Highlands travels to Trinity for annual scrimmage; NC faces Holmes

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It may be just a scrimmage.

But the Highlands Bluebirds will be taking the trip to Louisville Trinity seriously. After all, it will feature the two teams tied for the Kentucky state record of 22 state championships each for the fourth consecutive season.

Highlands is looking for its first win in the series. The Shamrocks won the previous three scrimmages, including a 63-31 verdict last year in Fort Thomas. Trinity led 51-0 at halftime. The closest Highlands came to beating Trinity was 2010 when the Shamrocks edged the Bluebirds, 49-42 in Fort Thomas. That may have some people concerned that some of the Highlands players may go down there intimidated.

“We can’t be nervous. We can’t go in there scared,” said Seth Hope, Highlands senior defensive end. “We just need to do what we do. We want to get everyone ready to play varsity football and use it to prepare for the rest of the season.”

The varsity teams played four quarters last year to simulate a game before the junior varsity and freshmen teams played on two sides of the field. The varsity teams will play for three quarters before the junior varsity and freshmen teams take over for three quarters.

“It’s a great experience playing Trinity who is one of the best teams in the country,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands Co-Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator. “It really helps us for the rest of the season. Although it’s just a scrimmage, our guys get fired up for it. They have a lot of good football players and we have a lot of good football players. They just have to get the feel of going out and playing a football game.”

Trinity comes into the season ranked second in the USA Today Preseason Top 25 poll despite heavy losses to graduation. But the Shamrocks tend to reload every year. They’ve won seven of the past eight large-class state championships. The last time Trinity did not win it was 2009 when arch-rival Louisville St. Xavier beat them in the 6A title game, 34-10.

The Shamrocks have played for a state championship every year since 2000 except 2004. Dixie Heights beat Trinity, 14-10 in the second round of the 4A playoffs that year.

“In any football game, you have to do your job each time and you have to get a win in your job,” Mueller said. “You also have to do your job the best you can. If you play a good team like Trinity, you have more battles. It’s harder to win all those battles. Football is such a unique game. There are 11 guys on the field and all 11 of those guys count. They’re all involved in making the play go.”

Offensively, Trinity graduated its top passer, receiver and running back in Travis Wright, James Quick and Daylyn Dawkins. Quick took his talents to nearby University of Louisville.

But the Shamrocks do return Reggie Bonnafon. He will move from wide receiver to quarterback where the Shamrocks expect him to lead as a dual-threat. Bonnafon completed 4-of-4 passing attempts for 42 yards and three touchdowns last year and caught 27 passes for 394 yards and five touchdowns.

“As a Highlands defense, we shouldn’t have any problems (with dual-threat quarterbacks) if we do what we do,” Hope said. “As long as everyone stays in his gap, gets his assignment right and does what he needs to do, our defense is built so that we shouldn’t have problems with that.”

Bonnafon will throw to seniors Cody Swabek, Drew Chandler and sophomore Robert Jones. Donald Brooks returns as the top running back with Woody Campbell and Scott Liebert leading the Shamrock offensive line.

Hope leads the Highlands defense. The Bluebirds gave up an average of about 18 points per game last year.

The Highlands offense will face a Trinity defense hit heavily by graduation. Defensive end Jason Hatcher took his talents to the University of Kentucky. But Aaron Roseberry, David Bowling, Adam King and Connor Foos expect to contribute on the defensive line with Jake Savage, Jack Harrison looking to make an impact at linebacker and William Washle and Canon Jackson looking to make noise in the defensive backfield.

“They’re more athletic and fast than most of the teams we play,” said Jaylen Hayes, Highlands senior running back. “They’re returning a few linebackers who are fast. We’re just going to go down there and play our hardest.”

Drew Houliston will take over at quarterback this year. He will be surrounded by plenty of weapons in the Bluebirds Spead offense.  

Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Louisville.

Hope verbally commits to Cornell:

Hope recently verbally committed to play college football for the Cornell Big Red of the Ivy League. That’s the alma mater of Mueller and local restaurant owner Jeff Ruby. It is located in Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in Ivy League action last year.

The Big Red just hired a new head coach in Jeff Archer. He graduated from Cornell in 2005.

“With Cornell, I was definitely thinking about my future,” Hope said. “I had a few full scholarship offers but I thought in the long-run I had a choice with what I wanted to do with my life. I thought Ivy League was the way to go. After I had the Ivy League decision made, I chose Cornell because I like the campus. It looked like a lot of cool things to do up there. It was a lot less preppy than the other Ivy League schools I saw. It will be the beginning of a new era and I’m glad to part of the new era.”

Field Updates:

Mueller said David Cecil Memorial Stadium will be ready by the season-opener against University Christian out of Jacksonville (Fla.) on Aug. 24. That game starts at 3:30 p.m.

Fans will notice a new press box and scoreboard. Crews have worked diligently throughout the summer to prepare it for the season. The Bluebirds have six home games this year.

