The Covington Catholic Colonels came into Friday’s game with Simon Kenton averaging a solid 36 points per game.
They had that many at halftime after exploding for 27 points in the second quarter on their way to a 50-12 victory over the host Pioneers. CovCath scored 13 points off turnovers in the second quarter to build a 36-6 lead by halftime.
“We trust each other as a staff. I hope the players trust us,” said Eddie Eviston, CovCath head coach. “Sometimes we go for things offensively because we trust our defense. If you can do that, that’s a good thing.”
Simon Kenton turned the ball over four times to none for CovCath and the Colonels scored 16 points off the turnovers. Henry Atkins and Braylon Miller had interceptions with Ben McEvoy and Willie Rodriguez recovering Simon Kenton fumbles.
CovCath’s leading rusher in senior Owen Leen could not play because of an injury. But 11 different rushers more than made up for his production gaining 232 yards on 28 carries. Andrew Bessler had seven carries for 46 yards and one touchdown along with two catches for 26 yards and a touchdown. Evan Pitzer and Will Michels added rushing touchdowns for the Colonels and Cash Harney had a 64-yard touchdown scamper in the third quarter.
“I just worked hard in practice to do what we needed to do because I knew (Leen) was down,” Bessler said. “I have some great offensive linemen, a great tight end. On both touchdowns, I was walking to the end zone. It was perfect.”
CovCath outgained Simon Kenton, 480-211 in total offense. Pitzer completed 13-of-16 passes for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Noah Johnson led the Colonels with four catches for 73 yards with Miller catching three passes for 56 yards. Rodriguez added a dynamic 59-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
“It’s a lot of fun (seeing the lines develop),” said Ben Reeves, CovCath senior lineman. “The coaches have been on us constantly ever since the offseason just because they know how much potential we have. We’re just looking forward to having a great season, keep building week to week.”
The Pioneers were without quarterback Tucker Ober and running back Kaleb Bleier due to injuries. Quarterback Brady Lee completed 12-of-17 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown pass to Tysin Weaver. Durell Turner ran for 59 yards on 11 carries for Simon Kenton and Landon Brown ran for a touchdown in the third quarter.
“We’re really young on offense and inexperienced, still trying to put it all together,” said Roy Lucas, Simon Kenton head coach. “We show flashes. But it’s a struggle.”
The Colonels still did not take chances against the Simon Kenton Counter Trey Gap spread offense that has given teams fits over the years. JP Sullivan led CovCath with six tackles with Josh Flood, Harney and Tate Kruer recording five each.
“They have a really good offensive line, probably the best o-line we’ve played this year,” Flood said. “The defensive linemen did their jobs. As long as everyone stayed where they’re supposed to be, everybody got gang tackled. We try not to remember when they have a big play and just play the next down.”
CovCath found Bessler for a 13-yard touchdown in the first quarter after Andrew Weitzel made a 23-yard field goal to give the Colonels a 9-0 lead after one. Weaver found a hole in the CovCath defense for a 25-yard touchdown catch from Lee to make it 9-6 early in the second.
The floodgates opened from there. CovCath scoring 27 unanswered points over the final 7:22 of the first half. After the Rodriguez touchdown reception in which he broke multiple tackles in a 59-yard catch and run, Michels scored from one yard out and Pitzer did the same after a Simon Kenton turnover to put the Colonels up 29-6 with 53 seconds left in the half.
Simon Kenton tried to make something happen before halftime, but lost the ball again giving the Colonels excellent field position. With four seconds left, CovCath rolled the dice and Pitzer found Link for a 4-yard touchdown to give CovCath that 36-6 halftime advantage.
The Colonels hit the running clock with 8:13 left in the third quarter when Bessler scored from 10 yards out. The teams exchanged touchdowns the rest of the quarter.
“Football is a team game so it doesn’t matter. It’s next man up,” Eviston said. “They have to do it. That’s why we work so hard with everybody in our program. Everyone in our program knows they have to be ready to go because their number could be called.”
Both teams resume non-district action Friday. CovCath plays host to Dixie Heights (1-2) at 7 p.m. and Simon Kenton plays at Beechwood (3-0) at 7:30 p.m.
COLONELS 50, PIONEERS 12
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 9-27-14-0 — 50
SIMON KENTON — 0-6-6-0 — 12
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(CC) Weitzel 23-yard field goal (7:36)
(CC) Pitzer 13-yard pass to Bessler (1:52) kick failed
2nd Quarter
(SK) Lee 25-yard pass to Weaver (9:27) kick failed
(CC) Pitzer 59-yard pass to Rodriguez (7:22) Weitzel kick
(CC) Michels 1-yard run (3:48) Weitzel kick
(CC) Pitzer 1-yard run (:53) kick failed
(CC) Pitzer 11-yard pass to Link (:01) Weitzel kick
3rd Quarter
(CC) Bessler 10-yard run (8:13) Weitzel kick
(SK) Brown 1-yard run (5:35) kick blocked
(CC) Harney 64-yard run (:00) Weitzel kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Covington Catholic 248 (Pitzer 13/16, Harney 1/1), Simon Kenton 115 (Lee 12/17)
Rushing Yards: Covington Catholic 232 (Harney 3-85, Bessler 7-46, Pitzer 3-39, Gaiser 3-21, Miller 2-18, Lampe 2-24, Michels 2-2, Boyce 2-0, Atkins 1-1, Rabe 2-(-1), Brandner 1-(-3), Simon Kenton 96 (Turner 11-59, Lee 7-27, Giordano 1-4, Brown 2-6)
Receiving: Covington Catholic 248 (Miller 3-56, Rodriguez 1-59, Johnson 4-73, Link 3-35, Bessler 2-26, Knasel 1-(-1), Simon Kenton 115 (Blades 3-43, Turner 2-28, Weaver 2-25, Brown 2-12, Harris 1-7)
Turnovers: Covington Catholic 0, Simon Kenton 4
Penalties: Covington Catholic 4-30, Simon Kenton 2-9
Records: Covington Catholic 3-0, Simon Kenton 1-1