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St. Henry District High School principal announces timetable to field varsity football team in 2026


By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

St. Henry District High School plans to have a varsity football team in the 2026 season, according to a timetable announced by principal Grant Brannen on Friday.

The coed Catholic school in Erlanger will start with a youth league for seventh and eighth grade students in 2024 and field a junior varsity team in 2025. The Crusaders’ first varsity season will be in 2026 with school enrollment determining its classification by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.

St. Henry principal Grant Brannen announced the school was starting a football program in a video that was posted on Twitter.

“Students, parents, alumni have asked, ‘When are you getting football.’ Well, here it is,” Brannen said in an email. “This is something our community has been craving. Once we were fortunate enough to get the (synthetic) turf field this became an important component.”

The school has named R.J. Riegler as director of football operations. He has 12 years of football coaching experience, including four seasons as head coach at Scott High School.

“He will oversee our middle school program and continue to build our program from the ground up,” said Brannen, who plans to name a head coach prior to the 2025 jayvee season.

Brannen said a committee that includes parents, school administrators and “stakeholders” met for the last two months and communicated via email and text almost daily to help him make the decision to start a football program.

Riegler and Aaron Gumz are two of the parents on the committee. Brannen said “without these two we would not be where we are today. They have done all the heavy lifting.”

St. Henry currently has “around 200 boys” in grades 9 through 12, according to Brannen. He thinks football will help boost enrollment.

“We understand the cost of football, our committee has met to discuss this and we have a plan going forward,” Brannen said. “We are excited to have a buy-in from stakeholders, alumni, parents and students. For the program to have long-term success, it is essential to have community involvement. Right now, we are the buzz of Northern Kentucky and we hope to continue that going forward.”

 


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