Thursday, August 30, 2012
Mama on a Budget: Fall Youth Sports
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Mark vs. Food feat. Tricia Macke and Family Recap

"It actually worked out that (the eating challenge) was going on tonight," said Tricia, "Tonight is our 21st wedding anniversary so you kind of let Chris (her husband) off the hook."
Before a rousing crowd and with the help of Bear Clifton, Director of Development of the Brighton Center, I took on Tricia and her family (Chris, Spence, Piper, Dash and Saylor) in a 15-inch stuffed pizza challenge.

Saturday, August 25, 2012
Highlands 60 - Scott Co. 37
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

B. They outcoached us.
C. They're better than us on offense.
D. They're better than us on defense.
E. They're better than us in the kicking game.
The above comments from Scott County Cardinals head coach Jim McKee stated the obvious of what many opponents might say or think this season after the Highlands Bluebirds football team overwhelmed his team, 60-37 on Friday.
The Bluebirds did it once again with another big quarter. This time, Highlands used a 33-7 run in the second quarter to build a 47-14 halftime advantage. The Bluebirds used a 27-0 run in the third quarter to pull away in the season-opening 52-31 win over Boyle County on Aug. 17.
The win extended Highlands' home winning streak to 41 in a row and 22nd overall. The Bluebirds improved to 75-2 since the start of the 2007 campaign.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Van Damme It's Friday Links

- IT'S FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mueller’s Head Coaching Record Clarification:
Another media outlet reported this week that Mueller is a few wins shy of 300 as a head football coach.
Mueller’s record is 283-64 overall, including 224-33 at Highlands including Friday’s win over Boyle County. Mueller took over at his alma mater in 1994.
Prior to coming back to Highlands, Mueller spent three years as head coach at Cincinnati Sycamore and the six previous seasons at Cincinnati Withrow. Mueller’s squads went 48-12 at Withrow and 11-19 at Sycamore.
Student lunches begin today. We will offer pizzas and hoagies along with buffalo chicken and chicken caesar wraps. With a choice of drink, $5. Good stuff!
We would
Best of luck this school year!
Mark & the Mio's Crew.
Later 'speech' came in and brought chocolate pudding. This is the first food post injury. Clay held the spoon and brought it to his mouth for a taste or two.
This afternoon Clay's OG tube was removed (that is the one in his mouth). There was a hint of a smile afterwards and he seems happier to have that tube gone.
After all of that a big nap is now on the agenda.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Superintendent Gene Kirchner Responds to Traffic Issues
The schools are on the same schedule this year for several important reasons , none of which have to do with traffic flow.
Placing the two schools on the same schedule allows us the opportunity to provide a more seamless experience for middle school students, many of whom are ready to take high school courses. Being on the same schedule provides much more flexibility in making that happen. It enables us to utilize our teaching staff more efficiently by making it easier to share staff between the two schools. This also allows more opportunity for middle and high school teachers to work collaboratively in vertical teams. Thus enabling us to ensure that our curriculum is clearly aligned in grades 6-12 toward college and career readiness. We believe this represents the greatest benefit to our students and the most cost effective approach to staffing.
All of that being said, we did anticipate traffic problems as a result of this change and have been proactive in working with the City of Fort Thomas in planning for better traffic flow. We are continuing to look for ways to improve the situation. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused to community members. As always, our decisions are based on what is best for students.
Highlands Football: Scott Co. Preview
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
They ended up quickly erasing the tough first half with a 28-point outburst in the third-quarter.
But the Highlands Bluebirds still would not mind a quicker start in the first half, especially with another tough opponent coming to town. The Bluebirds scored 37 consecutive points en route to a 52-31 victory over the visiting Boyle County Rebels on Friday. That run erased a 24-15 halftime deficit.
