Weyer helps Thoroughbreds to state tournament win

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. NewCath senior Ben Weyer goes up for two of his 19 points in the first round of the state tournament Wednesday at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Fort Thomas native helped the Thoroughbreds to their first state tournament win since 1975.

Ben Weyer helped the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds basketball team to their first state tournament win since 1975 with a convincing 48-33 win over 7th Region champion Louisville Trinity on Wednesday.

Highlands falls to Trinity, NCC beats Holmes in scrimmages

G. Michael Graham Photo. The Highlands defense pursues Trinity quarterback Reggie Bonnafon in Friday's scrimmage at Marshall Stadium. The Shamrocks won the three-quarter scrimmage, 48-21. Both teams are tied for the most state championships in Kentucky with 22 each.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

LOUISVILLE – Scrimmaging the highly-ranked Louisville Trinity Shamrocks definitely prepares you for the regular season.

It was not as bad as last year’s 63-31 Shamrock victory. But Trinity still won 48-21 in three quarters worth of action Friday at Marshall Stadium. The Shamrocks have won all four scrimmages in four years between the two teams that share the state record of 22 state football championships. Trinity entered the season ranked second in the USA Today Preseason Top 25 poll.

Trinity outgained Highlands, 526-255 in total offense mostly through the air. Shamrock standout quarterback Reggie Bonnafon completed 22-of-28 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns against a banged-up Bluebird secondary. Highlands played most of the scrimmage without junior defensive backs Andrew Abner and Griffin Urlage. Abner could be seen on crutches on the sidelines when the junior varsity and freshmen teams scrimmaged on different sides of the field.

“If we prepare for (Bonnafon more), we do special things for him,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “But we just went out and played our base (defense). We have a lot of respect for them. They’re a heck of a football team.”

Cody Swabek led Trinity with 10 catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Teammate C.J. Ott had six catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

“We now understand what it’s like going against a team faster than us,” said James Hinkel, Highlands junior defensive back. “We have to execute and make sure we stand with our feet under us. We need to make sure we stay square with (opponents) and be ready to move where they move.”

Offensively, Highlands put up 255 yards of total offense, but could not establish a consistent running game against Trinity netting 10 yards. Trinity sacked Highlands quarterback Drew Houliston several times.

Houliston completed 14-of-29 passes for 245 yards. Junior Jensen Feggins led Highlands with four catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Feggins broke several tackles on his touchdown reception.

“It teaches us that we need to be a lot quicker for teams that are going to be close or even with us, maybe even better,” said Kyler Dalton, Highlands junior offensive lineman. “We need to keep our feet moving and keep the (defensive) linemen out of Drew’s face to give him time to throw.”

Highlands did make a lot of plays defensively. Senior standout lineman Seth Hope had two tackles for a loss and junior linebacker Jacob Noe recovered a fumble.

“We got better (Friday) than we had all year. It’s a thing where you get a lot of plays on film and you go back and look at them and learn how you did,” Mueller said. “We play as hard as we can, but we don’t play the scrimmage like a game. We don’t prepare for them like a game. Neither do they. But it’s a valuable day for us.”

Trinity led 14-0 after the first quarter and 21-0 before Highlands scored on a Feggins 23-yard touchdown reception. Following another Trinity score, Houliston completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Hergott. The Shamrocks led 35-14 after two quarters.

The Bluebirds did have a chance to score in the first quarter. But they did not run their traditional full-house goal-line formation and could not punch it in.  

Trinity also won the third quarter 13-7. Zach Harris scored from three yards out with 3:50 left in the stanza.

Highlands opens the season in a week against the University Christian (Fla.) Fighting Christians on ESPNU. Game time is 3:30 p.m.

Injuries:

Highlands did see several players not play because of injuries. Senior offensive lineman Johnny Kemplin said he’s out for the year because of back issues.

Newport Central Catholic shuts out Holmes, 24-0:

The Thoroughbreds shut out the Bulldogs in the scrimmage at Thomas More College on Friday.

The varsity teams played for 2.5 quarters then the reserves took the field. Both teams have new head coaches in Dan Wagner at Newport Central Catholic and Ben Nevels at Holmes.

The Thoroughbreds knew they had to contain Holmes senior standout running back Jonathon Scruggs. The Bulldogs displayed more one and two-back shotgun sets unlike the Diamond formation they ran last year.

“We did okay with that,” Wagner said. “We bottled (Scruggs) up for the most part. You can’t do that with one guy. You need all 11 there. We made sure he went side-to-side and not straight ahead.”

NewCath scored its three touchdowns on runs. Quarterback Mac Franzen broke off a 45-yard touchdown run with Jack Sutkamp and Kalvin Moore adding the other two. John Caudill added a 32-yard field goal.

“We obviously have a lot of work to do,” Wagner said. “As long as we keep improving, we could be okay. We’ll see how it goes.”

NewCath opens the season Friday against Ashland Blazer in Newport. Game time is 7 p.m.

Highlands falls to Trinity on Breat Cancer Awareness Day

G. Michael Graham Photo. Many Highlands fans came wearing pink to Monday's Highlands-Trinity baseball game in support of Tammy Schroder and Breast Cancer Awareness Day. The Bluebirds fell to the Shamrocks, 12-10.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

All over Highlands Park, Highlands Bluebirds supporters wore pink shirts in support of Tammy Schroder.

Schroder, mother of Highlands senior baseball and football player Reid Schroder, is currently battling Cancer. Thus, the Highlands supporters wore pink in support of her in the Breast Cancer Awareness game.

The Bluebirds (16-16) tried to earn a victory in her honor. But they came up shot, 12-10 largely in part to the Shamrocks scoring 11 runs in the third inning.

