By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Brossart, Holy Cross and Scott were among the Kentucky high school football teams that missed last year’s post-season playoffs due to Covid-19 precautions. On Friday, all of them will be playing in district finals with a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
Brossart will take an 11-0 record into its home game against Nicholas County in Class 1A. Last year, those teams were supposed to meet in the first round of the playoffs, but Brossart had to forfeit that game. The Mustangs ended the season with a 5-3 record that included an earlier 42-34 win over Nicholas County in triple overtime.
Brossart senior quarterback Jacob Leicht scored both of his team’s touchdowns in a 14-0 win over Nicholas County on Oct. 1. (Photo from bmustangs.com website)
Six weeks ago, Brossart defeated Nicholas County, 14-0, in a district seeding game. The Mustangs had a 276-164 advantage in total yards with senior quarterback Jacob Leight rushing for 133 yards and two touchdowns. He also had eight tackles on defense that night.
Scott was limited to six games due to the pandemic last year and posted just one victory. But the Eagles opened this year’s Class 4A playoffs with an upset victory over Holmes last week and face Harrison County in a home game on Friday.
Scott lost a close game to Harrison County, 42-34, during last year’s shortened season, but the Eagles defeated the Thorobreds, 35-14, in a district seeding game on Oct. 1.
In that game, Scott senior quarterback Gus Howlett passed for 214 yards, threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, rushed for 70 yards and scored a touchdown.
In the seven years that Scott and Harrison County have been district rivals, neither team has been able to win two games in a row against the other. The Eagles have a chance to do that Friday in the first playoff game between the two programs.
Holy Cross decided not to compete in last year’s Class 2A playoffs after being out of action due to the pandemic for the last two weeks of the regular season. But the Indians won their first post-season playoff game in five years last week against Lloyd and will visit undefeated Beechwood in the district finals on Friday.
Holy Cross quarterback Javier Ward
In the 23-year history of the Holy Cross football program, the Indians have never beaten Beechwood. The record went to 0-25 with a 56-7 loss to the Tigers five weeks ago. Holy Cross was limited to 138 yards in that game and got its only touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Beechwood reserve players.
The Indians have won three of their of their last four games with sophomore running back Lavarr Jones rushing for 519 yards and 10 touchdowns. Junior quarterback Javier Ison passed for 452 yards in those four games to give him 1,202 yards on the season.
But the Holy Cross team already knows how tough it is to move the ball against a Beechwood defense that’s allowed just 52.3 yards and 6.4 points per game.
The best matchup on Friday’s schedule looks to be Dixie Heights at Ryle in Class 6A. The teams have played each other every year since 2001. Dixie Heights has a narrow 13-12 advantage in the series, but Ryle edged the Colonels, 13-12, in a regular season game last month.
The Raiders scored the winning touchdown in that game on a 2-yard run by junior Lukas Colemire with 7:43 left in the fourth quarter. Dixie Heights played the final quarter without senior running back Pierce Rohlman due to a leg injury and turned the ball over on downs on its final possession.
This will be the fifth time the two teams have faced each other in the playoffs. Dixie Heights won 41-36 last year and 18-6 in 2019 to take a 3-1 lead in their post-season match-ups.
Friday’s district final playoff games
CLASS 1A
Dayton (5-6) at Newport Central Catholic (8-3), 7 p.m.
Nicholas County (6-5) at Brossart (11-0), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Holy Cross (4-7) at Beechwood (11-0), 7 p.m.
Carroll County (7-4) at Walton-Verona (8-3), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 4A
Harrison County (3-8) at Scott (7-4), 7:30 p.m.
CLASS 5A
Conner (7-4) at Covington Catholic (8-3), 7 p.m.
CLASS 6A
Dixie Heights (7-4) at Ryle (8-3), 7 p.m.
