As one of Northern Kentucky’s fiercest high school football rivalries, the series between Beechwood and Covington Catholic is full of history.
It’s public versus private, small school versus big school, and two teams that have a combined 25 state championships.
But Covington Catholic’s 42-14 win on Sept. 19, 2025 added something new to the fold.
It’s rare for students to transfer from Fort Mitchell to Park Hills, or vice versa, but for what many believe is a first in the rivalry’s history, the two starting quarterbacks faced off against their former schools.
Emmett Queen spent his sophomore year at Covington Catholic before transferring up the road. Conversely, Cash Harney played his freshman year for the Tigers before switching to Covington Catholic.
“I went to grade school with a lot of those kids, played football in middle school with a lot of those kids. I know them personally. I came here and they don’t really like me anymore. It’s gonna be really fun to get on the field,” Queen said two days before the game.
“Cash has always been cool, calm and collected. I don’t think he really worries about who the opponent is and things like that. I do know that, as a senior, it’s a little bit of a bigger deal to him,” Covington Catholic head coach Eddie Eviston said the day before the game.
How did Cash Harney and Emmett Queen perform in the Week 5 game between the Colonels and Tigers?
Since Eddie Eviston took over at CovCath in 2015, the Colonels offense is usually split right down the middle in terms of passing yards and rushing yards. Harney has bucked that trend while he’s been under center. Last year, the Colonels had 3,563 rushing yards and 1,4431 passing yards. Harney and Dylan Gaiser were the main factors in the ground game.
“Just seeing him and his athleticism, and all the different things he brings to the table, he’s such a competitor,” Eviston said.
On Friday night, Harney had 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a 71-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. The Colonels ran for 486 yards and six touchdowns.
“We always want each other to do the best we can, and if anything, we push each other to beat each other,” Gaiser said.
Harney is no stranger to big performances against Beechwood. As a sophomore, he forced an incompletion in the waning moments of the Colonels’ 2023 win, putting an exclamation point on a furious second-half comeback.
Harney first showcased his abilities with a 173-yard, four-touchdown performance in last year’s 49-28 win over Beechwood. In a Class 4A regional final win over Boyle County, he iced the game with a 66-yard run with about two minutes left.
Harney said his time at Covington Catholic has been “the best of both worlds.” Even though his parents and both of his older sisters went to Holy Cross, he went to CovCath because of his connection to a number of fellow students. He also gets to learn from Eviston on the field and Jake Thelen on the basketball court.
“Best coaches in the state, I feel like. They’re great people,” Harney said.
The one noticeable characteristic for Beechwood quarterbacks in recent years has been a big arm. Clay Hayden threw for 8,823 yards and 117 touchdowns in his career. Queen already has 1,002 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games.
What’s impressed Volker the most is his ability to lead his teammates. Queen transferred to Beechwood in January, which allowed him to spend time with his offensive skill players. He’s made such an impact so far, even with little prior varsity experience under his belt, that his teammates named him a captain.
“Any time you’re new and can get named a captain and come in and be a leader, everybody gravitates to you and listens to you,” Volker said.
Queen got off to a rocky start against CovCath as his first three drives resulted in two punts and an interception. He recovered to throw for 207 yards and a touchdown, but Beechwood’s offensive line struggled to move the ball in the second half. Queen’s second interception came in the red zone and led to a Colonel touchdown that made the score 28-14.
“He might have made the right read and they might have jumped it or played something different that we haven’t seen before. It’s a good learning curve for him. First hard game, getting a lot of pressure over and over again,” Volker said.
The Beechwood-Covington Catholic game is another step on each team’s path to a state championship
No matter the rosters, schedules or coaches, the Tigers and Colonels always find themselves in the thick of the Class 2A and 4A postseason conversation.
The two classes have different dynamics this season. The Tigers are the favorite to repeat, even against the likes of Owensboro Catholic, Lexington Christian and newcomer Belfry. The Tigers have looked the part, outscoring their first three opponents 146-19.
“One of my high school goals is to win a state championship, and coming here and having all these guys around me, we’re gonna make it happen,” Queen said.
This year, Class 4A is considered the toughest in the state. Boyle County is reloading for another deep run, Paducah Tilghman is the defending champion, and Franklin County is the 2024 state runner-up. Add in the fact that Highlands and CovCath are once again in the same district.
“That’s exciting for us. I don’t think anybody really wants a cake walk to bigger and better things. We’ve always got to earn whatever we receive, and any team that can be there at the end in 4A definitely earned it,” Eviston said.
Beechwood has lost to Covington Catholic in eight of their 10 most recent state championship seasons. The Colonels beat the Tigers on their way to titles in 2006, 2017 and 2019.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cash Harney, Emmett Queen make unique history in Beechwood-Covington Catholic rivalry
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
