What were the chances? With starting quarterback Evan Pitzer on crutches, no way Covington Catholic comes into Union and runs up 47 points on Ryle, is there?
On Senior Night? In the Crosstown Showdown?
Sure, senior Zacc Roberts had gotten the call at quarterback in the opener for CovCath. But an injury and Pitzer’s stellar play had relegated him to standby status.
Friday night’s 47-21 romp over Ryle showed exactly why naming a starting quarterback was a tough call for CovCath Coach Eddie Eviston. Although with Pitzer’s injury, there wasn’t any doubt this week.
With a bye last week and two weeks to get ready for the final regular season game, CovCath had a chance to make up for the end-of-game breakdowns against Highlands that turned a win into a loss.
Not on this night. Not with Roberts stepping in and doing everything right. Not with dependable junior Owen Leen doing what Owen Leen does.
And not with CovCath defender Tate Kruer doing what almost no one has ever done in the more than half-century of Colonel football.
But first, this night belonged to Roberts, who ran it, threw it, and kept his Colonels looking as sharp and precise on offense as they have all year. Here are his numbers: 120 yards on 10 carries (a 12.0 average) and two touchdowns on the ground, while hitting on nine of 14 passing for another 130 yards — and two more TDs.
Was Roberts surprised at those numbers? As someone who sprinkles his answers with “Yes, sir,” you could tell Zacc wanted to say “No, sir,” but he didn’t. He was much too circumspect.
“All week our offense was clicking,” he said, “and our offensive linemen did a great job.”
But what about the job you did? “I just practiced like I always do,” he said. Only this time it was his team.
Again, was he surprised. Those 47 points tied the season-high against Dixie Heights for the Colonels.
“I had no doubt,” Zacc said. “We had a bunch of players step up.” Of that there was no doubt, including Zacc himself.
Not that there’s ever any doubt about Leen. The tough, elusive junior just keeps chugging. In this game, he matched his number – 22 – with his total carries – for 185 yards – and three TDs – all from the 2-2-2-yard line.
Ryle, meanwhile, managed just 22 total yards on the ground on 15 tries as the Colonel defenders put the clamps on the Raider offense. That’s the same offense that scored 31 points last week in a tough loss to a Simon Kenton team that gave Woodford County its first loss Friday.
But in a first half that saw CovCath jump out to a 19-7 edge with a late score answering Ryle’s first TD thanks to 229 yards of first-half offense to Ryle’s 104, it took a 78-yard kickoff return by Ben McEvoy to give the Colonels a chance for some breathing room.
Not that CovCath took it easy with the lead. The Colonels needed just three plays to score after halftime, with a 30-yard Leen run and a perfectly executed 32-yard Roberts to Braylon Miller TD pass and the rout was on with the Colonels up 26-7.
But enough of offense. Time to talk about the Crosstown Showdown’s Most Outstanding Player, CovCath’s Kruer. Sure, all he did was catch three passes. But what made that so special was that they were all Ryle passes.
That puts the 6-foot-1, 185-pound third-generation Colonel and second-generation football player whose family moved back from Montana after his eighth-grade year, in a class almost by himself. Only one CovCath player, Jim Schwartz in 1983 against Holmes, had more, with four.
“I’ll try to beat that next time,” Tate said with a grin at the thought of his last one, a full layout dive between two Ryle receivers. But when his teammates called for him to make a postgame speech after getting his trophy, Tate could not have been more politically correct – and just plain correct.
“I’d like to thank my D-line,” he said as they clapped his awareness at sharing the credit, and then, after a pause, “and Coach Brown,” of the CovCath defensive coordinator, Terry Brown.
But that’s not all that Kruer did on this night. He kicked off eight times, punted another two and led CovCath in tackles with seven including one for a loss.
And like Roberts, had you told him before this game that his Colonels would score 47 points, what would he have said? “I would have believed you,” he said.
So would Eviston, maybe. “I think our offense is capable of that,” the CovCath coach said, “you never know.”
What Eviston did know was that “our defense did a great job and turnovers shortened the field for our offense.”
What Eviston was not sure about was whether Pitzer would be able to get off those crutches and play in the postseason with the Colonels opening Friday at home against Georgetown’s Great Crossing High coming off a 49-7 win over Collins with an 8-2 record to match CovCath’s.
“I’m not sure,” he said, “with rehab . . . “well, you just never know. Like no one knew the Colonels, with nine players out injured and watching this one in their game jerseys, could put up 47 points – or have a sophomore pick off three passes.
Ryle, finishing the regular season at 5-5, will get a Class 6A home game against a 4-6 Louisville Eastern team coming off a 56-14 loss to Christian Academy-Louisville.
Box Score (Final)
QUARTER 1 2 3 4 TOTAL
Covcath 6 13 21 7 47
Ryle 0 7 7 7 21
CovCath: Link,Oliver 15 yd pass from Roberts,Zacc (Roberts,Zacc rush failed)
CovCath: Roberts,Zacc 15 yd run (Roberts,Zacc pass failed)
Ryle: Gardner,Kaden 11 yd run (Line,Josh kick)
CovCath: Leen.Owen 2 yd run (Weitzel,Andrew kick)
CovCath: Miller,Braylon 32 yd pass from Roberts,Zacc (Weitzel,Andrew kick)
CovCath: Leen.Owen 2 yd run (Weitzel,Andrew kick)
Ryle: Gardner,Kaden 9 yd run (Line,Josh kick)
CovCath: Leen.Owen 2 yd run (Weitzel,Andrew kick)
CovCath: Roberts,Zacc 1 yd run (Weitzel,Andrew kick)
Ryle: Harden,Jayce 1 yd run (Line,Josh kick)