“I can’t say enough about our administration,” Mueller said. “They have done a phenomenal job of getting everything ready. I am so pleased the way everything has gone.”

NC scrimmages Holmes:

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

Newport Central Catholic scrimmaged Cooper last year and played Holmes in the regular season last year. The schools swapped on the NewCath schedule this year.

The Bulldogs won that contest, 12-7 on Sept. 28. But the Thoroughbreds did not lose game posting nine straight wins on the way to their fifth state championship.

NewCath will be breaking in many new faces fulltime this year after 15 seniors graduated from that team. The vaunted spread offense and 4-4 defenses will return with some tweaks.

“We have a lot of (positions) to replace,” said Dan Wagner, NewCath Head Coach. “It’s nice because they’re familiar with us and know what we want to do.”

The NewCath defense faces Holmes running back Jonathon Scruggs. He was a key piece to the Bulldogs’ Diamond formation offense last year and new Holmes head Coach Ben Nevels will probably build the offense around him.

“It will be good to face a running back the quality of Scruggs,” Wagner said. “It is a challenge and it will give a good idea of how to handle a back of his caliber.”

Game time is 7 p.m.

Outworking the Competition

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands Co-Head Football Coach Brian Weinrich guides the players in a recent offseason workout. The Bluebirds expect to have about 100 players on the sidelines this fall.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds football tradition of outworking opponents in the offseason seems to be continuing this winter.

About a month after winning their state-record sixth consecutive state championship, the returning players hit the conditioning and weight lifting regime hard. The players work out on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

If opposing players, coaches and fans were astonished at the number of players on the Blue and White sideline last year, this will really blow them away. It’s a reason the Bluebirds tend to be deeper than most of their opponents and are currently tied with Honolulu Iolani (Hawaii) High School for the most consecutive state championships in the country.

“We have had about 80 guys show up each day,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands co-head coach. “During the winter, the 20 basketball players and one swimmer that will play football didn’t attend so we expect about 100 guys on the team next year.”

The Bluebirds dressed 91 players on varsity last year. They faced some opponents that had about 30 to 40 players on the sidelines.

“When you have as many people that we have that come out for weight and conditioning, it creates more depth on the team,” said Kyle Thurston, Highlands rising senior offensive lineman. “Everybody wants to play. We all try as hard as we can to get on the field.”

There were many times that Highlands faced better players in practice. But they still made sure they dominated the opponents. They knew they would not play if they did not play hard.

“When you have numbers like that, you just have more chances of developing more quality athletes,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands co-head coach. “It’s a good problem right now because of the space. We’re trying to find places to put everybody. We’re pretty creative in the things we do.”

A typical day starts with stretching, lifting weights then doing different workouts on a daily basis. Weinrich said the emphasis is to work different muscles and develop the total body. Weinrich also said the staff wants to find workouts that challenge the bodies and minds of the players. This includes position work.

“It’s definitely all worth it,” said Seth Hope, Highlands rising senior defensive lineman. “Even though it’s really tough, I like doing it, especially after we win all these games and have all these rings. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. We’re all friends.”

The Bluebirds pride themselves on having players go just one way. They often wore down opponents doing that. They get to spend extra work on that one position as opposed to splitting up the week with both positions.

“We were talking in the weight room as coaches that we almost feel bad because we don’t have to be in their face,” Weinrich said. “We can walk around and talk to the guys. They’re so self-motivated right now that it’s almost scary. With that, we can find time to have some fun. We’re going to get better at the end of the day.”

The Bluebirds know they have to keep the motivation level high because every team is gunning for them. But Highlands has withstood pretty much every challenge going 87-3 in the last six years.

“You have to do everything hard. You can’t hold back on anything,” Thurston said. “Even if the people you face are small, you still have to go 100 percent. We just want to win every game by as much as we can and not hold back on anything.”

Mueller said the one loss last year 38-24 to Cincinnati Elder made the Bluebirds stronger. The defensive line is trying to better prepare for huge offensive lines.

“Last year, I was at 230 pounds and was the biggest guy on the field on the defense,” Hope said. “Some of those guys were pushing 350. Right after that loss, we started lifting every day before every practice to get bigger and stronger to compete at the next level. That’s the only thing that held us back. We’re going to make that extra push to get to the top on the national stage.”

In other news, Highlands recently had a big-name visitor on campus. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer came to Fort Thomas. The Buckeyes are recruiting Hope.

“I’m real close to making my dreams happen,” Hope said. “I always wanted to play (NCAA) Division I college football. We’ll see what kind of opportunities come at the end of next year.”

The regular season starts in August. Highlands will face six different opponents this year. More details will come when the schedule is finalized.

Bluebirds achieve Race for Seis for 22nd state championship

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

BOWLING GREEN – Every championship comes with its own unique flavor, especially in Caketown.

This football state championship comes with a recipe for a state-record six consecutive titles and 30 consecutive playoff wins. Class 4A’s top-ranked Highlands Bluebirds (14-1) grabbed that record all to their lonesome Friday with a 47-0 thrashing of the Collins Titans (11-4) at Western Kentucky University’s Houchens/L.T. Smith Stadium.

