There could be lots of footballs spiraling through Friday’s frigid air.
What is certain: Covington Catholic and Paducah Tilghman match 13-0 records in the Class 4A state semifinals at Dennis Griffin Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., with the winner meeting Franklin County or Boyle County for the title at 8 p.m. on Dec. 1 at Kroger Field in Lexington.
The Colonels and Blue Tornado feature two of the Commonwealth’s best quarterbacks – Paducah Tilghman’s Jack James has thrown for 3,831 yards and 55 touchdowns, and CovCath’s Evan Pitzer with 2,508 yards and 32 scores.
“Each week (Pitzer) has improved,” CovCath coach Eddie Eviston said. “He has a better knowledge of the game, he asks more questions. He’s really picking up on what the offensive coaching staff is seeing.”
Eviston said preparing for Tilghman was mostly the same as planning for the Colonels’ 37-22 win over Ryle on Aug. 18, the first game of the 2023 season.
“Being creatures of habit, having our guys in a routine, is kind of a key to our having success,” Eviston said. “I’d say the biggest thing is, we’re just trying to scale back on the physicality of practice. We’re not doing as much hitting.”
CovCath and Tilghman have state championship history. The Colonels beat the Blue Tornado for a pair of Class 3A titles in 1987 and 1988, the program’s first two trophies.
Ryle athletic director Mike Woolf, a 1988 CovCath alumnus, said former Colonels coach Lynn Ray helped lay the foundation.
“My sophomore year, we were 9-1 but didn’t make the playoffs,” Woolf said. “Things were a little bit different back then.”
In 1987, the Colonels edged the Blue Tornado, 16-6. Woolf was a senior, and his 35-yard interception return for a touchdown with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter ended the scoring.
“We were fortunate to get some turnovers,” Woolf said.
About four minutes earlier, the Colonels Donnie Bieger found Dave Legay with a 10-yard touchdown pass.
The Colonels needed overtime to subdue the Blue Tornado in 1988. Quarterback Paul Hladon hit Scott Spivey with a game-winning 4-yard touchdown pass in the 30-24 win.
So, is there a rivalry, even though 311 miles and a nearly five-hour drive separate the two schools?
“If there is, I don’t know about it,” third-year Paducah Tilghman head coach Sean Thompson said. “… And as long as 4A stays like it is, we hope that, over time, it could become that. That means we’re both playing late into the season.”
Of course, James and Pitzer can do little without their receivers, and they have some of the best.
Paducah Tilghman brings Martels Carter (39 catches, 1,015 yards, 12 touchdowns) and JoeAvion Starks (68 catches, 1,015 yards, 17 scores). CovCath has Braylon Miller’s 54 receptions for 838 yards and eight touchdowns and University of Kentucky signee Willie Rodriguez’s 27 catches for 470 yards and 12 scores.
“We definitely throw the ball more than we run it,” Thompson said. “A lot of that’s dictated by what we see defensively.”
CovCath typically runs a 3-4 defense with three down linemen, four linebackers and four defensive backs, but Eviston isn’t averse to dropping a linebacker into pass coverage.
“We’ll change up some part of our defense to make sure we’re sound in whatever we do,” Eviston said.
Both teams can run the ball, too.
Owen Leen leads CovCath with 767 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Tilghman’s Demarkus Wilson has 1,031 rushing yards and 14 scores.
Defensively, CovCath’s Tate Kruer has 102 tackles, and Tilghman’s Jimmy Mooney and Uriah Virzi have 85 and 79, respectively.
Woolf plans to be in the stands Friday – his son Austin Woolf is a CovCath senior lineman. Dad has told son about the ‘87 and ‘88 teams.
“He doesn’t want to hear too much,” the elder Woolf said. “He’s more focused on his own career.”