Preview: Ryle at Covington Catholic

By Greg Shoemaker on August 19, 2015 9:03 pm

We kickoff the 2015 high school football season as our US Marines Battle of the Gridiron Tour pulls into Covington Catholic where the Colonels will host Ryle in a rare Friday dinner time affair at Wooten Field. Both teams come into the season boasting of promise.
The home team welcomes in the Eddie Eviston era. He led Newport Central Catholic to a pair of Class 2A state titles in his only three years as a high school head coach. Colonels’ fans are hoping he can break the Highlands curse and make CovCath the team to beat once again in Northern Kentucky.
Tanner-Morgan-Ryle

Ryle enters its second season under the guidance of Mike Engler. The Raiders got better as the season went along in 2014. They look to pick up where they left off. With a year under their belts in Engler’s system this team should look more polished on both sides of the ball.
Even though it is the opener, the offenses will be the stars of the show on this evening. This affair should be highly entertaining with the scoreboard getting lit up early and often.

RYLE RAIDERS (0-0) at COVINGTON CATHOLIC COLONELS (0-0)

Kickoff: 5:30 p.m at Wooten Field

Follow on Twitter @TSFootball

PLAYERS TO WATCH: All eyes will be on Ryle junior quarterback Tanner Morgan, who transferred from Hazard. He threw for more than 4,800 yards and 56 touchdowns in two seasons as a starter at Hazard. Morgan has offers from Wake Forest, Louisville and Cincinnati. Raiders running back Colin England ran for 1,144 yards and nine touchdowns as a junior. Classmate Mitchell Bateman put up 431 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in ’14.
Linebacker John Meiman has been a model of consistency for the Ryle defense, recording 195 total tackles in two seasons as a starter. Defensive back David Rich registered 96 total tackles and recovered three fumbles last fall.
Covington Catholic will look to running back Ben Darlington and receiver Ryan McGinness to take the weight off an inexperienced quarterback. A healthy Darlington is poised for a monster senior campaign in Eviston’s offense. McGinness value lies in his versatility. He can run, pass or catch the ball.
The Colonels’ defense is paced by linebacker Cameron Pitzer. He has 165 total tackles with two fumble recoveries and a pair of interceptions during his career.

TEAM TRENDS: The two teams have split games the past two years with Ryle winning last fall. Covington Catholic has won four straight openers. The last time they lost their first game of the season was to Ryle, 61-7 at Nippert Stadium in ’10.

RYLE’S KEYS TO VICTORY: Ryle started last season on the road and did not come out crisp. The Raiders need to get off to a good start or they will be playing catch up all night. With an array of weapons at the skill positions, Morgan should use that to his advantage. Success spreading the field early will open up the run game for England in the second half.

COVINGTON CATHOLIC’S KEYS TO VICTORY: It will benefit the Colonels if they can come out loose. Playing tight in the first half will allow Ryle to build confidence the longer they stay in the game. Eviston’s teams have understood how to deliver a knock blow. If CovCath is capable of displaying that kind of killer instinct early in Eviston’s tenure they are in for a big season.

Prediction: COVINGTON CATHOLIC 35, RYLE 31

Prep Football Previews: Ryle has solid senior class that came up together in feeder program

Article Courtesy of the Northern Kentucky Tribune

As Northern Kentucky looks forward to high school football season, The NKyTribune is profiling all NKy high school football teams, thanks to support from St. Elizabeth Healthcare Sports Medicine. This is one of a series. Look for great coverage of high school football at the NKyTribune all season.

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Most of the seniors on the Ryle football roster have been playing together since the sixth grade when they joined the Union Raiders middle school team that made its debut that season. In a few more days, that first group to come up through the Ryle feeder program will be starting their final season together and they’re determined to break the varsity team’s three-year string of losing records.

Ryle seniors crop
Ryle football players Nick Townsend, left, Nick Yowan, center, and Tyler Selby are among the seniors who started playing together in the sixth grade. (Photo by Terry Boehmker)
“Ever since we were the Union Raiders we’ve been talking about this group coming up as seniors and doing something special,” said senior offensive guard Nick Yoman.

“They’ve always expected big things from us,” added senior linebacker Tyler Selby. “We’re hoping to live up to all those expectations this year.”

The Union Raiders was created to get football players at middle schools affiliated with Ryle on the same team. Before that, players are scattered on several different teams in the Boone County PeeWee Football League.

The Union Raiders got off to a good start. A photograph of the 2011 team that made an impressive run in a middle school tournament is still hanging on the wall of the coaches’ office at Ryle.