Boyle County set the mark with five consecutive titles between 1999 and 2003. Highlands snapped Boyle County's 29-game playoff winning streak with a 22-6 win against the Rebels in the 2004 Class 3A title game.

The Bluebirds recorded their second shutout of the year dominating both sides of the ball. They outgained the Titans, 476-173 in total offense. Highlands also garnered 22 first downs to 17 for Collins.

The Titans averaged about 40 points per game and knocked off the previously undefeated, third-ranked Warren East Raiders, 58-7 in the state semifinals last week.

“We didn’t think (a shutout) was going to happen,” said Brian Weinrich, Highlands Co-Head Coach. “We knew we had to play great to give ourselves a chance to win. They have a lot of explosion on offense. We just tried to make them drive the field with no big plays. That’s what we did.”

Collins made its first appearance in the state championship despite forming from Shelby County in 2010. The Titans lost to Louisville Western in the 2010 Region 2 title game before falling to Franklin-Simpson in the semifinals last year.

Highlands once again ran the ball well behind another strong performance from the offensive line that did not allow a quarterback sack. The Bluebirds garnered 323 yards on 41 carries and five touchdowns for an average of 7.9 a carry.

Highlands nearly saw three players go for more than 100 yards on the ground. Colin “Frog” Seidl led the way with 115 yards on six carries for an average of 19.2 a touch. Quarterback Donovan McCoy followed with 15 carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns for an average of seven a carry and Zach Harris had 14 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns averaging 6.9 a carry.

“I couldn’t have rushed for more than 200 yards last week against Lexington Catholic without (the offensive linemen),” McCoy said. “We couldn’t have beat CovCath twice without them. They’re the spark of this offense. Without them, we don’t run like we do or pass like we do.”

Highlands added some passing to keep the Collins defense guessing. McCoy completed 10-of-15 passes for 153 yards, two touchdowns to four different receivers and two interceptions. Luke Turner once again led the Bluebirds with four catches for 48 yards and a touchdown and Ryan Greene added three catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of great, talented athletes,” said Jason Lynch, Highlands offensive line coach. “They make it easy to do a lot of different things. We have some tight end formations and four-wide formations. We throw a lot on the table to make teams prepare. It’s a testament to the kids and the hard work they do. They put a lot of time into it in the offseason studying film and it showed (Friday).”

On the other side, Highlands put constant pressure on Collins quarterback Lawson Page. Page completed just 12-of-26 passes for 106 yards. Teammate DeAndre Farris led the Titans with 60 yards rushing on 10 carries and eight catches for 65 yards.

The Bluebirds sacked Page seven times totaling 81 yards in losses. Defensive lineman Seth Hope had a team-high 10 tackles and five sacks. Teammates Trevor Kraft and Gabe Schultz had the other two sacks.

“The main thing we were trying to do was make sure he didn’t get outside and beat us with the run,” Hope said. “We knew he wouldn’t be able to scramble on us. All the plays we made and pressure we had were good bonuses.”  

Also on defense for Highlands, Joey Cochran and Quentin Murry also had tackles for a loss with Thomas Wrobleski, Connor Poston and Jackson Bardo broke up passes with Schultz forcing Page to make one hurried pass.

Highlands also converted better on third and fourth-down and in the Red Zone. The Bluebirds completed their lone fourth-down attempt, all five opportunities in the Red Zone and 6-of-9 for 67 percent on third down.

The Titans managed just 3-for-13 on third for 23 percent and 1-of-6 on fourth down for about 17 percent. They also did not score on either trip to the Red Zone. Collins punted four times for an average of 33.2 yards and Highlands punted just once for 19 yards.

The Bluebirds won the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards on eight plays for the only touchdown they needed to win the game. McCoy found Greene for a 14-yard touchdown just 2:20 into the game. McCoy completed a 13-yard pass to Turner on 4th-and-9 from the Titan 33 during that drive.

On the ensuing drive, Collins marched into Highlands territory. But Poston stuffed Collins’ Masai Whyte for no gain on 4th-and-1 from the 41.

Two possessions later, Highlands took a 13-0 lead. McCoy found Turner for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 2:53 left in the quarter.

The Bluebirds pulled away with three touchdowns on five possessions in the second quarter to go up 33-0 at halftime. Harris stated the onslaught with an 8-yard touchdown just three seconds into the quarter.

On its next possession, Highlands started at its 43 and scored on five plays. Seidl broke down the left sideline and scored from 30 yards out.

The final touchdown of the half came with 2:03 remaining. Harris ran in from three yards out.

The Bluebirds added one touchdown in each of the final two quarters. McCoy scored from seven yards out with 3:56 left in the third and added a 12-yarder with 11:01 left in the fourth.

This year’s senior class becomes the third one to win state championships in all four years of high school. The Bluebirds have played 90 games in the past six years. That is more than any team in the state during that run. Louisville Trinity has played in 89 during that same span.