In that rough inning, Trinity took advantage of five hits, four walks and two Highlands errors. A few of those walks came on 3-2 pitches on close calls on the corner of the plate that seemed to be knee level and right on the edge of the strike zone.

“You’re going to have days like that,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands head coach. “We tell the guys you’re not going to have your best stuff all the time. You’re going to figure out ways to make pitches and get out of innings. That’s when you have to play really good defense. We didn’t help them by not making a couple plays.”

Sean Dugaford struck the big blow in that inning with a three-run home run after two of those walks for Trinity. That gave the Shamrocks a 12-6 advantage. Dugaford finished 2-of-5 with four runs batted in and two runs scored.

Highlands scored back some of those runs scoring three in the third and another in the sixth. But the Bluebirds could not recover after losing the 6-1 advantage.

Trinity outhit Highlands, 12-10. Brady Pfaadt, Tony Piccirilli and Logan Porter also had two hits each for the Shamrocks. Justin Howard added two RBI with Pfaadt, Piccirilli and Porter scoring two runs each.

Hector Molina and Jake Whitford both had good games at the plate to lead Highlands. Whitford finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Molina finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Jake Lester added two runs for the Bluebirds.

Molina and Whitford started off the scoring with two runs in the first. They reached on errors and ultimately scored.

Highland added four runs in the second after Trinity scored once in the second. Molina doubled home Jake Heck and Lester before Whitford sinled home Colin Seidl and Whitford scored on an error.

After Trinity’s big inning, Highlands scored three times to trim the margin to 12-9. Seidl singled in Murray and Molina drew a bases-loaded walk to score Evan Allen before Whitford hit a sacrifice fly to score Lester.

The final run for the Bluebirds came in the sixth. Quentin Murray singled in Whitford.

Grant Rodeo picked up the win for Trinity and Jake Liggett took the loss. Rodeo retired the side in the seventh for the Shamrocks.

“(Rodeo) threw strikes and they played defense behind him,” Baioni said. “We still hit some balls hard that they made plays on even when we got runners on and kept those guys from scoring.”

Highlands travels to Lloyd Memorial on Tuesday. Game time is 5 p.m.

Highlands goes 1-2 at Lawrence County

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds baseball team started the season 1-2 with three games at Lawrence County on Saturday.

Highlands opened the season with a 3-2 loss in extra innings to the host Bulldogs. Jake Heck (0-1) took the loss for the Bluebirds.

Jake Whitford and Jake Lester turned in multi-hit games for Highlands. They both finished 2-for-3 at the plate.

Brandon Stevens picked up the win for Lawrence County. Ryan Kingsmore led the Bulldogs at the plate going 3-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Teammate Adam Cavins followed going 2-for-3 with a walk.

Highlands turned around and beat the Capital Cougars of Charleston, West Virginia, 13-6. Ben Vermeil (1-0) picked up the win for the Bluebirds.

Lester finished 2-for-2 with two walks reaching in all four plate appearances for Highlands. D.J. Mills followed going 2-for-3 with a double, walk and three RBI with Hector Molina going 2-for-4. Colin “Frog” Seidl added two walks, three runs and two stolen bases for Highlands with Quentin Murray and Whitford scoring two runs each. Whitford added two walks and Gabe Schultz had a triple.

Highlands concluded the day with a 3-1 loss to the Prestonsburg Blackcats. Kenny Ball (0-1) took the loss for the Bluebirds.

Highlands returns to action Monday at 5 p.m. The Bluebirds face the Holmes Bulldogs to open 9th Region action.

NewCath baseball drops two in Lexington:

The Thoroughbreds opened their season Saturday with two lopsided losses at Lexington Catholic All-Catholic Tournament.

The host Knights handed the Thoroughbreds a 9-0 defeat to open the season. NewCath recorded just one hit by Josh Cain.

On the other side, the Knights had just four hits but took advantage of seven NewCath walks and two errors. They scored six earned runs.

Connor Bartels took the loss for the Thoroughbreds. He allowed struck out three and allowed just one hit and two earned runs in three innings.

The Thoroughbreds then lost 16-6 to the Trinity Shamrocks. Cain took the loss for NewCath. He pitched three innings allowing just one earned run to go with four walks and one strikeout.

The game actually stayed close until the sixth inning. NewCath trailed just 7-6 entering the fifth when the Shamrocks scored four runs before adding six more in the sixth.

Cain, Mitch Pangallo and Zach Pangallo all had two hits each for the Thoroughbreds. Cain scored twice and had two RBI.

Nolan May recorded the win for Trinity. Justin Howard, Tyler Marshall, Hill Connor, Tyler Hunt, Bobby Graven and Brady Pfaadt had two hits each for the Shamrocks. The outhit the Thoroughbreds, 15-9.

NewCath plays host to Woodford County on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Freedom Park.

Defending state champs knock off NCC

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The defending state champions handed the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds basketball team its first loss of the year Friday.

The Louisville Trinity Shamrocks (10-3) came up Interstate 71 and defeated the Thoroughbreds (12-1), 59-42. Trinity has lost just once to a Kentucky team this year, 53-51 to Lexington Henry Clay at the Eastern Kentucky EXPO Center on Dec. 15.

“They’re just the real deal,” said Grant Brannen, NewCath head coach. “You have to take care of the ball against them. When you have 20 turnovers, you’re probably not going to win the ballgame.”

The Thoroughbreds could not stop Darryl Hicks and Craig Owens. Hicks scored 27 and Owens added 13 as the Shamrocks led 31-22 at halftime.

Drew McDonald led NewCath with 12 points. Teammates Jake Schulte and Michael Bueter followed with eight each.

The Thoroughbreds play again Thursday against 13-1 Covington Catholic at home. Game time is 7:30 p.m.