Highlands, NewCath renew soccer rivalry Saturday

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This matchup used to have plenty of implications for the old 19th District Tournament.

But the Kentucky High School Athletic Association shuffled around the districts making them similar to the basketball districts. Thus, the Highlands Bluebirds and Newport Central Catholic men’s soccer teams will battle each other mostly for pride during Saturday’s regular season matchup and for Ninth Region seedings in the District 36 championship game. District rivals Bellevue, Dayton and Newport do not field men’s soccer squads.

Highlands and NewCath battled Campbell County and Bishop Brossart to get to the 10th Region tournament in the old 19th District. Highlands eliminated NewCath in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006 and 2005 in the 19th semifinals.

Last year, Highlands won the regular-season meeting 3-1. But NewCath won the District Tournament and beat Covington Catholic to win the 10th Region title before losing 1-0 at Montgomery County in the first round of the state tournament.

NewCath eliminated Highlands, 1-0 in the 19th semifinals in 2004. Since then, it has been all Highlands. The Bluebirds are 10-0-2 against their rivals just two miles down the road during that time frame.

Both teams need a win in big ways. The Bluebirds are just 1-4-2 in their last seven games since starting the season 5-2, including big wins over Boone County and St. Henry. The Bluebirds are 6-6-2 overall.

“The season is going well,” said Matthew Winkler, Highlands head coach. “Sure, there are games that I think we should have won. Rebuilding each year is always a challenge and it takes time to find the right mix for everyone. Someone that might play center-mid in club might play defense in high school. I enjoy the group of guys that we have this year and hope that they continue to work hard. We both have high goals for the season and we intend to give it our best to meet these goals.”

Wednesday/Thursday Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds soccer team tied Simon Kenton, 2-2 Wednesday.

Michael Cirulli and Christian Austin scored goals for the Bluebirds. Colin Dean and Franklin Graves had assists for Highlands (6-6-2), and Nick Breslin had five saves in net.

Highlands takes on NewCath on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Tower Park.

NewCath soccer ties Conner:

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds soccer team tied the Conner Cougars, 1-1 Thursday.

Conner Guthier scored the lone goal for NewCath (2-5-4). Goalkeeper Nathan Grosser had five saves for the Thoroughbreds.

NewCath faces off against Highlands on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Cooper bests NCC volleyball:

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds saw their three-match winning streak snapped with a 25-23, 28-26 loss at Cooper on Thursday.

The usual three led the Lady Breds (8-14). Nikki Kiernan had 12 kills and Alyssa Maier recorded 18 assists. Teammate Maria Froendhoff added 16 digs.

NewCath plays in the Fall Classic at Mother of Mercy (Ohio) over the weekend.

NewCath opens District 6 action at Bishop Brossart

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds football team may still be favored to win another Class 2A, District 6 crown.

But they don’t plan on the other four teams handing it to them. That’s why they’ve always played a tough non-district schedule.

NewCath’s four non-district opponents are larger schools. NewCath faced three teams from Kentucky’s largest Class 6A, District 6 and another from Ohio Division III – Ohio’s third-largest class.

The Thoroughbreds finished 1-3 against that schedule. They lost two decisions by less than 10 points against Cincinnati McNicholas and Simon Kenton and lost 42-16 to Campbell County all after opening with a 37-22 win over Dixie Heights.

“High school football is all about the experience for these players,” said Eddie Eviston, NewCath head coach. “We are not helping that experience if we are not playing good, competitive football. I think our kids understand that our schedule offers the chance to play big, competitive schools and that we have to be at our best, and practice at our best in order to win those games. These games identify our weaknesses and strengths better than say an ‘easier’ opponent. Thus, it will only help us as we move forward.”

NewCath hopes that starts with Friday’s game at the Bishop Brossart Mustangs. Brossart is also 1-3 entering the game and on a three-game losing streak. The Mustangs started varsity action in 2007. They opened with a 42-20 win at Middletown (Ohio) Christian before losing to Bracken County, Dayton and Pendleton County.

Despite the three-game losing streak, the Thoroughbreds improved tremendously between the games against Campbell County and Simon Kenton. They had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth against the Pioneers, but fumbled the ball at the Simon Kenton 5 on 4th-and-2.

