Prep Sports Report: Rookie quarterback, first-year head coach make successful debuts in season opener

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

An unknown quarterback made Dan Court’s head coaching debut a successful one Friday night when senior PJ Storer led Boone County to a 41-0 win over Holmes in Week 1 of the 2024 high school football season.

Storer had never played quarterback in a varsity game before, but he completed 8 of 13 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored one of four rushing touchdowns for the Rebels, who picked up 181 yards on the ground in a well balanced offensive performance.

“Even though this is my first time being a varsity quarterback, everybody in our locker room had faith in me,” Storer said. “Coach Court had faith in me and every single one of the coaches who come in and devote their time to us had faith in me to run the offense and just do the job that needs to be done to lead the team.”

Court had been an assistant coach at Highlands and Scott before coming to Boone County. He took charge of a football program that had posted just 19 wins over the last 13 seasons, so the outcome of  Friday’s opener meant a lot to him. And Storer’s performance added to the ambiance of the victory.

“He’s come a long way since we started (practicing) in early summer,” Court said. “He’s getting very comfortable with what I want in a quarterback and how to get the ball in our receivers’ hands, but he really impressed me throwing the deep ball Friday night.”

As a sophomore, Storer played seven varsity games at defensive back for Boone County. He transferred to Ludlow, but he wasn’t eligible to play there last season. When he returned to Boone County for his senior season, he told Court he wanted to play quarterback and earned the position during practice.

On his first play from scrimmage in Friday’s game, Storer completed a 30-yard pass. His two touchdown strikes went 30 yards and 34 yards to senior wide receiver Justin Padilla, another newcomer who didn’t have any receptions on last year’s team that finished with a 2-8 record.

“I felt really comfortable coming into it,” Storer said of his debut at quarterback. “We’ve got a chance to be behind a head coach who wants nothing  for us but success on and off the field. We have this saying now, ‘Change the Narrative,’ and coach Court has put us in a position to do that.”

Cross country runners open season
with victories in two major meets

Northern Kentucky cross country runners who led their teams to state titles last fall opened the 2024 season by winning major invitational meets.

Beechwood junior Lily Parke was the first girl across the finish line at the St. Xavier Tiger Run on Saturday in Louisville. There were more than 200 runners from schools of all sizes in that 5,000-meter race and Parke’s winning time of 18:18 was 23 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Parke placed second in last year’s Class 1A girls state meet. Beechwood won the team title for the second consecutive year behind her and three other returning runners who were among the top 15 finishers.

At the Moeller Primetime Invitational on Friday in Ohio, the top three finishers in the boys premier race were Covington Catholic senior Will Sheets (15:19), Cooper junior Paul Van Laningham (15:37) and CovCath junior Joe Mayer (15:52). The first two runners surpassed the previous course record of 15:44 set last year by Tiger Bartlett of Ryle.

CovCath won the invitational team title behind its two pack leaders. At last year’s state cross country meet, Sheets placed third and Mayer fourth to lead the Colonels to first place in the Class 2A team standings.

St. Henry plays first football game
after honoring two successful coaches

St. Henry decided to launch its football program with freshmen and junior varsity teams this season and make the transition to varsity competition in 2025. On Monday, the Crusaders played their first game ever and came away with 26-0 win over Dayton’s junior varsity team.

Prior to the game, St. Henry unveiled a new floor in its gymnasium that bears the names of Dave Faust and Maureen Kaiser, two of the school’s most successful coaches.

Faust holds the record for most career wins by a 9th Region boys basketball coach with 475 in 32 seasons. Kaiser has been St. Henry’s head volleyball coach for more than 30 years and led her 2021 team to a state championship in the unclassified sport that has been dominated by larger schools for decades.

The Crusaders have already won 9th Region All “A” Classic championships in boys soccer, boys golf and girls golf this school year.  All three of those teams will compete in small-school state tournaments next month.

Cooper golfer tops point standings
with victories in five tournaments

Cooper senior Reagan Ramage leads the Kentucky girls high school golf point standings after starting the season with five tournament wins and carding under-par totals in each one of those 18-hole events.

Based on tournament results, Ramage has a 570-point total followed by Katie Roberts of Marshall County with 555 points. The standings determine all-state awards at the end of the each season. Ramage was first-team all-state in both 2023 and 2022.

At last year’s state tournament, Ramage placed fourth on the leaderboard to clinch first-team all-state honors and Cooper was third in the team standings. During the winter, Ramage made a verbal commitment with the Western Kentucky University women’s golf team.

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