“We were unstoppable,” Yoman said. “We lost probably two or three games in two years and one of them was in the (tournament) championship.”

When Mike Engler became Ryle’s head coach last year, he was excited to learn that the high school team had a player development system in place that included a well-established middle school program.

“To be a successful high school program, you have to have a successful feeder program,” Engler said. “You can see the dividends of that paying off with these guys.”

Yowan and Selby are two of the 31 seniors on the Ryle roster this season. They’re both playing the same positions as they did when they started out with the Union Raiders six years ago. Since the middle school teams use the same offense and defensive sets as the Ryle varsity team, players get a firm grasp on their assignments and responsibilities.

ad“I’ve played the same position and done the exact same thing all along so nothing is unfamiliar to me,” Yowan said. “That’s what they said they were trying to do, get us all familiar with what we’re going to do in high school so that when we get here it’s not totally different.”

Nick Townsend played several positions coming up through the Ryle feeder system and will be a starting safety on the varsity team this season. He said the seniors have built a strong bond by being on the field together for so long.

“Almost everybody we started with is still here,” Townsend said. “We’ve been together a lot longer than we would have been had we just met when we were freshmen. We’ve been together since we were sixth-graders and that’s almost double the time. Everybody knows each other and what they can do.”

With their experienced senior class leading the way, the Ryle Raiders hope to get off to a better start than last year when they lost five of their first six games before making a late run and ending up with a 5-7 record. That won’t be easy to do because Covington Catholic, Lexington Catholic and Highlands are three of the first four opponents on Ryle’s schedule, but the seniors are looking forward to the challenge.

“We just need to work hard, do our jobs and know that the guy next to you is going to do his,” Selby said.

“Our freshman coach told us the other day he didn’t think there’s ever been a team here that’s worked harder than us,” Yowan said. “Hopefully, that reflects on this season and we do something really special.”

RYLE RAIDERS

2014 SEASON: 5-7 record, lost in second round of Class 6A state playoffs.
THIS SEASON: Class 6A, District 5 with Conner, Cooper.
COACH: Mike Engler (5-7 in one season at Ryle).

2015 SCHEDULE
Aug. 21 – at Covington Catholic, 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 28 – at Lexington Catholic, 8:45 p.m.
Sept. 4 – BOONE COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 11 – at Highlands, 7 p.m.
Sept. 18 – CAMPBELL COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2 – CLARK COUNTY, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9 – at Cooper, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16 – CONNER, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 23 – at Simon Kenton, 7 p.m.
Oct. 30 – at Dixie Heights, 7 p.m.

Ryle football welcomes new, veteran names on offense

James Weber, jweber@communitypress.com Cincinnati.com

UNION – Ryle High School was 5-7 last season for football coach Mike Engler, who completed his first season as a head coach after two decades of being the offensive coordinator at Lexington Catholic.

The second-year head man, who tutored a vast array of talented signal-callers as LexCath regularly put up impressive passing numbers, has two talented quarterbacks with great potential at his disposal this season.

Junior quarterback Tanner Morgan has created a buzz in the offseason after receiving scholarship offers from Louisville, Wake Forest and Cincinnati. If he’s the starting quarterback, expect junior Aaron O’Hara to still play a role as an athlete somewhere in the Raiders’ attack.

Morgan comes in with a lot of experience already as a two-year starter, having played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Hazard High School. In two seasons, he combined for nearly 5,000 yards passing and 56 touchdowns against only 16 interceptions. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior threw for 2,536 yards and 31 TDs last year in leading Hazard to a 10-3 record and a berth in the Class 1A state quarterfinals. The previous year, Hazard was 11-2 and reached the same round. Morgan completed 63 percent of his passes combined.

In limited snaps last year, O’Hara completed five passes for 158 yards last year, 31.6 yards per completion, with two touchdowns. He has drawn some Division I interest as well.

Grant Arnwine, who had the bulk of the receiving yardage last year, graduated.

Senior running back Collin England is poised for a monster season after rushing for 1,144 yards and nine touchdowns last year while dealing with multiple injuries.

Senior linebackers John Meiman and Tyler Selby should anchor the defense. Meiman, also a state champion wrestler, finished third on last year’s team with 96 tackles.

The development of the Raiders’ offensive and defensive lines will be crucial in determining their success against the top teams on their schedule, but having experience in the form of 31 seniors should help.

Ryle has tough tests to start the year, beginning at Covington Catholic Aug. 21 (5:30 p.m. kickoff), then Engler returns to his old stomping grounds as the Raiders play at Lexington Catholic Aug. 28. Ryle’s first home game is Sept. 4 against county rival Boone County.