Three players saw their first action against Simon Kenton and three or four more are still rehabbing and trying to get back. One player that returned Saturday is senior offensive lineman and linebacker Brady Thacker.

“We’re able to get more people rotated in and get more (repetitions),” Thacker said. “But with the injuries, it’s helped us give the young guys some looks. We’re working hard and looking forward to every week. The coaches have been pushing us hard trying to make us better.”

Thacker said the Thoroughbred defense hopes to do a better job containing quarterbacks. Pioneer quarterback Brennan Kuntz hurt NCC breaking outside the pocket a couple times and completing passes downfield. He completed 17-of-30 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns.

NewCath’s 4-4 defense will face a spread Brossart offense that seems centered around senior running back Jacob Elbert. Elbert has 1,083 yards rushing on 106 attempts for an average of about 10.2 per carry and eight touchdowns. Opponents have outgained NCC, 364.75-319 in total offense on average.

Mustang junior quarterback Casey Pelgen has completed 23-of-49 passes for 316 yards, three interceptions and no touchdowns. Brossart’s leading receiver is junior Sean Tieman with nine catches for 181 yards.

“I think the biggest thing is that you really do not know what to expect,” Eviston said. “It seems as if they are still trying to identify who they are as a program. Thus, I am sure they are in a trial and error situation with who they have available and what style of play will stick.”

NewCath will counter with a spread attack. Quarterback Josh Cain has completed 60-of-96 passes for 695 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Dylan Hayes has 430 yards on 70 carries with seven touchdowns for an average of about 6.14 a carry. Leading receiver Mac Franzen has 20 catches for 340 yards for an average of 17 yards per catch.

The Mustangs run a 4-3 defense. Elbert leads Brossart defensively with 49 tackles.

Game time is 7 p.m. in Alexandria.

 

Highlands prepares for another big game vs. CovCath

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The date of Nov. 11, 2006 seems like ages ago.

The Highlands Bluebirds ventured to Covington Catholic and fell 25-15 in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs. The Colonels won the state championship weeks later in the final year before the Kentucky football playoffs expanded to six classes.

But since then, it has been all Blue and White. The Bluebirds have racked up seven consecutive over their arch-rivals going 77-2 since that day just more than 70 months ago. This includes two victories last year, 42-39 at CovCath in the regular season and 42-14 in Fort Thomas in the state quarterfinals en route to a fifth straight state championship. Highlands increased its all-time record to 41-17 against CovCath with those two wins.

The atmosphere at David Cecil Memorial Stadium should again be rocking Friday when the two Northern Kentucky football powers meet again. The Bluebirds enter the game with a perfect 4-0 mark and the Colonels come in at 4-1 in the Class 4A, Region 4, District 7 opener for both squads.

Covington Catholic’s lone loss came on Aug. 31, 27-11 at Cincinnati La Salle of the Greater Catholic League South Division. The Lancers used stellar defense to win the game and scored when senior defensive back Jaleel Hytchye intercepted CovCath quarterback Blake Bir and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown.

La Salle forced four Colonel turnovers in that game. Freshman running back Jeremy Larkin returned a punt 65 yards and defensive back Lemuel Weyer picked up a fumble and brought it back another 10 yards for two more Lancer touchdowns.

Playing in big games is nothing new for either squad. During the 77-2 run, Highlands also has huge wins over Greater Catholic League South powers Cincinnati Elder and Cincinnati St. Xavier. The Bluebirds opened the year with huge wins over Boyle County and Scott County. Since losing 60-37 in Fort Thomas on Aug. 24, Scott County has won three in a row over Harrison County (61-6), Madison Central (41-16) and Tates Creek (71-13) to move to 4-1 overall.

“We purposely try to play in big games to get ready for the big games,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands head coach. “So many guys on our team have been playing sports for so long. They’ve been good athletes and have played in championship games so they’re used to playing in big games.”

The best news for Highlands is the Bluebirds come in after playing their most complete game of the year in a 61-3 Homecoming domination of Mason County. Highlands increased its season averages to eight touchdowns, 56 points and 529 yards of offense per contest and also increased its average margin of victory to 32.5 points.