“Boyle County executed well in the first half,” Mueller said. “We had (scoring) opportunities in that half and they stopped us. We outplayed them in the second half and wore them down.”
After beating one of its top challengers in Class 4A, the Bluebirds welcome the 2011 state runner-up from Kentucky’s largest Class 6A to Fort Thomas on Friday in the Scott County Cardinals. Scott County finished 14-1 losing 62-21 to Louisville Trinity in last year’s 6A title game. Visiting Trinity knocked off Highlands, 63-31 in a scrimmage on Aug. 10.
Like the Bluebirds, Scott County won its home opener, 46-14 over Louisville Seneca on the same day. But it was not as easy as the score might indicate.
Senior standout tailback Dieries Dumphord sprained his ankle in a preseason scrimmage and did not play on either side of the ball in the win. As of Wednesday morning, Scott County head coach Jim McKee said Dumphord will only play on the defensive side of the ball as a defensive end. McKee also said senior defensive end Akil Campbell will most likely not play either, also because of an ankle injury. Dumphord rushed for 1,148 yards and 19 touchdowns last year.
“It’s unfortunate, but injuries happen. That’s part of football,” McKee told the Georgetown News-Graphic. “The next guy will just have to come in and step up for us.”
The Cardinals more than made up for Dumphord’s loss in the win over Seneca out of their traditional Wing-T offensive attack. They ran for 360 yards as a team. Kevo Edwards ran for 148 yards and Kevin Clausen ran for 110.
“They do such a good job of attacking you at various places,” Mueller said. “They fake well and make it hard to get a good read. Each player has to do his assignment. You can’t say, ‘Oh gosh. They’re hurting us here so I have to quit doing what I was coached to do and do something different.”
Running backs go many different directions in the traditional Wing-T trying to confuse defenses. The main plays in a Wing-T are fullback dives up the middle and wingback sweeps around the corner.
Another common play is the counter criss-cross where the quarterback hands off to a halfback sweeping one way before the halfback hands off to a wingback going the other way trying to get that speedy back out in space.
“As long as everyone holds his gap and does his job, we’ll do just fine,” said Michael Ayers, Highlands junior linebacker. “(Highlands Defensive Coordinator Brian) Weinrich will get us game-ready. We’ll face them and hopefully, come out with a victory.”
Highlands will counter with its 3-4 defense. The Bluebirds did have some problems with Boyle County’s wishbone attack in the first half. The Rebels rushed for 226 yards on 33 carries in the first half led by Seph Burke’s 101 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns. But the Bluebirds held Boyle to just 56 yards on 19 carries in the second half. Burke finished with 165 yards on 32 carries.
Turnovers played a big key in the second-half turnaround and could play another big role in this game. The Bluebirds recovered two Rebel fumbles and picked off a pass. They scored 19 points off the turnovers.
Depth could again play a huge factor in the game. The Bluebirds currently have 91 players on the roster. Mueller said they had about 50 guys receive playing time while the Rebels had about 20 and that showed in the second half.
Highlands had a lot of success running the football out of its spread attack against Boyle County. The offensive line made holes for the Bluebirds running backs to go for 286 yards after going for just 67 in the first half. Running backs Zach Harris, Jaylen Hayes and quarterback Donovan McCoy ran for 113, 98 and 93 yards respectively in the win.
“We have great running backs,” said Tyler Schweitzer, Highlands offensive lineman. “We need to open holes for them and they’ll make plays for us. We’re very well-conditioned. Our offseason workouts are crazy. We’re always running hard and going 100 percent and that will show in games like it did Friday. We had so much more energy than (the Boyle County defenders).”
The Cardinals ran a variety of five and six-man defensive fronts with mixtures of man and zone coverages. They allowed 173 yards passing to Seneca.
McCoy threw just 10 passes because Highlands had so much success running the ball against Boyle County. He completed four of them for 107 yards including two to Luke Turner for 31 yards and a 57-yard bomb to Colin Seidl.
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at David Cecil Memorial Stadium. The Bluebirds own a 40-game home winning streak and a 21-game winning streak overall.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Back to School Hump Day Notes (Traffic Edition)

