The Friday night lights were shining bright in Northern Kentucky on Friday night as several teams were looking to get off the snide. Cooper and Covington Catholic both got their first wins of the year and they did it in impressive fashion.
NO. 18 COOPER 20, NO. 7 RYLE 13
Few teams in the state of Kentucky have started with a tougher gauntlet of games than Cooper has and after dropping their first two contests of the year, the Jaguars got their monkey off their backs in a big way and grabbed their first win by knocking off their neighbor rivals.
Cooper (1-2) came away with three turnovers on defense, including a huge 65-yard pick-six from Ryker Campbell. The biggest play of the night by the unit was when they forced a Nathan Verax fumble and came up with a key recovery late in the game.
JACOB SAVAGE FUMBLED!
In the midst of a methodical drive, looking for a late score, Ryle’s star coughs it up!
Cooper’s ball, and a chance to win it!2:30 4Q@TGIFfootball @tsfootball @KYHighFootball pic.twitter.com/hhy7FRAzi0
— Ben Burdette (@ben_burdette06) September 6, 2025
That setup the go ahead 5-yard TD run by Keagan Maher with just 0:15 left on the clock.
KEEGAN MAHER MIGHT’VE JUST WON IT!
Cooper capitalizes on the fumble, and might be on its way! Unreal!Cooper 20 Ryle 13
0:15 4Q@TGIFfootball @tsfootball @KYHighFootball pic.twitter.com/BnBRvQFaES— Ben Burdette (@ben_burdette06) September 6, 2025
Nathan Verax and Jacob Savage both ran for touchdowns in a losing effort for Ryle. It marks the first loss of the season for Ryle, who will look to bounce back as they welcome Christian Academy – Louisville next Friday while Cooper will look to pull to .500 as they host Campbell County.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW: Randy Borchers, Cooper
NO. 12 COVINGTON CATHOLIC 62, SIMON KENTON 15
For the second straight year the Colonels started the year 0-2 and once again they snapped out of it in a big way in Week 3. This time around it was on the road at Simon Kenton where the Colonels would start to right the ship.
Covington Catholic (1-2) compiled 442 total yards of offense, but even after playing a sloppy first quarter still managed to score 42 points before intermission, putting the game on a running clock early in the third quarter.
Senior Cash Harney was simply too much for the Pioneers to handle. He picked up 150 yards and two scores on just nine carries, including a 73-yard dash, and scored two times. He added 139 yards and another score through the air.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW: Eddie Eviston, Covington Catholic
Here are some other scores from Northern Kentucky teams:
No. 8 Highlands 55, Campbell County 13
No. 25 Beechwood 48, Dixie Heights 7
Lloyd 40, Conner 27
Newport 35, Gallatin County 6
Holy Cross 45, Clermont Northeastern 15
Newport Central Catholic 40, Boone County 0
Walton-Verona 33, Ludlow 28
Bishop Brossart 55, St. Henry 3
Pendleton County 21, Bellevue 19
Owen County 48, Dayton 6
Green County 48, Holmes 12
Carroll County 41, Grant County 6
Get the complete scores from all of this week’s action on the Underground Sports Shop Scoreboard at TriStateFootball.com/scores.
*Stay updated on high school football updates by following @TSFootball on X.
