0 in district regular-season play since 2006. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Is the Highlands-CovCath series still a rivalry?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter When the dust settled, the team with more success recently left with the victory. The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (1-4) recorded their first win of the season with a 28-0 blanking of the Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts (4-1) on Friday in Erlanger. Most importantly, NewCath started 1-0 in Class 2A, District 6 action. The Thoroughbreds improved to 25-0 in district regular season games since 2006. “It was a great team win against a good Lloyd team,” said Josh Schneider, NewCath junior wingback/defensive back. “It was definitely a confidence-booster for us because we really needed a win after playing those first four teams. That’s always rough. We have to keep playing like we did (Friday).” NewCath has not lost to Lloyd Memorial since 1991. The Thoroughbreds have won 17 straight in the series. The strength of schedule helped NewCath in this game as expected. The Thoroughbreds lost to Class 6A, District 6 opponents Simon Kenton (6-0 record), Campbell County (4-1) and Dixie Heights (4-1) in addition to Cooper (4-2). On the other side, Lloyd beat Dayton (2-3) of Class 1A, District 4, struggling District 7-4A Covington Holmes (1-4) in addition to Class 2A, District 5 opponents Owen County (0-6) and Gallatin County (3-3). The Thoroughbreds came in allowing averages of 223 yards rushing and about 168 passing per game. But they held the explosive Juggernauts to 118 yards of total offense including just six yards on the ground on 27 carries. NewCath held sophomore Justin Durham to 17 yards rushing on nine carries. He entered the game with 238 yards on 36 touches. “I know this is kind of weird with us giving up the points we did early in the year against (the bigger schools), but we thought we could be a good defense,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Defensive Coordinator. “If you look at the games we played, we were pretty tough – Simon Kenton not so much. We’d play, play, play then give up the big play. Our offense got better so we were on the field less. The kids did what we asked them to do.” The Juggernauts came in averaging about 214 yards rushing and 139 passing. The Thoroughbreds put junior 6-foot-2-inch defensive back Erik Anderson on Lloyd junior 6-4 wide receiver Charles Gaines. Anderson held Gaines to one catch for 28 yards. Gaines had 18 catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns entering the game. “We did a good job trying to take (Gaines) out of the game,” Wagner said. “They like the outs (routes) and they like him deep as he’s 6-4. Erik doesn’t have the weight that (Gaines) has. But we matched up well. We were able to get our safety over top. They kept trying to go to him and Erik ended up with two interceptions.” The Thoroughbreds finished with four interceptions. Seniors Logan Neff and Brandon Gray had the other two. Lloyd senior quarterback Hayden Molitor completed 11-of-16 passes for 118 yards. Sophomore Lashunn Townsend finished with seven catches for 39 yards and senior Zach Riddle had three for 47 yards. Offensively, the Thoroughbreds gained 333 total yards. They had 42 rushes for 193 yards and completed 10-of-13 passes for 140 yards. NewCath senior wide receiver Nate Enslen had a great all-around game. He had a three receptions for 50 yards, two carries for 29 yards and a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown. NewCath junior running back Jacob Smith had 31 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown. Smith also completed a 52-yard halfback pass to Anderson. NewCath sophomore quarterback Patrick Henschen completed 9-of-12 passes for 88 yards. Anderson hauled in two passes for 65 yards. “We’re going in the right direction,” said Dave Schneider, NewCath Offensive Coordinator. “Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do. The kids are working their tails off. We’ll get there.” The Thoroughbreds do need to clean up the turnovers. They lost three fumbles, but still ended up plus-two in that category because the Juggernauts also lost a fumble. NewCath did struggle some against Lloyd’s 3-3-5 defense. The Juggernauts put Gaines in on defense and he made a lot of plays. The Thoroughbreds led 7-0 with 6:06 left in the game when Smith scored on a 7-yard run and Anderson made the extra-point kick. John Harris then ran it in from a yard out with 1:41 left in the first half to put NewCath up 14-0 at halftime. NewCath pulled away in the fourth quarter. With 3:56 left, Henschen found junior Griffin McHugh for a 10-yard touchdown. Following an Anderson interception, the Thoroughbreds scored their final touchdown. Harris ran it in from a yard out. Harris finished with 16 yards on four carries. NewCath has its bye week this week. The Thoroughbreds take on Newport on Oct 10. Game time is 7 p.m. FORT THOMAS MATTERS: Did NewCath earn its first win of the year?

