There was a pair of fumbles in the second half.
One for Covington Catholic, one for Highlands.
The Colonels turned their fumble recovery into six points, the Bluebirds? Zero.
In a 14-14 game at a time when both offenses were struggling out of the half, that momentum boost jolted the Colonels enough for a 35-21 victory over the Bluebirds at David Cecil Memorial Stadium in Fort Thomas.
A pick six from CovCath’s Cash Harney added to it.
“That’s the name of football is the turnover battle and what you do with it. If you can take that momentum and get some points on the board it’s always a plus,” Colonels coach Eddie Eviston said. “It was a back and forth game the whole time, so to get those turnovers and make it a two score game was big for us.”
Evan Pitzer spread it around in a battle of top tier quarterbacks in Northern Kentucky with Brody Benke, Benke rather using his legs in the rivalry battle.
Pitzer finished with 202 yards passing and hit three different receivers for touchdowns. Pitzer and the Colonels offense picked up big third down conversion after third down conversion to help sustain drives. Their first drive of the game had three third down conversions, the last conversion aided by a Bluebirds personal foul.
“If I was disappointed in anything, we just lost our composure a couple times and a couple of penalties kept their drives alive,” Bluebirds coach Bob Sphire said.
Benke ran for 152 yards, his 76-yard run to the end zone in the second quarter giving the Bluebirds a 14-6 edge with 2:28 left before half.
But a 12-play, 80-yard drive in 2:27 got the Colonels to tie the game up with one second before half when Braylon Miller caught a nine-yard touchdown pass, just clearing the goal line on a reception up the middle.
“It gave us a lot of energy,” Miller said.
Miller was one of six different receivers to catch a pass for the Colonels, similar to last week when they had eight different guys with a reception.
“That (the variety of receivers) helps us a lot. You can’ just focus on Willie,” Miller said. “They’re going to have to move around. We can all make plays. You saw it out here tonight.”
The third quarter got off to an ugly start for both.
A Highlands three and out, A CovCath fumble inside their own 20.
But a negative run and two incompletions and the Bluebirds suddenly found themselves with a 31-yard field goal attempt that never even got off the ground due to a botched hold.
The Colonels followed with a three and out, but a Highlands fumble on the punt return gave them the ball at the Bluebirds 26. Unlike Highlands, six plays later the Colonels punched it into the end zone on a eight-yard strike from Pitzer to Willie Rodriguez for a 21-14 CovCath lead.
A disastrous third quarter continued for Highlands when Harney picked off a Benke pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown, the Colonels up 28-14 with 2:12 left in the third.
Highlands quickly answered on a six play, 81-yard drive in less than two minutes capped off by a Cameron Giesler 36-yard touchdown run to make it 28-21 in the waning seconds of the third.
Third and long came up again for CovCath on the ensuing drive. No. 5 (Pitzer) to No. 2 (Miller) connected again on a third and 11 to keep things moving.
“You just got to trust your receiver sometimes. When you’re getting pressure in your face, you hope they make a play,” Pitzer said. “One on one is one on none for us, so we had to win the one on one battles and we did that tonight.”
Three plays later and Pitzer hit Owen Leen for his third passing touchdown of the day and a 35-21 CovCath lead with 9:33 to play.
Highlands looked as if they’d answer again, but a drive that got all the way to the Colonels three ended on a fourth down incompletion.
Miller later sealed the deal with an interception, the Colonels earning their 10th win in the last 11 games in the series. Unlike their storied past where a playoff matchup is a possibility, these two won’t see each other again until 2024 with CovCath in 4A, Highlands in 5A.
“These are great games and you look forward to these Friday nights. It was awesome in this environment,” Eviston said.
Miller finished with a game-high 63 receiving yards on five receptions, Rodriguez bringing down four passes for 57 yards. Owen Leen had 63 rushing yards as the Colonels finished with 310 yards.
Giesler paired with Benke for a combined 269 rushing yards and two touchdowns, Giesler’s first a 22-yard run in the first to give Highlands a 7-6 lead. Benke connected on 13-of-16 passes for 87 yards, two of the three incompletions ending up in the Colonels arms.
Covington Catholic plays at Simon Kenton next week, Highlands hosts Campbell County.
“We couldn’t get them off the field on third downs,” Sphire said. “They made the key plays at the key times and we didn’t. It’s a combination of not just saying missed opportunities, they took advantage of opportunities.”
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 6-8-14-7 — 35
HIGHLANDS — 7-7-7-0 — 21
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 5-yard run (5:02) Kick failed
(H) Giesler 22-yard run (1:19) Nickelman kick
2nd Quarter
(H) Benke 76-yard run (2:28) Nickelman kick
(CC) Pitzer 9-yard pass to Miller (:01) Pitzer run
3rd Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 8-yard pass to Rodriguez (4:01) Weitzel kick
(CC) Harney 35-yard INT return (2:12) Weitzel kick
(H) Giesler 37-yard run (:11) Nickelman kick
4th Quarter
Pitzer 8-yard pass to Leen (9:33) Weitzel kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Covington Catholic 202 (Pitzer 19/27, 3 TD), Highlands 87 (Benke 13/16, Litmer 0/1)
Rushing Yards: Covington Catholic 108 (Leen 19-63, Pitzer 13-31, Bessler 3-9, Michaels 1-3, Miller 1-2) Highlands 268 (Benke 14-152, Giesler 11-117, White 1-(minus)1)
Receiving: Covington Catholic (Miller 5-63, Rodriguez 4-57, McEvoy 1-28, Link 3-23, Leen 5-20, Johnson 1-11) Highlands (Giesler 5-26, Arnold 2-18, White 1-11, Surrey 1-10, Class 1-8, McCarter 1-6, Hinegardner 1-6, Matteoli 1-2)
Turnovers: Covington Catholic 1, Highlands 2
Penalties: Covington Catholic 5-42, Highlands 6-56
Records: Covington Catholic 2-0, Highlands 1-1
