Perfection continues for the Colonels.
In a battle of two traditional heavyweights, Covington Catholic dismantled Johnson
Central 31-0 at Dennis Griffin Stadium Friday night for a Class 4A regional championship.
The Colonels came in 12-0, winning by an average of 28.9 points a game. They
surpassed that average thanks to 320 yards of offense, 215 through the air and
105 on the ground.
Evan Pitzer fired four touchdown passes, three of them going to Braylon Miller who finished with seven receptions for 134 yards and the three scores.
“It felt good. I stuck to what my coaches taught me. I felt confident and did my thing.
Went out there and showed out,” Miller said. “It means a lot to me. Boosts my
confidence so much and this win boosts the team’s confidence. We started slow, but
we picked it up and dominated.”
As for the Golden Eagles they had found success in the run game all season,
averaging 332 rushing yards a game for second best in the state.
They just couldn’t get it going against the Colonel defense. Though a
few runs gave a glimmer of hope, their 187 rushing yards wasn’t enough.
“We’ve got a lot of faith in the rushing game, but injuries have hurt us this year. We
lost our starting running back first game of the season and lost our fullback last
week to an ACL injury. We’ve battled them all year and it came back and bit us
tonight.” Johnson Central head coach Jesse Peck said.
The Golden Eagles did hold up in the first half. They allowed only eight points on a Pitzer strike to Miller with 2:21 left in the first and corralled their own onside kick to begin the game.
The score would remain 8-0 headed into halftime, but late in the first half is when the momentum started to go sideways for the Golden Eagles. Johnson Central missed a field goal in the final seconds. Right out of the gate in the second half was a safety caused by a bad snap to put them down 10-0.
“We had a great first half, but the bad snap that went through the endzone to begin
the second half was big enough to take the wind out of us. We gave them the safety
and short field,” Peck said.
The Colonels started to find their rhythm in the second half.
“In the first half we struggled offensively, we were just hurting ourselves more than
anything. We regrouped at halftime and came out and played more of our game.
Guys loosened up a bit and were able to get points on the board,” Covington Catholic
head coach Eddie Eviston said.
Pitzer, who finished with 215 yards on 15-of-22 attempts, hit Miller for a 28-yard touchdown and then Willie Rodriguez for a four-yard strike, giving the Colonels a commanding 24-0 lead in the closing seconds of the third.
“He’s (Pitzer) been doing that all year, especially the second half. It was good to see. He was hobbling last week and he was able to get through this week. He did just enough. He
kept getting first downs and got us points,” Eviston said.
Miller added the final score of the night on a 29-yard pass from Pitzer with 7:14 left.
Johnson Central’s season comes to an end at 9-4.
“Hats off to this football team for what they have overcome this year and how hard
they played.” Peck said. “Nobody likes to lose their last football game, whether it be
here or Kroger Field, but I’m so proud of my football team. I’m excited to be their
coach, I’m proud to be their coach, and I’m excited to see what this bunch is going to
do next year.”
Covington Catholic picks up win number 13 and punched their ticket to the Class 4A
semifinals and a meeting with Paducah Tilghman back at Park Hills next week on Friday.
COLONELS 31, GOLDEN EAGLES 0
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 8-0-16-7 — 31
JOHNSON CENTRAL — 0-0-0-0 — 0
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 9-yard pass to Miller (2:21) Pitzer run
3rd Quarter
(CC) Safety (10:19)
(CC) Pitzer 28-yard pass to Miller (6:56) Weitzel kick
(CC) Pitzer 4-yard pass to Rodriguez (0:21) Weitzel kick
4th Quarter
(CC) Pitzer 29-yard pass to Miller (7:14) Weitzel kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Covington Catholic 215 (Pitzer 15/22), Johnson Central 0 (0/5)
Rushing Yards: Covington Catholic 105 (Leen 15-59, Michels 2-16, Pitzer 7-13, Miller
1-9. Bessler 1-3, Gaiser 1-3, Harney 2-0), Johnson Central 187 (Music 13-77, Barnes
14-57, Conley 8-32, Matney 7-17, Grimm 1-4)
Receiving: Covington Catholic (Miller 7-134, Rodriguez 3-36, Link 2-26, Johnson 1-10,
Leen 1-9), Johnson Central
Turnovers: Covington Catholic 0, Johnson Central 1
Penalties: Covington Catholic 3-25, Johnson Central 4-31
Records: Covington Catholic 13-0, Johnson Central 9-4