[jbwill2]

I am really curious to see how the RB position shakes out for Highlands in 2009. There are big shoes to fill with graduating seniors like Conner (although he was hurt for most of 2008), Crawford and Head. Fennell and Bankemper will really have to step up this year in the offensive backfield. Also, I suspect that Compton will provide depth as well. Current freshman True may even see some time in the offensive backfield.

[tradition]

I am really curious to see how the RB position shakes out for Highlands in 2009. There are big shoes to fill with graduating seniors like Conner (although he was hurt for most of 2008), Crawford and Head. Fennell and Bankemper will really have to step up this year in the offensive backfield. Also, I suspect that Compton will provide depth as well. Current freshman True may even see some time in the offensive backfield.

From what I have heard, Collinsworth will be picking up at the RB position.:Cheerlead

[Stardust]

From what I have heard, Collinsworth will be picking up at the RB position.:Cheerlead

I had heard rumors of this, this should be very interesting.

[BaseballIsLife]

The scary thing is Highlands is a 3A team playing in 5A and STILL they dominate. Think of what they could possibly be doing if they actually played to their enrollment level and played in 3A!

[cougarpride08]

if more people had the work ethic that Highlands have, and get a good program from the ground up, then someone can beat them. Seems to me they have a perfect mentallity, and the players fall into it. They know that there is no such thing as offseason, and I am sure that everyone will participate in weightlifting in the offseason. To them it doesn't matter if you have a girlfriend, or if you wanna do this or that. You want to play on that football team, then you will work on it all year long. If we can get these eastern ky teams to have that kind of mentallity then we can defeat them.

[tradition]

if more people had the work ethic that Highlands have, and get a good program from the ground up, then someone can beat them. Seems to me they have a perfect mentallity, and the players fall into it. They know that there is no such thing as offseason, and I am sure that everyone will participate in weightlifting in the offseason. To them it doesn't matter if you have a girlfriend, or if you wanna do this or that. You want to play on that football team, then you will work on it all year long. If we can get these eastern ky teams to have that kind of mentallity then we can defeat them.

Wow, being from so far away from Fort Thomas, you seem to get it.:Thumbs:

[cougarpride08]

how close was I? They sure don't see it down here. I mean some kids don't want to lift because of this and that. I don't know the X'S and O'S of football, but I know that it never stop for anybody to be successful.

[NEWARKCATHOLICFAN]

I get any where from 50-80 high school football previews from newspapers around Ohio and Kentucky and the one common thing(MESSAGE) in all of them is if the players are not lifting they ARE NOT WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS. I have had some from other states sent to me over the years and they, the coaches same the same thing if my players are not lifting they are not winning championships.

[jbwill2]

The scary thing is Highlands is a 3A team playing in 5A and STILL they dominate. Think of what they could possibly be doing if they actually played to their enrollment level and played in 3A!

Keep in mind, Louisville Central is 3A, and they gave HHS all they could handle in 2007 and held HHS to just 28 points in 2008 (albeit HHS won 28-0)... 3A Central may have been a top-3 ranked team in 5A these last couple of years if they played in 5A.

[tradition]

how close was I? They sure don't see it down here. I mean some kids don't want to lift because of this and that. I don't know the X'S and O'S of football, but I know that it never stop for anybody to be successful.

Well the Monday after they won the championship, next years team was back in the wieght room. Official weights don't begin until they return back to school after New Years. However, most begin immediately on their own. It is a full time love / hate relationship for these kids.

[TheHamptons]

You know, that's all well and good....but you were a 5A team playing 3A ball and didn't do very well in it. Highlands is a whole different animal than what you are used to seeing.

Well said Irish 44.

[BaseballIsLife]

2008: HHS 28 - Central 0
2007: HHS 21 - Central 13
2003: HHS 31 - Central 12

Just the most recent scores from there games...

Honestly if Highlands dominates 5A like they have been there is no reason not to believe that they wouldn't dominate 3A!

[charlie22]

Keep in mind, Louisville Central is 3A, and they gave HHS all they could handle in 2007 and held HHS to just 28 points in 2008 (albeit HHS won 28-0)... 3A Central may have been a top-3 ranked team in 5A these last couple of years if they played in 5A.

Hard to say jb. I felt that Bryan Station, Johnson Central, Whitley County and Christian County were better than Central in 08. As for 07, I've often wondered to myself if the close game with Central was caused largely by Highlands simply not giving Central the respect they should have. If you'd have been at that game, you know what I mean. The Highlands players seemed rather nonchalant before the game. Once the Highlands kids realized it was time to buckle down, they moved the ball rather easily on Central although admittedly Highlands better conditioning may have had a lot to do with that. Maybe Central would have been a top 3 5A team in 07, but not in 08 in my opinion.

[cougarpride08]

It isn't just Central. If more teams had that mentality then they too can be successful.

