Dixie Heights hasn't posted a winning season since 2021. The Colonels' path back runs through a Class 5A district that just got harder.
Boone County, which shares a five-team district with Dixie Heights, Conner, Cooper, and Scott, returns five starters on each side of the ball from a squad that reached the playoffs for the first time since 2018. The top two finishers in district play earn home games in the opening round of the Kentucky state playoffs, and Rebels head coach Dan Court told the Northern Kentucky Tribune that's his team's explicit goal for 2026.
"They got a taste for what the playoffs are … And now they want more of it," Court said in the Tribune's Friday, July 31 preview.
The numbers back up the ambition. Senior running back Malik Johnson rushed for 1,188 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. Senior linebacker Javier Diaz piled up 117 tackles, eight sacks, and three forced fumbles. Both return, giving Boone County proven weapons on each side of the ball that every district opponent, including the Colonels, will have to solve.
Court said the offense will get Johnson the ball "in multiple different ways" rather than relying solely on traditional handoffs. Junior wideout Amare Newberry (23 catches, 417 yards, four touchdowns) and senior William Randall, returning from an ACL injury, give the Rebels additional targets. Two seniors are competing for the starting quarterback job: Micheal Chiasson, who threw for 1,389 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, and Asa LeGrand, who missed most of last season with a broken collarbone.
What it means for the Colonels
Dixie Heights has its own returning playmaker. Linebacker Brad Roaden led the Colonels with 80 tackles, 10 for loss, four sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries last season, earning second-team All-Northern Kentucky honors from the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association. The Cincinnati Enquirer wrote Monday, July 27 that the district is "right there for the taking for the Colonels."
The Colonels open at home against Simon Kenton on Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. Their marquee district date comes Friday, Oct. 16, when Boone County visits Dixie Heights in Edgewood for a 7 p.m. kickoff that could decide playoff seeding.
St. Henry gets an early measuring stick
Before Boone County turns to district play, the Rebels travel to Erlanger to face St. Henry on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. That gives the Crusaders a Week 2 test against a team loaded with returning starters and a 1,000-yard back. St. Henry opens its season Friday, Aug. 21 at Holy Cross at 7 p.m.
Boone County finished 4-7 overall in 2025 and lost to Woodford County 54-7 in the first round. The Rebels managed only two touchdowns in three district losses, but beat Scott 36-25 in overtime to clinch their berth. With Johnson, Diaz, and a deeper roster back, Court's squad looks like the team Dixie Heights must beat to host a playoff game of its own.
Dixie Heights' early schedule after the Simon Kenton opener: at Badin (Hamilton, Ohio) on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m., at Beechwood on Friday, Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m., and home against Covington Catholic on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