The Bluebirds hope to use their depth to win another big contest. Out of their spread offense, the Bluebirds have run for 1,164 yards and passed for another 952. Quarterback Donovan McCoy leads the balanced attack with 326 yards rushing on 35 carries with nine touchdowns for an average of just more than 9.3 a carry. He’s also completed 58-of-98 passes for 864 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Bluebirds fine-tuned their passing game against the Royals. McCoy completed 33-of-44 passes for 400 yards and six touchdowns. Highlands did not run the ball much until late in the game. The offensive line gave McCoy plenty of time to throw.

Fourteen different receives have catches for the Bluebirds. Luke Turner leads the way with 10 catches for 193 yards and Colin Seidl has nine for 136. Turner, Ryan Greene and Nick True have two touchdown receptions each.

“It throws (defenses) off a lot because they have to worry about the run and the pass,” said Brandon Hergott, Highlands junior wide receiver. “When we’re running up the middle, it makes teams tighten up their defense so we can throw the ball over the top. We go as hard as we can every play. That makes us so successful.”

Highlands ran the ball well against Boyle County and Scott County before reverting to a balanced attack against Louisville Western. The Bluebirds have four guys with more than 200 yards rushing. After McCoy, they are Zach Harris with 320 yards rushing on 50 carries with six touchdowns for an average of 6.4 per touch; Ryan Donovan, 217 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns for just more than 12 yards a carry; and Jaylen Hayes, 208 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns for an average of just more than 12.2 a carry.

Highlands will face a stingy Covington Catholic 3-3 stack defense. The Colonels have blanked three opponents allowing just 33 points this year for an average of 6.6 a contest. Sophomore linebacker Sam Burchell leads the Colonels with 41 tackles and senior defensive lineman Dan Hellman has 32. The Colonels have picked off four passes and recovered two fumbles.

“I’ve been real impressed with how they’ve played,” Mueller said. “Each guy is quick on the field and has been doing his job. They’re playing a great as a team. You can see football means a lot to them.”

The Bluebird 3-4 defense squares off against a prolific CovCath spread offense led by Bir. Bir is being recruited by Northwestern University, Duke Univeristy, Indiana University and Mississippi State. Bir has completed 82-of-144 passes for 1,315 yards and 17 touchdowns.

“We just have to keep our depth and keep everything in front of us,” said Griffin Urlage, Highlands sophomore defensive back. “Their receivers are very good and (Bir) is really good. (Bir) has a really good arm and he’s really accurate. We have to know who we’re covering and know our keys.”

Eleven different receivers have catches for CovCath. Junior Evan Braun leads the way with 19 catches for 328 yards with three touchdowns and senior Ethan Egbers has five catches for 305 yards and three touchdowns.

Bir is also dangerous on the ground. He ran some quarterback draws against Campbell County. He has 120 yards rushing on 25 carries for an average of 4.8 per carry.

“It’s difficult when you’re playing a quarterback who can do so many things,” Mueller said. “He throws it short and deep well. He also runs it well so you have to play great team defense.”

The Colonels thought Sam Dressman would emerge as a solid running threat in place of the graduated Gabe Gray. Dressman has just 40 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. Bir’s younger brother Luke and Bobby Beatrice have carried the load so far running the ball. Beatrice has 214 yards on 42 rushes and a touchdown averaging just more than five per attempt and Luke Bir has 208 yards on 29 carries for an average of just more than 7.1 per attempt. Beatrice and Luke Bir have one rushing touchdown a piece.

The Highlands defense has done a good job recording turnovers all season. The offense constantly turns the turnovers into points. The Bluebirds scored a combined 39 points off turnovers against Boyle County and Scott County.

Blake Schutte leads Highlands with two interceptions. Urlage had one against Mason County last week.

Game time is 7 p.m. in Fort Thomas.

NCC volleyball wins 15th straight over Highlands

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

NEWPORT – It had been a while since the hosts lost a game to their rivals, let alone a match.

