The NKyTribune is featuring each of the 21 high school football teams in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties leading up to the first games of the 2017 season on Friday. We will then provide focused coverage of our local teams throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The seniors on last year’s Ryle football team closed out their high school careers in impressive fashion. The Raiders won all 10 of their regular-season games for the first time in the program’s history and finished with a best-ever 12-1 record.
Ryle senior running back Jake Chisholm rushed for 1,681 yards and scored 28 touchdowns last season (Photo from ryleraidersfootball.com
The team leaders on offense and defense who graduated last spring included a stellar quarterback who threw for more than 2,700 yards and a pair of linebackers who each made more than 100 tackles.
But the top rusher and scorer on last year’s team is back and Jake Chisholm wants to see the Raiders build off the success of last year’s senior class.
“They are definitely a hard act to follow, but I think as seniors this year we want to surpass that,” Chisholm said. “We can’t be satisfied with what we did last year. We have got to get better with every game.”
Chisholm is coming off a breakout junior season. He rushed for 1,681 yards and 22 touchdowns and scored six additional touchdowns on pass receptions and returns for a team-high total of 168 points.
The 5-foot-9, 185-pound running back did everything he could during the off-season to put up even better numbers during the 2017 campaign that begins Friday with a game at Covington Catholic.
“I’ve put on 20 pounds since last season of pure muscle,” Chisholm said. “I’ve been working hard in the weight room. It’s helped me with my power and it’s actually helped me a lot with my speed too. I’m a lot faster this year.”
Ryle had a well-balanced offense last season, averaging 218 yards passing and 211 yards rushing per game. Even though starting quarterback Tanner Morgan graduated, coach Mike Engler said he didn’t make drastic changes in his offensive schemes.
Jake Chisholm
With four experienced offensive linemen returning and first-year varsity quarterback Jake Smith’s athletic ability, the coach said the Raiders will “still do what we do” on offense without relying too much on Chisholm.
“We obviously want to get the ball in his hands, but we have some other guys we feel are playmakers,” Engler said. “Although Jake is probably the best running back I’ve ever had in my 20-something years of coaching. He’s pretty dynamic and I think he’s going to go a long way.”
Chisholm said he went to five college football camps over the summer and coaches from Eastern Kentucky, Wofford and Navy have shown an interest in recruiting him as a slot receiver.
Last year, he caught 31 passes for 605 yards and four touchdowns for the Raiders. He said the offensive sets that put him in a receiver position are still a big part of the playbook.
“I’m definitely expecting myself to be a pass threat again,” he said. “’We go empty (in the backfield) a lot and put me in the slot. I’m also there as a safety valve for the quarterback. That’s how I get a lot of my receiving yards in games.”
Ryle enters the new season with seven returning starters on defense so Engler isn’t too worried about how the Raiders will do on that side of the ball.
How well the new quarterback runs the offense is going to be a big key to the team’s success. Last year, Smith didn’t get much playing time in games or practice sessions because of a broken hand so he had a big learning curve to climb.
“He knows he’s not going to be another Tanner Morgan right away,” coach Engler said. “He just has to do his job and let the guys around him, like Jake Chisholm and the offensive linemen, do what they do. If they all do their job, (Smith) will be fine.”
RYLE RAIDERS
2016 SEASON: 12-1 record, lost in third round of Class 6A playoffs
DISTRICT: Class 6A, District 5 with Conner and Cooper
HEAD COACH: Mike Engler (26-11 in three seasons at Ryle)
2017 SCHEDULE
Aug. 18 – at Covington Catholic, 7:30 p.m.
Aug. 25 – vs. Henry Clay at Lexington Catholic, 6:15 p.m.
Sept. 1 – BOONE COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 8 – at Highlands, 7 p.m.
Sept. 15 – CAMPBELL COUNTY, 7:30 p.m..
Sept. 29 – INDIANAPOLIS CATHEDRAL, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 6 – at Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 14 – CONNER, 7 p.m.
Oct. 20 – at Simon Kenton, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27 – at Dixie Heights, 7 p.m.
Other NKyTribune prep football previews:
DAYTON GREENDEVILS
COVINGTON CATHOLIC COLONELS
BISHOP BROSSART MUSTANGS
WALTON-VERONA BEARCATS
COOPER JAGUARS
SCOTT EAGLES
LUDLOW PANTHERS
HIGHLANDS BLUEBIRDS
LLOYD JUGGERNAUTS
NEWPORT CENTRAL CATHOLIC THOROUGHBREDS
NEWPORT WILDCATS
BOONE COUNTY REBELS
BELLEVUE TIGERS
BEECHWOOD TIGERS
CONNER COUGARS
CAMPBELL COUNTY CAMELS
DIXIE HEIGHTS COLONELS
HOLMES BULLDOGS
HOLY CROSS INDIANS
SIMON KENTON PIONEERS
