Cooper hosts Ryle on Sept. 4 in the annual Battle of Union, with both programs breaking in sophomore quarterbacks after heavy graduation losses.

The Jaguars and Raiders enter Week 3 on opposite trajectories. Cooper is coming off a 45-6 loss at Highlands on Aug. 28, while Ryle bounced back from a 50-6 Week 1 loss to Covington Catholic with a 36-21 win at Conner the same night.

Cooper head coach Adam Begley, a first-year head coach and Florence Fire/EMS battalion chief, opened his tenure with a comeback. The Jaguars rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Christian County 28-21 on Aug. 21. Sophomore quarterback Zach Kostopoulos completed 6 of 13 passes for 138 yards and a touchdown in that game, according to the NKY Tribune. Senior Corey Freihofer caught a 31-yard touchdown pass and added two rushing scores.

The Highlands game was a different story. Bluebirds quarterback Bryce Armstrong accounted for four touchdowns, and Highlands built a 35-6 halftime lead before triggering a running clock, WLWT reported.

Cooper returns only four starters on each side of the ball after losing record-setting quarterback Cam O'Hara, now at Western Kentucky, and the program's top four tacklers, according to LINK nky. In the three seasons before 2026, the Jaguars went 34-8 with a 10-2 playoff record and two Class 5A state championship game appearances.

In an Aug. 12 preseason interview with the NKY Tribune, Begley rejected the rebuild label.

"We're not rebuilding, the foundation is set," he said.

Ryle coach Mike Engler, in his 12th season, lost 25 players to graduation or transfer from a squad that went 10-4 and reached the Class 6A state semifinals, according to the Ryle football program's website. Two-way star Jacob Savage, who finished his career with a school-record 509 tackles, is now at Indiana. Engler's career record at Ryle stands at 93-55 with three region titles.

Sophomore quarterback Brody Smith, listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, runs the Raiders' offense. His brother Dillon Smith plays defensive line at Louisville. In an Aug. 3 preseason interview with the NKY Tribune, Engler praised Smith's arm and said his ability to put the ball where receivers can catch it is "really good."

The Cincinnati Enquirer noted before Week 2 that Smith's timing with his receivers was off by a fraction of a second against Covington Catholic. The 36-21 win over Conner suggests the Raiders made progress, though individual stats from that game were not available.

Ryle's offensive line features junior left tackle Max Parsons and three-year starter Max Neumann at right guard. On defense, senior safety Evan Kincaid recorded a team-high seven interceptions last season for a unit that ranked second in the state with 22 picks.

Cooper's defense showed teeth in Week 1. Senior linebacker Christian Inabnit led with 10 tackles, and the unit recorded nine tackles for loss and forced three turnovers against Christian County, per the NKY Tribune.

The game pits a Class 5A Cooper program that reached two state championship games in the past three seasons against a Class 6A Ryle team that made the state semifinals last fall. Both squads are young and still searching for a consistent identity two games in.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. Sept. 4 at Cooper, 2855 Longbranch Road in Union.