[jbwill2]

2008: HHS 28 - Central 0
2007: HHS 21 - Central 13
2003: HHS 31 - Central 12

Just the most recent scores from there games...

Honestly if Highlands dominates 5A like they have been there is no reason not to believe that they wouldn't dominate 3A!

I guess the point I was trying to make is that in the past two years (during which Highlands has gone 29-1 and undefeated against KY competition), Highlands has had only a few close calls, and 3A Central was definitely one of them.

I also think that if HHS were in 3A (the way 3A is structured now), they would probably win 95% (or more) of the 3A state titles.

[cougarpride08]

what about cov cath? why aren't they like they use to be.

[sstack]

what about cov cath? why aren't they like they use to be.

I do not think football is king at CC. Then have alot of athletes that decide to play other sports like swimming, soccer, baseball and basketball. Highlands has kids in other sports, but I think for most football comes first. I do not believe this is the case at CC. I also think that it has just been a couple of down years for athletic students at CC. I do believe you will see CC back to playing at a high level sooner than later.

[BaseballIsLife]

what about cov cath? why aren't they like they use to be.

Theres alots that going on. Namely, IMO, the former coach that left them 2 years ago did not develop the talent below the last senior class of his and then he jump ship. He used CCH as a stepping stone and now they are paying the consequences. CCH will be resurrected, it may just take some time is all.

[Stardust]

Theres alots that going on. Namely, IMO, the former coach that left them 2 years ago did not develop the talent below the last senior class of his and then he jump ship. He used CCH as a stepping stone and now they are paying the consequences. CCH will be resurrected, it may just take some time is all.

Good post

[Stardust]

I do not think football is king at CC. Then have alot of athletes that decide to play other sports like swimming, soccer, baseball and basketball. Highlands has kids in other sports, but I think for most football comes first. I do not believe this is the case at CC. I also think that it has just been a couple of down years for athletic students at CC. I do believe you will see CC back to playing at a high level sooner than later.

I don't know that I agree with this. CCH still prides themselves as a Football program, but they are a complete sports program as well. In all sportes, they compete, so when they struggled this year, it was devastating that the sport that gets the most recognition (not aying their best) played so poorly.

[charlie22]

what about cov cath? why aren't they like they use to be.

Keep in mind that CCH did win the state championship in 06, so it's not like they've been down for a long time.

As for the lower than CCH average quality of their teams the past two years, I think there are two main reasons: 1. coaching; and 2. talent.

Addressing coaching, I never felt that Brossart was as bad of a coach as he was made out to be by some CCH folks. I didn't think he was a great coach, just not as bad as he was portrayed. I don't think, as a non-CCH graduate, he fully understood all that surrounds coaching there. Heck, a lot of CCH folks were upset with, and grumbling about, Rodenberg and he was a good enough coach to win a state championship for them. Brossart soon after he got the job made some changes that alienated some big and long time supporters of the program. Then he went and became confrontational with one of the two folks that broadcasts their games over the internet. Not a smart thing to do to someone that gets the opportunity to point out the flaws to 1000s of people each game. If he had won a lot of games he could have overcome that problem, but when he did not, it only legitimized the critics, increased the volume of their complaining and created more critics. Playing the schedule that Rodenberg left him made the win loss record look bad. No help there.

Addressing talent, no one can in good faith argue that the talent level at CCH hasn't been down. And it's not just in football. Their basketball team has already been eliminated from the tourny and it will be the first year in quite some time that they won't be going to the region. I'm told they will have a strong baseball team, but we'll see. But at the end of the day, their senior and junior classes last year just weren't very strong. Heck, when the juniors were freshman, they got beat by Highlands something like 56-7 and if recall properly when the seniors were freshman they got handled also pretty badly by Highlands. Brossart unfortunately had to deal with the always controversial issue of playing juniors over seniors and some sophomores over juniors and seniors. I know for a fact that that caused a lot of parental problems. Perhaps because his "newness" at CCH he was unable to succesfully sell what Mueller has been good at selling: he will put the best players on the field at all times regardless of grade level and to do otherwise is unfair to all the kids working so hard to win state.

I don't know much about the new coach, Wirth, but I know that the sophomes and frosh the past year at CCH were pretty good and gave Highlands much better match ups. The senior class on the 09 team was of course the kids that got beat badly by Highlands when they were frosh. There doesn't seem to be a lot of talent in that class; whereas Highlands senior class for the 09 team is extremely talented and deep. But if the juniors and sophomores on this year's CCH team really step it up and if Wirth is as good of a coach as I hear he is, then CCH should return to respectability this year and I think will be very good in 2010. And I'm guessing that the football players at CCH have worked harder than kids have worked at CCH in a long, long time. There is a lot of pride at CCH and that pride has been bruised badly by the beatings from Highlands in 07 and 08. I'm sure that former head coach Ray (whom handled the off season conditioning program until Wirth was hired) and now Wirth have constantly been reminding them of those beatings. The kids know what a huge upset, perhaps comparable to the 97 Mud Bowl, it would be if they beat Highlands in 09. For Highlands sake, I hope their kids aren't resting this off season on their laurels and accolades and realize just how motivated CCH is to beat them in 09.

