NKYRaider

I heard Ryle’s A and B teams made it to the finals at Woodford County’s 7v7 tournament. Not sure of the scores and who all was there, but sounds like a fun day for Raider Nation!

Congrats to Ryle’s Freshman team with a big win over Highlands in Ft Thomas.

Good group of talented, high quality kids right there. We miss the Union Raider kids, but certainly are excited to watch them develop. Also looking forward to watching Riegler play more this year. He's another young stud for Beechwood.

Ryle will have a group of Frosh from their back to back state middle school championship team. Nate Verax QB/S, Dylan Lee WR/DB, Jacob Savage RB/LB, Gavin Lyons RB/LB, Anthony Coppola WR/DB, Kai Workman TE/DE Current Frosh: LJ Warner, Ryan Handorf, Bo Faul, Landon Lorms, Drake Meadows, Dillon Smith

Gray lost to CC and Ockerman, but beat Beechwood. I'd go: Top Tier: Highlands, Ockerman, CC Second Tier: Gray, Beechwood

Honoring one of the best Youth/Middle School teams to ever do it on NKY. Dismantled the NKYFL for 4 years before going undefeated in 7th and 8th grade and winning 2 state championships. Future is bright with a younger Verax, Savage, Lee, Lyons + studs like Maher, Coppola, Brown, Workman, Jenkins, Schultz, and Gay. Gonna be a hard out for years to come!

Well duh, it is Trinity.

Congrats to the Union Raider 8th grade team for winning the 8th Grade D1 MS State Championship today 16-6 over Johnson County. This group of kids have gone undefeated all 6 years (4 years in NKYFL) and 2 years in KYMSAA. Congrats to Head Coach Matt Rabe and his staff for an incredible season!

Less inclusive? How so? Every kid in Boone Cty MS has a team to play for, just like in Kenton or Campbell. And hard to call a team a feeder when there is open enrollment in Kenton Co. How can they know where they’re going to HS? I understand the occasional Cov or Beechwood departure, but Kenton County is the Wild Wild West. Kids can go anywhere.

Union Raiders has always been all Ryle kids from the start. Not sure where you’re getting your information. And it is hypocritical to allow Cov/Newcath IN the league, but won’t even allow a coach from Kenton Co to play a BC school. Sorry, but the explanation of “designated schools” sounds silly. What’s the difference between that and what the Boone teams are doing?? Valid point regarding basketball, but again, Union Raiders was formed to develop players that would ultimately be at Ryle. That’s the main goal. That cannot be done in the NKMSAA. That’s not being rigid, that’s sticking with your core values and mission. The other component that we haven’t discussed is the impact of open enrollment in Kenton Co. What’s the point in having a feeder MS program if there is open enrollment in HS? Impossible to predict where kids will end up.

The primary issue seems to be the difference between how Boone Cty Middle schools are districted vs neighboring counties. That seems to really bother some folks in Kenton County. To say that the Boone teams are pulling kids from “all over Boone County” is inaccurate. They are playing kids that are districted to go to Ryle/Boone County/Cooper/or Conner. There are geographical boundaries (unlike the private schools that are already in the NKMSAA). Seems hypocritical if you ask me. The concept of including ALL the MS kids that will attend one HS to form a team isn’t a new one. In short, that’s what Boone teams are doing. If Boone did what you suggested, there would be no true “feeder” teams. Just a hodgepodge of kids that would splt up when they go to HS. But back to my original point, no offense, but I don’t think any team from Boone want to join NKMSAA from what I gathered. They seem very happy with the flexibility to manage their teams and schedules by their own rules. I just believe it’s silly if NKMSAA or Kenton Co (or whoever) to implement rules that stonewalls a team from one league to play one from another. 1000 people can come on here and say “we’ll play anyone anywhere” but unfortunately, that is not permitted, and that is NOT because of the Boone Cty teams and the Norseman league.

I don’t recall anyone accusing them of being scared. I was addressing the absurd rule. I wasn’t aware it was only Kenton County. Regardless, that’s still impacts a good % of the overall teams in the league. My question is, what is the difference between Cov Cath/New Cath teams and Conner? I assume Woodland can play Cov and New Cath, correct? Don’t those 2 teams pull from multiple schools? Not sure when/where/why the rule was created, but wish it would be removed. We shouldn’t have rules restricting games. We had to deal with similar rules in the NKYFL. Dumb.

