Moments after Covington Catholic chaplain Michael Hennigan blessed the school’s new turf field prior to kick off against Ryle, University of Kentucky commit Willie Rodriguez christened it with a touchdown on the game’s fourth play from scrimmage.
Quarterback Evan Pitzer hit Rodriguez down the seam in stride for a divine 49-yard TD strike.
The Colonels jumped out 21-0 and held off a fourth-quarter Ryle rally on the way to a 37-22 season-opening win.
“It was wide open. Great ball by my QB. Put it right where I like it, and I once I got it, I ran free. It was a great play call, great ball,” Rodriguez said of his touchdown haul.
He finished with three catches for 75 yards and that TD.
“It kind of set the tone a little bit, really not just for this game but maybe for our season,” head coach Eddie Eviston said of the quick strike to Rodriguez.
Pitzer completed 21 of 28 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown toss to go with 63 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
“You want to get the momentum on your side, and you want to send a message not only to the other team but your team, like, ‘We’re here to play.’ Willie ran a great route, and my receivers all around tonight played very well,” Pitzer said.
On CovCath’s second possession, Pitzer hit Oliver Link for 42 yards down to the six-yard line to set up an Owen Leen TD run from there. Leen rushed 16 times for 96 yards and three touchdowns.
A third straight score came from Pitzer to put the Colonels in front 21-0 on a six-yard keeper, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage on his way to pay dirt. And with 6:36 remaining in the second quarter, CovCath appeared to be on its way to a route of Ryle.
The Raiders responded on the ensuing possession, converting a fourth down with a Logan Verax completion to Landon Lorms to the CovCath 29-yard line. Those two connected again on a 12-yard gain to the 14. It took another fourth down conversion from the eight-yard line to keep the drive alive with some help from the Colonels. An illegal substitution on fourth and four gave the Raiders first and goal from the four. Jacob Savage finished the drive with a one-yard push to get Ryle on the board with 58 seconds left in the opening half to cut the lead to 14.
CovCath had a shot to make it 24-7, but missed a 31-yard field goal before the half.
Ryle’s opening possession of the third quarter was promising. The Raiders drove to the CovCath 15-yard line but then fumbled it away. Ryle then spotted the Colonels two points on a bad snap that sailed out of the end zone on a punt on their next possession.
“We talked about it. We felt we had a little bit of a let up at the end of the first half. We knew they were getting the ball to start the third quarter. We needed a big stop. It was good that we got that,” Eviston said.
Late in the third quarter, Ryle strung some things together to get within a score. Verax hit JR Hayes for 18, his younger brother Nathan for 11 yards and Landon Lorms for 11 more. Verax and Lorms connected on a fourth down conversiocon to extend the drive. A pass to Grady Reynolds to the one was followed by a Savage one-yard touchdown run. Verax hit sophomore Dylan Lee for two on a toe-tapping catch, all of the sudden Ryle finding themselves in a one score game at 23-15 early in the fourth.
Lorms had a game-high 13 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown. Verax completed 28-of -33 passes for 217 yards and a TD.
“That’s my best buddy, for sure,” Lorms said of Verax. “He can really throw the ball, and we’ve been working all offseason. We’re getting it together.”
After the Raiders had posted a stout third quarter defensively, holding CovCath scoreless on offense, the Colonels offensive prowess was once again on display on their next possession.
Starting from the 20, Pitzer hit a draw and busted up the middle for 34 yards to the Ryle 46, Leen busted one for 14 yards to the 32. Pitzer followed with a pass to Malachi Knasel for 14 more to the 18. Leen capitalized the big play drive with a 18-yard touchdown run with a dive into the end zone and the Colonels back up two scores, 30-15.
“When our backs were a little bit against the wall, when we had to answer, we did. So, I was pleased with that,” said Eviston.
Ryle’s next possession resulted in a turnover, which CovCath converted into another touchdown courtesy of Leen, a 19-yard run to put the game out of reach at 37-15 with 2:40 to play.
Ryle coach Mike Engler said. “We had our chances. We had a chance to get within one score, and we fumble the ball and turn it over. We had another chance after we had cut it to one score and had the ball back and fumbled it again. So, if we hang on to the football, we had three turnovers tonight, that’s the difference in the game.”
The Raiders were able to mount a final touchdown drive in hurry-up mode with Verax tossing an 11-yard touchdown to Lorms with 44 seconds left for the game’s final score.
Ryle was held to 93 yards rushing on 33 carries with the bright spot being Savage’s 44 yards on seven attempts for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Engler was still encouraged by what he saw from a team that started only one senior on defense and three on offense.
“We’re a very young football team that grew up a little bit tonight,” Engler said. “As we grow up, I think we’re going to be a pretty daggum good football team. I like what I see. I like our players. I see a lot of potential.”
When these two have opened the season against one another, it has been a portent for what’s to come.
The last four times Covington Catholic and Ryle have met in the season opener (2016-19), the winner of the game has gone on to have a perfect 10-0 regular season
In CovCath’s case, it meant three consecutive trips to the Class 5A state championship game, two titles and a 44-1 record during that span. For Ryle, its last win over the Colonels in 2016 led to a 12-1 season that ended in the Class 6A quarterfinals.
Overall, this is CovCath’s sixth consecutive win in the series. Next up for the Colonels is fellow NKY power Highlands in Fort Thomas on Friday.
The Raiders host rival Conner Friday.
COLONELS 37, RAIDERS 22
RYLE – 0-7-0-15 – 22
COVINGTON CATHOLIC – 14-7-2-14 – 37
Scoring Plays
1ST Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 49-yard pass to Rodriguez (10:44) Weitzel kick
(CC) Leen 6-yard run (4:25) Weitzel kick
2nd Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 7-yard run (6:36) Weitzel kick
(R) Savage 2-yard run (:58) Line kick
3rd Quarter
(CC) Safety (5:59)
4th Quarter
(R) Savage 2-yard run (11:30) Verax pass to Lee
(CC) Leen 18-yard run (10:28) Weitzel kick
(CC) Leen 19-yard run (2:40) Weitzel kick
(R) Verax 10-yard pass to Lorms (:44) Line kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Ryle 217 (Verax 28/33), Covington Catholic 285 (Pitzer 21/28)
Rushing Yards: Ryle 93 (Savage 7-44, Verax 9-16, Lyons 2-14, Hayes 12-11, Lee 1-7, Schultz 1-1), Covington Catholic 188 (Leen 16-96, Pitzer 6-63, Miller 1-1)
Receiving: Ryle (Lorms 13-127, Hayes 6-43, Reynolds 3-32, Lee 3-18, N. Verax 1-14, Lyons 1-minus 2), Covington Catholic (Rodriquez 3-75, Link 2-55, Johnson 2-37, Miller 5-33, Flood 2-31, Bradshaw 2-15, Knasel 1-15, Leen 1-10)
Turnovers: Ryle 3, Covington Catholic 0
Penalties: Ryle 1-10, Covington Catholic 3-15
Records: Ryle 0-1, Covington Catholic 1-0