Friday, August 25, 2000
Fan's guide to N.Ky. football
By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
An A-to-Z fans' guide for the Northern Kentucky football season:
A is for AAA, the shrinking classification in Northern Kentucky. Only half of the familiar eight-team district which existed until last fall will remain come 2001: Covington Catholic, Highlands, Holmes and Scott.
B is for the Killer Bees: Beechwood, Bellevue and Boone County. Bet this bunch will be bullish. Beechwood and Bellevue will battle for Class A bragging rights; Boone has been building for a banner season.
C is for the city championship, which Newport and Newport Central Catholic settle tonight. After losing 11 consecutive meetings, Newport has won the Fireman Bell the past three years.
D is for dynasty, which Beechwood keeps building. The Tigers were Kentucky's Team of the '90s with a state-best 126-15 record (.894) in the decade. They are favored this fall to win their eighth Class A state title in 10 years.
E is for Eckstein. Dave Eckstein, who led Ryle to five playoff berths before resigning after the 1998 season, has returned as coach at Carroll County.
F is for family, which is behind Bellevue quarterback Nate Berkley's success. Berkley is on pace to become the school's career passing yardage leader thanks to older brothers Nick and Neil, former Bellevue QBs who attend practices to help Nate work on his passing.
G is for Grant County, which gets one last season of fine-tuning before being thrown into the razor-tough Northern Kentucky AAA district next fall.
H is for Holmes, Holy Cross and home games. The schools were to share Holmes' stadium this fall, but a fire that damaged bleachers means neither can play there until late September. Holmes may have to move only one game, but Holy Cross must move four.
I is for injuries, which could cripple a handful of teams with tiny rosters: Dayton (28 players), Lloyd (30), Newport (36) Grant County (33) and Scott (32).
J is for James Jackson. The Holmes junior is one of the area's top linebackers, totaling 127 tackles last year.
K is for the king: Timmy King. The Boone County senior tailback rushed for 1,697 yards and 21 TDs in a 1999 season shorted to 7 1/2 games because of injuries. Expect the 24th 1,000-yard season by a Boone rusher in the past 25 years.
L is for Lucas Bowl I: Roy Lucas Sr. coaching Newport against Roy Lucas Jr.'s Lloyd team Oct. 13 in Erlanger. Lucas Jr., who used to be his dad's assistant at Newport, didn't face his father the last three years as Simon Kenton's coach. But now he and Lucas Sr. are Class AA archrivals.
M is for Mike Nie. (Monty Python & the Holy Grail: “We are the knights who say "Nie!' ”) As important as he is as Beechwood's quarterback, he's perhaps more valuable at linebacker — the heart o
the Tiger defense.
N is for new coaches: Jeff Marksberry and Mike Borchers. Each had his coaching debut last Friday; Marksberry led Simon Kenton to a victory over Woodford County, but Borchers' Ludlow team lost to Paris.
O is for “old” Cardinal Stadium — at the Louisville fairgrounds — where the state football finals are still being held. After threats they might be moved, perhaps to the University of Louisville's new Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, fairgrounds officials updated their facility enough to retain the finals this fall.
P is for polls — specifically national ones — which Highlands will try to climb. The Bluebirds are in the top 10 of four different preseason ratings, standing as high as No. 4. Could a 15-0 season net a mythical national title?
Q is for questions. Can CovCath come back? Can Dixie Heights reload? Can Bellevue beat Beechwood again? Is this the year Simon Kenton or Campbell County break through? Can Conner be a sleeper surprise?
R is for road games, or the lack thereof. Highlands and Covington Catholic have just three road games; Dayton, Lloyd, Newport, Ryle, Simon Kenton and Grant County play only four. Beechwood, Bellevue and Scott each play six road games.
S is for Schneider. Bob Schneider has coached at Newport Central Catholic for 40 years. (40!) In 34 years as head coach, he is 233-153-3. He's the second-winningest active coach in the state, behind only Owensboro Catholic's Mojo Hollowell (282-150-6).
T is for the triple-option offense, which Dayton is installing this year to utilize speedy senior quarterback Scott Reckers.
U is for unanimous No. 1, Highlands. This promises to be a season not to be missed. With five sure-fire Division I signees, it is expected to become the first team to three-peat as Class AAA state champs.
V is for vindication, which Bellevue could gain only if it beats Beechwood in the playoffs. Last year, Bellevue won the regular-season meeting but lost the postseason rematch 35-0.
W is for wins, which Simon Kenton should rack up if Daniel Morrison continues his tear. After averaging 200 all-purpose yards per game last year, he rushed for 244 yards last week in a season-opening victory over Woodford County.
X is what to mark on Sept. 15 in the calendar for the titanic Highlands-Elder rematch. Elder won at home last year, but the Panthers have to come to Fort Thomas this time.
Y is for the Yeagle Factor. Beechwood coach Mike Yeagle continues to be a playoff perfectionist. The Tigers are 42-2 in the postseason in his nine years as coach, winning seven state titles.
Z is for zig-zag, which is what Newport Central Catholic junior tailback Steve Everson does across the field. He nearly broke the school's single-season rushing record last year in his first year as a starter, totaling 1,811 yards and 15 TDs in 12 games.
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