Before the season, the week nine matchup between Ryle and Dixie Heights probably wasn't a game that many coaches, players or fans had circled on their calendars, but when the Raiders host the Colonels at Borland Stadium in Union Friday night all of Northern Kentucky will be paying attention.
Dixie thrust itself into the driver's seat of Northern Kentucky's 6A District 6 race by knocking off the last two district champs – Campbell County and Simon Kenton – consecutively.
Ryle opened district play with a loss to Simon Kenton but has pulled out district wins over Boone County and Campbell County with a big non-district win over CovCath sandwiched in between over the last three weeks. The Raiders can force a three-way tie between themselves, Dixie and Simon Kenton if they pull off the upset Friday night over the Colonels, making each team 3-1 in the district standings.
Boone County and Campbell County both sit at 0-3 in the district.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association breaks a three-way tie by selecting any four of each team's defeated opponents, except for the teams involved in the tie, and awards one point for each game won by those selected opponents. The point totals decide the district seeding.
Dixie and Ryle are two programs in different stages, but there are a lot of similarities between them that could make for an interesting game.
The Colonels have been steadily progressing since head coach Dave Brossart took over. They have multiple three-year contributors on their roster that have been through the rebuilding process. As a team they experienced playing close and competitive with the district's top teams – Campbell County and Simon Kenton – last year, only to come up short and ultimately settle for the district's three seed. They're a hungry group that believes in their coaching staff as well as themselves.
The Raiders are the Cinderella story of the season in Northern Kentucky. They're still in the rebuilding process under first-year head coach Mike Engler, but they've made some adjustments and gained confidence by winning four of their last six, including their last three. Now they have the opportunity to play spoiler for Dixie's team of destiny.
Both teams have found success utilizing their potent rushing attacks, but also have big-play threats that can hit the home run so they don't constantly have to put together drives.
Ryle junior Colin England has been a workhorse during the Raiders' recent success, and passed the 1,000-yard mark on the season last week with over 200 yards in the overtime win against Campbell County.
Senior quarterback Ryan Rytlewski has thrown for 753 yards and six touchdowns on the year. His favorite target is classmate Grant Arnwine – a big, physical receiver that averages 23.5 yards per catch with 423 yards and six touchdowns on the season.
Dixie's offense is especially difficult to stop this year because the Colonels have multiple weapons that a defense has to worry about, but none are more threatening than senior quarterback Drew Moore, who is most lethal when he keeps it and makes plays with his legs. A master of the read option, Moore has piled up 968 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the year.
The biggest difference may come on the defensive side of the ball for both teams as the Colonels have only allowed an average of 77.3 rushing yards per game while the Raiders have given up 127.3.
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