KHSAA proposes 3-team districts with a wrinkle

Instead of two of the six Northern Kentucky Class 6A football schools being moved into a four-team district with Louisville schools starting in 2015, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association district realignment plan released Tuesday has two three-team districts and a playoff wrinkle instead.

The biggest mystery for those six schools (Boone County, Campbell County, Conner, Cooper, Ryle and Simon Kenton) heading into Tuesday's monthly Board of Control meeting was which four would likely form one of the eight districts in the 32-team "big school" class and which two would be moving to another district.

The KHSAA instead has proposed Conner, Cooper and Ryle form one district (District 5) and Boone County, Campbell County and Simon Kenton form another (District 6).

The KHSAA breaks football into six classes based on enrollment, with eight districts in each class. It is allowing member schools starting in 2015 to play up a class and then allowing a corresponding school at the lower enrollment end of each class to play down if it wants.

Under the proposal, Louisville Class 6A schools will be placed into two five-team districts (with perennial powers St. Xavier and Trinity in opposite districts) with the fifth-place team in each of those districts filling the fourth playoff spot in District 5 and District 6. The fifth-place team from District 3 (Butler, DuPont Manual, Male, Pleasure Ridge Park or St. Xavier) would become the fourth-place team in District 5 for the playoffs in odd-numbered years and the fourth-place team in District 6 in even-numbered years. The fifth-place team from District 4 (Ballard, Eastern, Jeffersontown, Seneca or Trinity) would become the fourth-place team in District 5 in even-numbered years and fourth-place team in District 6 in odd-numbered years.

Final approval of the plan will be done at the May Board of Control meeting.

Simon Kenton coach Jeff Marksberry had feared his school was going to be one of the two teams being moved into a district with Louisville, so he likes the proposal on first glance.

"I think I'm OK with it, but I haven't had a chance to completely look at the implications of it," Marksberry said. "I do worry about scheduling local schools (in the other proposed Class 6A district in non-district games) because of the potential of playing them again in the playoffs, especially say in week nine or week 10. I want to keep them on the schedule and maybe they go on the front end of the schedule instead of the back end."

Cooper coach Randy Borchers said he had hoped there would be a four-team Boone County Schools district (Boone County, Cooper, Conner and Ryle), but he said the proposed plan makes sense. His team and Conner are both in Class 5A currently and would be under the new alignment, but both elected to play up a class.

"All four of the Boone Schools thought it would be the most common sense thing to do, but this is a good alternative," said Borchers. "We've really created great rivalry with Conner and along with Ryle, because it's so close to us, those are our two biggest rivalries. The interesting issue is we have to now pick up a couple more non-district games."

The other surprise move involving local teams was the decision to add two teams to Class 2A, District 6 to form a six-team district. Bishop Brossart is dropping out of that district to Class A because of smaller enrollment, but that left current district members Holy Cross, Lloyd, Newport and Newport Central Catholic to form a four-team district. The proposed new district would add Bath County and West Carter to that district, both of which are two hours-plus away. It will mean each of the area schools will have to drop a non-district game and perennial state power NewCath will likely have to drop a game with either a Class 5A or Class 6A school that it currently plays.

"I understand the state has to do realignment, but from a financial standpoint it's not a winner for us," NewCath athletic director Rob Detzel said. "We have to travel a significant distance and (Bath County and West Carter) do too, and those games will be terrible gates for us."

The other area district breakdowns are as follows:

Covington Catholic, which is electing to play up; Dixie Heights, which is electing to play down; Grant County and Highlands, which is playing up, would form Class 5A, District 5.

Bourbon County, Harrison County, Holmes, Mason County and Scott, which is electing to play down, would form Class 4A, District 7.

Pendleton County would be in Class 3A District 5 along with Fleming County, Lewis County and Russell.

The current Class 2A, District 5 alignment would remain the same: Carroll County, Gallatin County, Owen County, Trimble County and Walton-Verona.

The Class A, District 4 alignment would also remain the same: Beechwood, Bellevue, Dayton and Ludlow.

Bishop Brossart would be in Class A, District 5 with Bracken County, Nicholas County and Paris.