In the newly reconfigured KHSAA alignment, Ryle is in Class 6A, District 5 with county rivals Conner and Cooper.

Former Ryle Football Player in the National Championship

Former Ryle football player Tate Nichols will be on the field tonight as Notre Dame plays for the National Championship. 

Former Ryle football players shining at the next level



Adam Schmitz Georgetown College:

No. 1 Tigers host No. 18 Bethel Saturday

3:30 NAIA playoffs Direct TV 623

The NAIA has announced the postseason football pairings. No. 1 Georgetown College (10-0) will host No. 18 Bethel University (8-3) in the NAIA Football Championship Series First Round. The two Mid-South Conference foes were the league's respective divisional champions and played back on Sept. 29. Georgetown picked up the 63-21 win.



Conner Hempel
Harvard vs. Yale tomorrow at 12:00 NBC South Watch Conner Hempel as he helps lead Harvard Crimson over Yale.

Tate Nichols
Notre Dame takes on Wake Forest tomorrow at 3:30 from South Bend Indiana

Ryle struggles against Cooper

Ryle loses to Cooper 35-6.  More to come....

THE COLLINSWORTH CAUSE

THE COLLINSWORTH CAUSE
1st Annual Golf Outing
4-Person Scramble
Golf outing in honor of Adam Collinsworth, to help him to afford a wheelchair accessible van, home modifications, and a hospital bed that would rotate him throughout the night. Adam suffered from a swimming pool accident that left him paralyzed in 1998. He is in need of updated equipment to help in future endeavors to ke...ep alive and carry on the legacy of love, laughter, and kindnesss that Adam has instilled ino the many lives he has touched. All proceeds will benefit The Collinsworth Cause at: http://www.facebook.com/groups/288900177859654/304360609646944/?notif_t=group_activity
GOLFING, SPLIT THE POT, LUNCH, RAFFLES

***Contest prizes 1st & 2nd place for both Men & Women***
Longest Drive & Closest to the hole

Mulligan and Skirt packages available day of $10
(Your teammates will hold you to your shot from a woman’s tee)

Please register at http://thecollinsworthcause.eventbrite.com/ for this fun day!!!

When: Sunday, July 29th, 2012

Where: Boone Links Golf Course (859) 371-7550
http://www.boonecountygolf.com/boonelinks/boone-links.html

Time: 2:00pm Shotgun start (Registration @ noon)

Cost & Includes: $70 per person includes: *Green Fee* Cart *Bogey Lunch * 2 Drinks *

Dress Policy: Soft Spike/Spikeless Facility. Collared Shirt, Shorts Allowed - No Jean Shorts

Can’t join us for the fun, then sponsor
Sponsorship Opportunities:
Entire Hole Sponsor $200
Prize Sponsor $50
Sponsor checks payable to:
Jason Hamel for the benefit of Adam
Collinsworth
2150 Golden Valley Dr., Independence, KY 41051

RAIDER FOOTBALL NUTRITION ESSENTIALS

Please click on the attached link.  Here you will find documents on Nuttition Essentials, Diets, Sleep, Water Intake.  These are all essential for football and ALL athletes. Now is the time!

Please Click Here

If you have any questions please email Jerrod Babik at jerrodbabik@gmail.com or 859-992-1234

2012 Schedule UPDATED

SCRIMMAGE AUGUST 10^TH vs. Covington Catholic 7:00 pm (Tom Potter Classic)

WEEK 0 AUGUST 17^TH @ Cooper 7:30pm

WEEK 1 AUGUST 25^TH Sat.@ Bryan Station vs. Henry Clay 6:00 pm (Fayette Co. Frenzy Bowl)
WEEK 2 AUGUST 31^st vs. Colerain 7:30 pm HOME
WEEK 3 bye
WEEK 4 SEPTEMBER 14^TH @ St. Francis DeSales (Columbus, OH) 7:30 pm
WEEK 5 SEPTEMBER 21^st vs. Simon Kenton 7:30 pm *DISTRICT GAME*HOME
WEEK 6 SEPTEMBER 28^TH @ Boone County 7:30 pm *DISTRICT GAME*
WEEK 7 OCTOBER 5^TH @ Conner 7:00 pm
WEEK 8 OCTOBER 12^TH @ Campbell County 7:30 pm *DISTRICT GAME*
WEEK 9 OCTOBER 19^st vs. Dixie Heights 7:30 pm *DISTRICT GAME*HOME
WEEK 10 OCTOBER 26^TH vs. Highlands 7:30 pm *SENIOR NIGHT* HOME