Sing it with me now: "OH, Back to school..."
Sunday, August 19, 2012
HHS, Boyle Co: Halftime Adjustments Key in Win
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
Highlands Tearing Through the Cheerleaders' Banner to Start the Game
The Boyle County Rebels played smashmouth football in the first half with their wishbone attack.
The Rebels piled up 226 yards on 33 carries for an average of about 6.9 per carry. Junior Seph Burke led the way with 101 yards on 17 carries with three touchdowns.
But that changed at halftime. The Highlands’ 3-4 defense held the Rebel rushing attack to just 56 yards on 19 carries in the second half for an average of just under three yards per touch in its 52-31 victory.
Boyle quarterback Casey Whittle often faked the handoff to the fullback up the middle before handing off to either Burke or Lloyd Hall on sweeps. Burke finished with 165 yards on 32 carries averaging just over 5.1 per touch.
“The (defensive) line forced them (outside) and the outside linebackers forced them (inside),” said Joe Paolucci, Highlands senior linebacker. “We just came out ready to play (after halftime) and adjusted a few things. They could not get by it. We shut them down.”
The Bluebirds cut off the sweeps better in the second half. Burke fumbled at the Rebel 20 on Boyle’s first possession of the second half. Junior Michael Ayers recovered at the Rebel 19.
Following a Highlands score, the Rebels fumbled again. Highlands senior defensive lineman Gabe Schultz picked up a Whittle fumble and returned the ball to the Rebel 45.
“Turnovers are the key to winning football games,” Mueller said. “Ball security is the number one key. Good teams win games by not having turnovers.”
The Rebels recorded their third turnover in the middle of the fourth quarter. Jackson Bardo dove to pick off a Whittle pass that set up another Bluebird score. Highlands scored 19 points off the Rebel turnovers and the Rebels did not score off the lone Highlands turnover, which was an interception as time ran out in the first half.
Boyle County scored on its first four possessions to go up 24-15 at halftime. Burke had a 1-yard run with 6:27 left in the first quarter and Hall scored on a 42-yard sweep with 58 seconds left in the quarter to give the Rebels a 14-8 advantage.
Boyle County added two more scores in the second stanza. Burke had a 15-yard touchdown run and Will Harris had a 21-yard field goal with 2:38 left in the half.
The Bluebirds will face some more tough running games. But they see a lot of spread formations.
“It’s different from what we usually face,” Highlands junior defensive lineman Seth Hope said of defending the wishbone offense. “We had to make some changes in our defense. But we figured it out after a while.”
The Rebels did not score again until late in the fourth quarter. Josiah Robbins hauled in a 26-yard touchdown from Whittle with 1:05 left in the game.
Highlands continues action with another home game. The 2011 Class 6A state runner-up Scott County Cardinals come to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Highlands 52, Boyle County 31
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The Highlands Captains and Boyle Co. Captains Meet at Mid-Field for the Coin Flip
It looked as though the visitors might challenge the overall and home winning streaks of the Highlands Bluebirds football team at halftime.
But the Bluebirds dashed those hopes quickly with 37 unanswered points en route to a sound 52-31 victory over the Boyle County Rebels on Friday at David Cecil Memorial Stadium. Highlands preserved its 40-game home winning streak and won its 21st overall. The Bluebirds snapped the Rebels’ 30-game winning streak with a 35-14 win in Danville to open the 2011 campaign.
Highlands outgained Boyle County, 460-414 in total offense. But at halftime, the Rebels held the advantage, 255-92. The Bluebird defense made some adjustments at halftime (see side story) against Boyle’s wishbone attack.
The Bluebirds exploded for 286 yards rushing in the second half after managing just 67 in the first half. They finished with 353 yards rushing on 37 carries for an average of about 9.5 per touch against an experienced front seven of Boyle County’s 4-4 defense. The Bluebird running backs made plenty of adjustments with the ball in their hands.
“Most running plays are designed to go one place,” said Dale Mueller, Highlands head coach. “But linemen may overpursue one way so the back takes it the other way.”
Junior Zach Harris led the way with 113 yards rushing and a touchdown on 20 carries. Fellow running back Jaylen Hayes had five carries for 98 yards with two touchdowns and quarterback Donovan McCoy ran for 93 yards on 10 carries with four touchdowns.
Many thought the Bluebirds would try to test the young Rebel secondary out of their spread offense. McCoy did complete 4-of-10 passes for 107 yards. Two went to Luke Turner for 31 yards and Colin Seidl had one catch for 57 yards in the fourth quarter.
“We started off running the ball and we were killing them so why change something that is not broken,” Harris said. “We just kept pounding the ball inside. Our offensive line did a great job moving everybody. They were getting tired because they have guys going both ways. It was easy running after the first half.”
The Bluebird running backs have no problems trying to get the extra yards. They often lowered their shoulders before the Boyle County defenders tried to tackle them.
“When you’re running the ball, you have to run it as hard as you possibly can every down,” Harris said. “That is the way we’re taught. We have a great running back coach (Jason Lynch). He always tell us if you’re going out of bounds to give someone a hit that way they won’t hit you next time. You don’t ever want to go out of bounds. You want to get that extra yard every time.”
Highlands took full advantage of the three Boyle County turnovers. The Bluebirds scored 19 points off them.
The Bluebirds used two of those scored to take the lead for good in the third quarter. Highlands needed just two plays to score after a Boyle fumble. Harris had a 15-yard run and McCoy scored from two yards out after a Rebel offsides penalty to trim the Rebel lead to 24-22 after an Evan Allen kick with 9:59 left in the third quarter.
“The best thing about (the rally) was the play of the players when they were down nine at half,” Mueller said. “Boyle got the ball to start the second half. We stopped them, scored, stopped them, scored right off the bat so it was the composure of the guys.”
Another fumble gave Highlands the ball at the Rebel 45. McCoy ran to the right for an 18-yard score to put the Bluebirds up 28-24 with 6:14 remaining.
Highlands added two more quick scored to complete the 28-point outburst in the third quarter. Hayes broke free on an outside sweep and took it 80-yards down the left sideline before cutting back inside for the score and McCoy added a 47-yard run to put the Bluebirds up 43-24 after the third quarter.
The Bluebirds put the game out of reach in the fourth. Allen booted a 20-yard field goal and McCoy added another 2-yard run to give Highlands a 52-24 advantage with 2:52 left in the game.
Highlands QB Donovan McCoy runs it in from 2 yards out
Highlands continues action with another home game. The 2011 Class 6A state runner-up Scott County Cardinals come to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
NCC 37, Dixie 22
Friday, August 17, 2012
Van Damme It's Friday Links


