50 greatest NKY sports teams in 50 days: Day 21, 1977 Bellevue football

We gave you the 50 greatest sports icons from NKY last summer. Since we had so much fun with that, we’re bringing you another list of the 50 greatest things this summer…The 50 greatest prep sports teams from NKY. 

Each day for the next 50 days, we’ll release one of the area’s 50 greatest prep sports teams. It starts June 22 and runs into August. This is not a ranking 1-50, it’s just a collection of the 50 best sports teams ever assembled.

We’ll preface this by saying you may or may not agree with all 50 and that’s fine. Sports editor Evan Dennison assembled a panel of dedicated and longly-tenured NKY sports fans to weigh in and give their takes on who should be on the list. I trust those people because of their history and knowledge of the game in NKY. We compiled numerous lists and identified the most certain candidates for inclusion. 

Some of the traits we sought in these teams were state championships (almost certainly a requirement), dominance, and standout players and coaches. We may have cheated a little by lumping some dominant teams together that achieved numerous consecutive state titles, but that gives a few more teams an opportunity to be recognized. 

I hope you enjoy this, as sports are slow in the summer. This list serves as a way to remember the past a little and keep you entertained daily as it continues.

Another note, while we respect and give coverage to golf, tennis, wrestling, bowling, track and field and cross country, we consider those individual sports, so any teams from those sports will not make the list.

Here we go!  

1977 Bellevue football

The 1977 Bellevue Tigers turned a season of redemption into the first football state championship in school history.

After falling 22-0 to Fort Campbell in the 1976 state finals, Bellevue returned the following season with a mission, finishing 13-1 and defeating Frankfort 21-0 for the Class A state championship at Eastern Kentucky University’s Hanger Field.

Bellevue was one of the state’s most dominant teams. Running the old-fashioned single-wing offense, the Tigers relied on a bruising rushing attack behind a physical offensive line. They averaged 27 points per game while allowing just six points per game, recorded six shutouts, won by an average of 23.1 points, and outscored playoff opponents 77-18. They also defeated larger-school opponents Covington Catholic and Campbell County, proving they could compete with anyone.

The championship game produced one of the most memorable plays in Kentucky high school football history. Senior Jack Hurtt, playing with a broken thumb protected by a specially designed fiberglass cast, returned a blocked Frankfort field goal 96 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Mike McGurn then rushed for 112 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns, while Jon Sutkamp added 53 rushing yards. Sutkamp later rushed for more than 4,000 career yards at Bellevue, including a then-Northern Kentucky-record 2,033-yard senior season, before signing with Eastern Kentucky University.

Head coach Bill Baldridge built the Tigers into champions in just his second season. His Bellevue teams went 24-5 over two years, and he later enjoyed a distinguished college coaching career, serving as head coach at Morehead State while hiring future Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh and future Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith.

Bellevue’s breakthrough championship sparked a remarkable era, leading to another state title in 1979 and state runner-up finishes in 1980, 1981, and 1990.

Here’s the rundown of the 50 greatest NKY prep sports teams day by day:

Day 1: 1998 Highlands Football

Day 2: 1963 Holmes Baseball

Day 3: 2019 Covington Catholic football

Day 4: 2021 Notre Dame Academy Girls Soccer

Day 5: 1960 Highlands Football

Day 6: 1980 Villa Madonna Volleyball

Day 7: 1976 Lloyd Memorial Football

Day 8: 2009 Holmes Boys Basketball

Day 9: 1991 Beechwood Football

Day 10: 1954 Newport Catholic Baseball

Day 11: 1982 Highlands Football

Day 12: 2019 Ryle Girls Basketball

Day 13: 1987 Boone County Football

Day 14: 1981 St. Henry Volleyball

Day 15: 2021 Beechwood Football

Day 16: 2002 Covington Catholic Baseball

Day 17: 1957 Highlands Football

Day 18: 2006 Ryle Softball

Day 19: 1975 Ludlow Football

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