[cougarpride08]

Keep in mind that CCH did win the state championship in 06, so it's not like they've been down for a long time.

As for the lower than CCH average quality of their teams the past two years, I think there are two main reasons: 1. coaching; and 2. talent.

Addressing coaching, I never felt that Brossart was as bad of a coach as he was made out to be by some CCH folks. I didn't think he was a great coach, just not as bad as he was portrayed. I don't think, as a non-CCH graduate, he fully understood all that surrounds coaching there. Heck, a lot of CCH folks were upset with, and grumbling about, Rodenberg and he was a good enough coach to win a state championship for them. Brossart soon after he got the job made some changes that alienated some big and long time supporters of the program. Then he went and became confrontational with one of the two folks that broadcasts their games over the internet. Not a smart thing to do to someone that gets the opportunity to point out the flaws to 1000s of people each game. If he had won a lot of games he could have overcome that problem, but when he did not, it only legitimized the critics, increased the volume of their complaining and created more critics. Playing the schedule that Rodenberg left him made the win loss record look bad. No help there.

Addressing talent, no one can in good faith argue that the talent level at CCH hasn't been down. And it's not just in football. Their basketball team has already been eliminated from the tourny and it will be the first year in quite some time that they won't be going to the region. I'm told they will have a strong baseball team, but we'll see. But at the end of the day, their senior and junior classes last year just weren't very strong. Heck, when the juniors were freshman, they got beat by Highlands something like 56-7 and if recall properly when the seniors were freshman they got handled also pretty badly by Highlands. Brossart unfortunately had to deal with the always controversial issue of playing juniors over seniors and some sophomores over juniors and seniors. I know for a fact that that caused a lot of parental problems. Perhaps because his "newness" at CCH he was unable to succesfully sell what Mueller has been good at selling: he will put the best players on the field at all times regardless of grade level and to do otherwise is unfair to all the kids working so hard to win state.

I don't know much about the new coach, Wirth, but I know that the sophomes and frosh the past year at CCH were pretty good and gave Highlands much better match ups. The senior class on the 09 team was of course the kids that got beat badly by Highlands when they were frosh. There doesn't seem to be a lot of talent in that class; whereas Highlands senior class for the 09 team is extremely talented and deep. But if the juniors and sophomores on this year's CCH team really step it up and if Wirth is as good of a coach as I hear he is, then CCH should return to respectability this year and I think will be very good in 2010. And I'm guessing that the football players at CCH have worked harder than kids have worked at CCH in a long, long time. There is a lot of pride at CCH and that pride has been bruised badly by the beatings from Highlands in 07 and 08. I'm sure that former head coach Ray (whom handled the off season conditioning program until Wirth was hired) and now Wirth have constantly been reminding them of those beatings. The kids know what a huge upset, perhaps comparable to the 97 Mud Bowl, it would be if they beat Highlands in 09. For Highlands sake, I hope their kids aren't resting this off season on their laurels and accolades and realize just how motivated CCH is to beat them in 09.

good post!

[jbwill2]

From everything that's been written/said, it seems that CovCath picked a very good coach in Wirth. While I think this coaching selection will help in the long term, I suspect that CovCath will have a bit of a rough year in 2009. I have heard that the 2009 talent level is still a bit mediocre (by CovCath standards), and the players will be learning a new style/system. Given the talent and experience present at Highlands right now, it will be very hard for CovCath to knock off the Bluebirds in 2009.

Actually, from what I've heard Dixie Heights will most likely present the greatest danger to Highlands in District 5 in 2009. Apparently, Dixie has a nice group of athletes this year.

I predict the following for Class 5A, District 5 in 2009:

1. Highlands
2. Dixie Heights
3. Covington Catholic
4. Scott

Covington Holmes is no longer in this district (or class, for that matter), so all teams will make the playoffs.

[cougarpride08]

Like I said before, how many teams can say that they have at least 20-30 players lifting right now. Highlands has probably 50.

[tradition]

Like I said before, how many teams can say that they have at least 20-30 players lifting right now. Highlands has probably 50.

One thing that I think happens at weights at Highlands is peer pressure. In this case it is good peer pressure. Everyone needs to be there and if your not, it doesn't bode well to the other players. You better have a pretty good excuse to not be at weights. I.e. Drs. appointment or playing another sport. Even when involved in another sport, if the other practice is later, the football players go to weights first and then on to the other sport.