[charlie22]

It basically goes just like the population of the state which isn't any surprise statistically.

NOTE: Any time you see a 1/2 is because Beechwood is close enough to both NKY/Covington and Louisville to be counted in either, so I split their numbers with each.

3 1/2 teams from Louisville
2 1/2 teams from Northern KY
2 teams from Central KY
1 teams from Western KY
1 teams from Eastern KY

20 1/2 championships from Louisville
17 1/2 championships from Northern KY
10 championships from Central KY
3 championships from Western KY
3 championships from Eastern KY

3 of 10 teams are private which is fewer than most would suspect I believe. They account for 19 of the 54 championships above or 35%

Most of the teams, regardless of class are from high population areas.

3 1/2 teams from the Louisville area, the state's largest city
2 teams from the Lexington area, the state's 2nd largest city
2 1/2 teams from the Covington area, the state's 5th largest city (also within 5 miles of Cincinnati which if it were in Kentucky would be the state's 2nd largest city)

That's 8 of the 10 teams on the list. The 2 abnormals are Mayfield and Breathitt Co. Mayfield is near Paducah which is the state's 12th largest city, and Breathitt Co. is not near any large notable cities.

The only Eastern KY city in the top 15 of population is Ashland, coming in at #15 on the list. The Lou. and Northern KY areas are EACH 25 times larger than Ashland while the Lexington area is about 13 times as large.

In conclusion, I'd say the reason you don't see more Mountain teams is sheer lack of population and a metro city. In these larger population and metro areas, there may be more schools, but you also have the ability to pick and choose your school with more ease creating powerhouses. Also, in these areas you are able to consistently play much better competition, in turn making your own team better.

In re Beechwood, its not close enough to N. Ky and Louisville to be counted as a 1/2 for both. Its definitely in N Ky. Heck its about 3 miles (max) from Cincinnati. And Covington is right across the river from Cincinnati so its as close as the river is wide, 1/2 mile maybe or less.

I do agree that the urban schools get to play consistently better competition, in turn making the teams better. To me, that more than any other factor is the reason for the disparity, region wise, in the number of championships.

As for the picking and choosing schools comment, that really doesn't happen as much as you think it does. Of Highlands 17 championships, I can think of only 2 where there was a significant out of district impact: 1999 when we had Lorenzen and Smith (Lorenzen was originally from Kenton County but moved to Ft. Thomas before his frosh year to live with his mom after his parents got divorced and Smith lived in Silver Grove but came to Highlands because his Mom worked in the school district plus Silver Grove High School did not have a football team) and 2004 when we had 4 or 5 very good players not from Ft. Thomas. But other than those two years, the impact of out of district player issue really hasn't been present.

And as you pointed out, there are a lot of schools up here that acts to prevent the good football players from all getting funnelled into one or two schools. Highlands, NewCath, CovCath, Beechwood, Dixie, Boone County and Ryle all do a good part in keeping the good players "at home" in their respective home school districts. Heck, for all the talk about Highlands getting good players from out of district, if you knew the number of Ft. Thomas kids that attended NewCath over the years it would blow your mind away and a lot of them have been very, very good players for NewCath.