NKYCoach859

Cooper definitely had their chances. Got stuffed on 4th and inches in the first half, and I believe had the ball in the red zone two other times but couldn't punch it in. A lot of credit to the Ryle defense. They gave up some yards but clamped down when they had to. A lot to learn from and build on by both teams. Great game to watch and both teams played their tails off.

Play of the game had to come late in the 4th. Cooper punches it in, forces a 3 and out. Ryle's punter (it looked like #21 but I can't confirm) was standing at the 10 and had the ball roll to him but scooped it up and ran it for a first down. A great battle by both teams.

The stream ended before the game did but I believe Ryle will be able to hang on and run out the clock. If anyone can confirm the final score that would be great. I think it will end up being Ryle 14 Cooper 7.

Cooper forces a 3 and out. Ryle snap on the punt bounces and the punter runs it for a first down. 2:30 left in the game. Ryle still up 14-7.

Cooper marches right back down the field after the Ryle TD and punches one in of their own on a 1 yard run by Tye. Ryle leads Cooper 14-7 with around 5 minutes left in the game.

Ryle puts a nice drive together and punches it in. Ryle over Cooper 14-0 with about 9 minutes to go in the 4th.

Halftime at Cooper High School. Ryle leads Cooper by a score of 8-0. There have been some big momentum plays in this game so far but both defensive units are playing good football. Cooper will receive the kick to start the 2nd half. I will try to continue to post some periodic updates.

It has been a good first half of football for these two teams. Ryle picked off a screen pass and took it all the way down to the red zone for their first score. Defensively, Cooper has been more than solid. Cooper has had a few chances to get on the board but credit to Ryle's D. They are definitely playing a bend but don't break mentality. Ryle still leads 8-0. 2:30 left in 2Q.

8-0 Ryle late in the 2nd quarter. Ryle just had a stop on 4th and inches.

They have a really good, young, Girls Basketball coach. Would he translate well to the boys side, or would he even be interested?

Nice to see Cooper battle and keep it close. Is it safe to say if this group stays together that Cooper has to be a real threat to win the state title in the next 2-3 years? I realize that is the "expectation" or goal for every team every year, but realistically, these Lady Jags have everything they need. Playing primarily all 9th and 10th graders with a great coach that's finally getting his chance to run his own program? Can't forget to give props to Ryle. They have a very talented team. Good luck to both of these teams in the region. I think both of these teams should make some noise in the region!

Mark Peach would be a pretty good candidate, but I feel like Highlands should be able to get a better coach. Earlier in the discussion, there were some NKY coaches mentioned and they were shot down with a resume that does not live up to what Highlands was expecting. Can someone give a run down of Coach Peach. I know he was at Anderson County and made one state final, if I remember correctly. What makes him a potential candidate that Highlands fans would be excited about. I do remember he was in the cross district to NKY 5A district from 2011-2015 and did not have a ton of success against that district.

This is all speculation on my end, but I wonder if the amount of money that programs provide for the athletic funds have anything to do with it? I know some others have mentioned it, but there is a reason at the college ranks that your Men's Basketball Coach makes SIGNIFICANTLY more than the Men's Tennis Coach or Baseball Coach, etc. In pretty much every high school, I would guess that football brings in the most, with boys basketball as a second. Now, I am sure there are some smaller schools where that may not be the case, or the occasional 35 time state champion soccer program that everyone comes to watch. Hopefully, you get where I am going with this. Just a thought...

You would have to think a Ryle, Dixie, Campbell or another NKY team that should be a good game for the Birds would be in there. It just makes sense, if it fit into the schools schedule. Dixie and Ryle next year would both be really solid games for Highlands next year. (I do not know enough about what Campbell has returning to know how good of a matchup that would be.)

What about Coach Lickert's resume stands out and makes people feel like he would be a good hire at Highlands? Just curious.

I am only inquiring, not making an assumption, but does anyone know how many coaches in NKY applied for the job? All I have heard is one but granted I have no inside knowledge. Could that be telling if Coach Lickert is the only coach that applied/interviewed? Again, just bringing up the topic of conversation, not insinuating anything.

Correct. Any word out of Highlands?

New head coach is Justin Holthaus. Comes over to the girls side after serving 11 years as an assistant with the boys basketball program at Cooper.

Did not see a thread for this opening night game in Alexandria on Friday. What are everyone's thoughts?

Jeremiah Lee - WR/QB/ATH - Cooper High School Small in stature but the kid is a threat to score every time he touches the ball!

Beechwood/Conner could be a really good 1st round matchup and I think Cooper/St. Henry could also be very interesting as well!

Conner got off to a very quick start going up 9-0 and Cooper could never recover. Would get it to 5 or so and Conner would stretch it back out to 8-10. Great game and congrats to Conner!

If Conner plays like they did last night, I love the Jags chances. Boone gave them everything they wanted for about 3.5 quarters. I expect a great game tomorrow night. Conner may win, but I would not expect it to be by a very big margin.

Jennings hits a 3 with 2 seconds left to give the Jags the win! Great game by both teams! It was a battle. Cooper advances to play Conner in the championship game Friday night at 7:00 PM.

Congrats to Ryle. They were the better team, obviously, and most had little doubt they would win this one. I do want to say, though, that Cooper Girls Basketball is going to be fun to watch over the next few years. The 3 best players on their roster this year were freshman, freshman (tore ACL early in the season), and an 8th grader! This team could be really, really good in two years. Congrats to both teams on representing your school's the right way. Back to the game...Ryle/Conner should be really fun to watch tomorrow night