Union Raiders 8th played Withrow tonight to a 20-20 tie at Withrow. Definitely the best MS football game I’ve ever watched. We had our chances to win in the end, but a tie felt right. Both teams battled to the end. Really cool seeing our kids squared up with Chris Henry’s kids all while Adam Jones coaching from their sidelines. Our kids all got pics w/ him afterwards. First time at Withrow. What an incredible venue.

We’ve never played more than 1 game during a week. If you want to play better teams, sometimes you have to travel. Our kids love it. Only the Pulaski game was more than an hour drive. I’d rather spend an extra couple hours driving to good comp than play a lopsided game close.

I certainly didn’t imply they were scared to play, but we offered a scrimmage during the week or weekend for a 2 week stretch and was told no. Wasn’t really given a reason. We tried to play the James St James as well, and it didn’t work out. I believe they said they can only play 1 game per week, so maybe that’s why Cov couldn’t. Not sure.

I was told this year by a coach who’s been in the NKMSAA for a very long time that no Kenton Co team can play us. I still have the text. Maybe he’s wrong, but I assure you he was very certain they can’t. We like having the flexibility to play any team in the state and across the river. This year we’ll play Elkhorn, Scott County, North Pulaski, East Central, and Withrow to go along w/ our Norseman schedule. Hard to do that when you’re boxed into a league w/ so many teams. Again, I’m not saying one is better or worse. I’d argue the competition level is traditionally better throughout the state than what NKMSAA offers, but that varies from year to year. It seems to be working out for both leagues. I just wish we could work things out for add on games. We tried to play multiple teams from NKMSAA for a either a weekday or weekend game for a 2 week stretch. Nobody could or would.

And we asked CovCath, they refused. We opted to play Withrow instead.

Union Raiders MS has a great schedule. We don’t NEED to play any team from the NKMSAA either. I just think it’s silly that most from the league won’t even scrimmage us. I was told by a coach that no teams from Kenton County can play us because we’re perceived as a “select” team, which isn’t accurate. And I agree that the NKYFL isn’t apples to apples, but it isn’t too far off. It’s NKY football teams playing one another. Restricting teams from doing so is absurd. Can’t be afraid to play different competition, regardless how good they are or where they pull the kids from.

I believe most MS teams start as a feeder program to a HS. As mentioned, Boone Cty Middle Schools have some overlapping boundaries. For instance, Ockerman feeds Boone Cty, Cooper, and Ryle. I think it’s a little silly, but explainable. What isn’t explainable is why teams from NKMSFL refuse to play Union Raiders at the MS level when they’ve been playing them for years in the NKYFL and will again in HS.

Great win for Ryle. Score could/should have been worse. They dominated the trenches.

Yes, 3 ended up at Beechwood, though. Ryle also have multiple 5th year Frosh who only play on JV and Varsity with a few key injuries. Could have helped them last night vs a quality Beechwood team.

Ugh. Union Raiders 7th and 8th grade is now looking for a game this Saturday the 18th. We have the field in the evening. We’re open to any scrimmage format, just trying to get a game after another team cancelled on us.

Union Raiders 8th beat Boone Cty 56-0 Union Raiders 7th beat Boone Cty 40-6 I’m looking for scrimmages for the Union Raiders backup 8th grade team. Mostly 1st year players. Ideally NKY area. Please PM me if interested. Union Raiders 8th grade team has an opening the week of Oct 7th. Looking for a top-tier team to play. Will travel. Please PM me if interested.

I'd love for all the scores around the state, but thanks for sharing. Union Raiders 8th is 3-0 w/ wins over Elkhorn 50-6, North Pulaski 34-12, Scott County 36-12. 7th is 2-1 w/ big wins over Elkhorn and Scott County. Lost big to really good North Pulaski team.

Would love for someone to figure out how to run a MS Football League in KY. We’re entering week 4 and still no scores posted anywhere.