That changed in the first game when the Highlands Ladybirds won 25-17 to take their first game over the Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds since the 2008 District 35 Tournament. But the Lady Breds came back and flexed their old muscles winning the next three games, 25-8, 25-19, 25-15 to win their 15th straight over their rivals Tuesday. Highlands last beat NewCath in 2005.

The Lady Breds moved to 8-13 with their third straight win and the Ladybirds dropped to 8-12 with their fourth straight loss. NewCath head coach Vicki Fleissner, a 1985 Highlands graduate, moved to 8-0 against her alma mater.

“We were shaky in that first game,” Fleissner said. “We weren’t generating anything on offense. We took charge from there. It was a great, balanced attack.”

Both teams used a 5-1 attack. NewCath did better than Highlands in many aspects in the last three games. Setter Alyssa Maier settled down and recorded 26 of her team’s 31 assists and got seven hitters involved.

“I think we shut down more than anything,” said Whitney Mulroney, Highlands head coach. “I think they got so excited and overwhelmed that they won the first game that the emotions confided in them and they didn’t know what to do.”

NewCath added 31 kills, nine blocks and 12 aces. Nikki Kiernan took over at the net for NewCath during that run and libero Maria Froendhoff made a number of digs. Kiernan finished with 12 kills and seven blocks. Molly Mertle and Whitney Fields added seven and six kills respectively with Froendhoff and Fields tallying four aces a piece.

“They key (to good setting) is knowing your hitters in what they like and where to set the ball,” Maier said. “We have been clicking more at practice. That’s helped us push forward.”

Highlands had 20 kills, 17 assists, nine blocks and six aces. Jessica Ginter and Kaitlin Hall once again had good games for Highlands. Ginter had eight kills and Hall recorded 15 assists.

“We weren’t focuse on one hitter because they have several good hitters,” Fleissner said. “So we don’t really key on one. They were trying to pick apart the middle. We did a better job covering the middle (after the first game).”

Highlands came out and led 6-0 to start the first game. NewCath called timeout and took the lead briefly. Highlands finished the game with a 9-1 run. Hall had a block for a kill during the run and Frances Tracy landed an ace for Highlands.

“You still have to understand there is a task at hand,” Mulroney said. “There were still at least two games left to not only play, but to win the match. They don’t have that experience yet to do that in a varsity game.”

NewCath hit the ball at better angles and serve-received a lot better starting in the second game. The Lady Breds used two 6-0 runs to pull away in the second game. NewCath often faked to Kiernan and Fields landed kills down the lines.

The second and third games were closer. But NewCath used an 8-0 run to go up 15-5 in the third game and scored the first six points of the fourth game. The Lady Breds also scored  five in a row toward the end of the fourth game.

Newport Central Catholic travels to Cooper at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Highlands plays in its own Cake Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Tuesday Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

 

The Highlands Bluebirds soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to the Bishop Brossart Mustangs at Tower Park on Tuesday. Brossart’s Jordan Frommeyer scored the game’s lone goal in the second half.

The Bluebirds fell to 6-6-1 and the Mustangs improved to 12-1. Highlands is 1-4-1 in its last six contests since start the season 3-0.

Both teams got off four shots. Sophomore Nick Breslin saved three for the Bluebirds.

Highlands travels to Independence to take on Simon Kenton at 7 p.m. tonight.

NewCath ties Cooper:

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds traveled to Cooper and tied the Jaguars, 2-2 Tuesday.

Matt Tolle and Sam Barth scored goals for NCC (2-5-3) and Zane Ross scored both goals for Cooper (7-5-1). Tolle has five goals in three games. The Thoroughbreds outshot the Jaguars, 17-6.

NewCath travels to Conner for a 7 p.m. match Thursday.

Lady Breds give defending state champs good game:

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds put up a fight against the defending state champion Notre Dame Pandas (12-2-1), but came up short 3-1.

NewCath (9-3-1) received its lone goal from MiKayla Seibert. Goalkeeper Erin Ackerson made four saves.

NewCath travels to Winchester to face George Rogers Clark at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Volleyball teams kick off rivalry week and a half

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The electricity really seems to ride high more often than not when district rivals Highlands and Newport Central Catholic take the field together.