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter It is a case of the looks on paper being potentially deceiving. The defending Class 2A state runner-up Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds enter the game in Erlanger on Friday winless at 0-4. On the other side, the upstart Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts come in confident with an undefeated mark of 4-0. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday. But a look at the schedules tells a drastic difference in competition. The Thoroughbreds have lost to Class 5A Cooper and Class 6A opponents Dixie Heights, Campbell County and Simon Kenton after the season-opener at Ashland was rained out. The four opponents own a combined record of 15-4. The Juggernauts have faced 1A Dayton, struggling 4A Covington Holmes and 2A opponents Gallatin County and Owen County that are a combined 4-14. They’ve won those games by a combined 185-44. NewCath drilled Lloyd, 63-22 two years ago in Newport when the Thoroughbreds entered the game with a 2-4 record while Lloyd came in 6-1. The contest was much closer last year as NewCath pulled away in the second half for a 22-7 win. Eric Turner is in his second season as head coach of the Juggernauts. He previously served as the Offensive Coordinator at Boone County. “We’re facing another team this week that thinks they’re pretty good,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “We have to get after it. I think we will. We had a good day of practice (Tuesday). Eric has done a great job with them. They play hard and do have some athletic ability.” The Thoroughbreds are a perfect 24-0 in district games dating back to 2006. They’ve won 16 straight against Lloyd Memorial dating back to 1991 and lead the all-time series, 31-6. “We don’t even mention that. I couldn’t have told you that stat,” Wagner said. “We just talk about a team that’s 4-0. They’re riding high and we have to make sure we take some of that wind out of their sails. That gets done by executing and playing hard on our end.” The Thoroughbreds did move the ball better in Saturday’s 34-13 loss to Dixie Heights. They’re back on the plus side rushing the ball as a team with a net yardage of 32. Junior Jacob Smith leads NewCath with 46 carries for 127 yards. “I think our offensive line is getting better every week playing more physical,” Smith said. “They’re showing it every game. We just have to find the holes and run harder each game learning from mistakes.” NewCath still struggled with quarterback sacks in the loss to Dixie Heights allowing 10. Some of them came on delayed blitzes. Thoroughbred Offensive Coordinator Dave Schneider said he expects Lloyd to put pressure on the NewCath offense in its 3-3-5 stack defense. “We have to get the ball out of our hands,” Schneider said. “Patrick (Henschen) struggles with that every once in a while but he’s working at it. He has to see the defense a little better, find who’s hot and get them the ball.” The Thoroughbreds have made things happen when the ball comes out quick. Henschen has completed 43-of-72 passes for 438 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior Brandon Gray continues to have a solid season with 22 catches for 195 yards. “We hope they gained some confidence and we’ll go from there,” Schneider said. “They played hard. We still have some work to do. But we’ll keep plugging away.” Teams have rushed for 410 yards and passed for 557 yards against the Juggernauts. Senior defensive lineman Sergio Gutierez and sophomore defensive back Justin Durham lead Lloyd with 23 tackles each. Lloyd’s defense has three interceptions and four fumble recoveries. Junior Eric Bruner anchors the Lloyd defensive line and senior Zach Riddle anchors the linebackers. The Thoroughbred 4-4 defense did give the Colonels some fits despite giving up some big plays. Junior Maleek Lawrence stopped a number of runs up the middle. Junior linebacker Kobe Tallon leads the Thoroughbreds with 36 tackles. NewCath recovered four Colonel fumbles. Senior defensive back Clint Bartels has one fumble recovery and an interception for the Thoroughbreds. Teams have rushed for 892 yards and passed for 671 yards against NewCath. The Thoroughbreds face a Juggernaut offense that has rushed for 855 yards and passed for 557. Senior Hayden Molitor has completed 36-of-54 passes for 523 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Durham leads Lloyd with 238 yards on 36 carries and six touchdowns with sophomore Lashunn Townsend going for 234 yards on 11 carries and four scores. Tallon said the Juggernauts like to run jet sweeps and also like to fake to the fullback before handing off to a tailback. They’ve had 17 different players carry the ball this year. “When they do the jet sweeps, we’re going to try to contain it,” Tallon said. “Our defensive ends will go out and force them back inside to our linebackers. That gives us a lot of chances to come up and make plays. We’re going to run around hitting people as hard as we can filling the holes.” Junior Charles Gaines leads Lloyd with 18 catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns. Townsend is second with five catches for 123 yards and two scores. The two teams will stay in the same district the next four years with Newport and Covington Holy Cross. Current district rival Bishop Brossart drops to 1A next season. Fort Thomas Sports: Why are the NewCath, Lloyd records potentially deceiving?