That could again be the case when the volleyball and soccer teams take the field over the next nine days. Albeit, one matchup is more even than in years past and the other two do not have as much riding on the line. But those games could still set a tone for the postseason tournaments in October. This is the first part in a series of three.

Volleyball on Tuesday at Newport Central Catholic at 7:30 p.m.

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association split volleyball into Regions starting in 2003.

Between 2003 and 2011, the Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds found themselves in the 10th Region and NewCath won it seven of those nine years, including the previous six. The only years the Lady Breds did not win it were 2004 and 2005.

The Ladybirds won it in 2004 and lost to state power Louisville Assumption in the second round of the state tournament. NewCath drove to the state semifinals in 2008 and 2009.

During those years, Highlands and NewCath met for the Region 10 crowns in 2003, 2004 and 2010. In recent years, the Lady Breds dominated the rivalry winning the last 14 dating back to a Highlands 2-1 victory (25-23, 21-25, 25-21) on Sept. 20, 2005. Current head coaches Whitney Mulroney of Highlands and Vicki Fleissner of Newport Central Catholic took over as head coaches in 2009.

Both teams find themselves below .500 this year struggling with consistency. NewCath is 7-13 with a young team and Highlands is 8-11 and lost its fourth in a row at Cincinnati Anderson on Monday, 3-0 in a five-set match. Both teams also find themselves in Region 9 because of the realignment this year with the likes of state powers Notre Dame, St. Henry and Ryle.

Highlands has five seniors, but sophomore setter Kaitlin Hall is the lone returning starter from last year’s team that won just eight games. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Ginter has emerged as a big threat in Highlands’ 5-1 attack and senior defensive specialist Katie Van Curen often leads the team in digs.

“My girls are very smart and very school-oriented, which has its definite positives and also has its negatives,” Mulroney said. “They overanalyze everything and want to know exactly what they did wrong and how to fix it when in reality, they need to just play. Don’t think about what happened, move on to the next point and work on doing everything possible to win that next point. If we keep working hard and staying positive, things are bound to go our way.”

The Ladybirds do have some big wins this year. They beat 2011 state runner-up Greenwood en route to a fourth-place finish out of 10 teams in the September Slam Tournament.

“I think we can really improve on communicating more as a team,” Hall said. “We’re so individuals on the court sometimes. I think at the end of the day, we really need to come together.”

The Lady Breds are not used to this record. But they have played a tough schedule and have just one senior this year in defensive specialist and lone returning starter Maria Froendhoff. They graduated a number of key players from the previous couple years such as Jamie Kohls and Taylor Snyder, now at Northern Kentucky University. NewCath finished 24-7 last year and won its seventh straight district title.

“I think they are finally starting to come together,” Fleissner said. “They’ve shown a lot of good things. We’re still working on getting rid of some bad habits.”

Froendhoff has taken it upon herself to lead. The Lady Breds did see junior Nikki Kiernan return after a one-year absence. She often leads the team in kills and setter Alyssa Maier often leads the team in assists.

“I’m definitely always talking to my teammates letting them know what is going on and what needs to happen,” Froendhoff said. “I’m keeping positive definitely because you can’t go very far with a negative attitude.”

Both head coaches know that teams need to play with emotion, but not get emotional in games like this. The teams know each other really well.

“I think with this group of girls, I have to make sure that EVERY game they are playing with emotion and not getting emotional,” Mulroney said. “With the lack of varsity experience, emotions always run high because the girls try so hard to be perfect and win. This rivalry week is big for us because this is the first year in a long time that we have a true chance at beating our biggest rival. The girls are excited and ready to play hard for a victory. It should be a really good game.”

Fleissner has a personal incentive to win. Fleissner is a Highlands graduate and is 7-0 against her alma mater.

“They know what is at stake,” Fleissner said. “They see these kids through town. But you do have to contain that when you’re on the floor. That’s a hard thing to manage because they do get so passionate about playing them. It can get away from that.”

The District 36 Tournament is at Newport High this year. Both teams come into Tuesday’s game 2-0 in loop play. The tournament winner could avoid Ryle, St. Henry and Notre Dame in the first round of the tournament.

The mens soccer teams face off Saturday at 3 p.m. and the womens’ teams square off on Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Those previews will come at later dates.