Four downs with Covington Catholic

Not only will Covington Catholic be tasked with having to replace 21 seniors from last year’s team, but some great leadership that came with it.

A handful of those guys are playing next level football, but the Colonels are turning the page to a new year, one that brings a lot of excitement in coming off a state championship appearance and curiosity with the youth on the roster and having to fill in roles.

“It will interesting to see on how it develops,” Colonels coach Eddie Eviston said. “Every team has a new identity and it starts with our senior leaders. Those guys were tough last year. I feel like we have some good senior leadership returning, but we’ll need young guys in key positions to set the tone for the offense and defense.”

FIRST DOWN — RECAP

CovCath went unscathed the first 14 games of the season last year. They showed a true test of character in those contests, a few of them come from behind victories and going through a gauntlet in the postseason with wins over Ashland Blazer, Johnson Central and Paducah Tilghman before coming up short in the championship to Boyle County.

If the Colonels were to emulate last season’s postseason success and a run to Kroger Field, expect another gauntlet of teams they’ll face in November in the postseason.

SECOND DOWN — OFFENSE

As they look to establish their identity offensively, the big question is who plays quarterback. It’s been a healthy competition between four guys. Cash Harney may have the leg up due to the experience factor, having made five starts as a freshman at Beechwood in 2022 before transferring over to Covington Catholic last season and backing up Evan Pitzer.

Dylan Gaiser, Jackson Payne and Emmett Queen are also in the mix.

“It’s been a good competition there,” Eviston said. “Good athletes who if they don’t win the starting job, you’ll see them on offense in other positions and on the other side of the ball.”

The next matter of business will be replacing the rest of the skill players, like Willie Rodriguez, who will be suiting up on Saturday’s for the University of Kentucky and Owen Leen, Braylon Miller and Noah Johnson. Those four alone accounted for 2,918 rushing and receiving yards and 38 touchdowns.

In the backfield, the Colonels will most likely go by committee. Andrew Bessler, the quarterbacks mentioned for whoever isn’t the signal caller and Henry Atkins being the ball carriers.

Out wide look for Oliver Link and Donovan Bradshaw to step up in those roles. Zach Brooks and some other underclassmen will also get some targets. Tate Kruer will be lined up in the slot, tight end and maybe some at wide out.

Up front Mason Dietz and Andrew Huber lead the offensive line unit, expect sophomore Jonathan Lind to see quite the increase in playing time along both fronts.

“In losing some key parts to the offense, we’re having some younger guys step in and take control,” Dietz said. “It’s mine and Andrew’s job to make sure they’re picking up the pace. Communication is key.”

THIRD DOWN — DEFENSE

Kruer is the undeniable leader of the unit, a middle linebacker who will be anywhere the football is. Kruer not only excels on the field, but does off of it as well, recently scoring a perfect 36 on his ACT. Colleges have taken notice, he was recently offered a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University.

“The process has been something new and exciting,” Kruer said. “It’s great seeing the work I’ve put in be recognized, but at the end of the day my main focus is on my senior year and making the most out of my last high school season.”

While the offense figures things out, Eviston said the defensive philosophy will remain the same, they’re going to be really fast and run to the ball type defense. It’s something engrained in the student-athletes when they’re freshman and up through every level.

“That’s kind of the expectation,” Eviston said. “We played a lot of young guys in the back four last year and having Tate back at middle linebacker, he kind of controls the defense. That’s been a good sign for us in the preseason from a practice standpoint and knowledge of what we’re trying to do.” 

Kruer nearly doubled up the next Colonel in solo tackles last season with 91. Logan Sanning and Harney will headline an experienced secondary returning. Alongside Kruer, Bessler, Tucker Evans and Nicholas Krallman will be key cogs at linebacker.

Dietz, Huber and Lind will be key players along the defensive line.

FOURTH DOWN — GOALS/OUTLOOK

Since Eviston arrived in 2015, the standard has been get to the state championship. They’ve done so four times, winning twice. While the team has a lot of production and experience to replace, fully expect them to be in the mix come November.

A battle tested schedule will have them ready and they’ll be heavy favorites to come out on top of the Class 4A, 5th district again.

“The kids know what it takes to have a successful season,” Eviston said. “That’s one thing we’ve seen so far, they have that memory of what it took in terms of preparation for each day.”

They’ll be tested out the gate with Ryle and Highlands in the first two games. After bouts with Simon Kenton and Dixie Heights (who nearly pulled off an upset against them last year), Beechwood comes calling on Sept. 20. Mason County may be the only team to offer much resistance in district play.

“The first 5-6 games are huge and a great training ground of what we’ll have to do in the playoffs,” Eviston said. “Obviously you always want to win and with the RPI wins and losses matter even more now. But we want to make sure we have the mental approach of the players. If we go through a 5-6 game stretch where you lose more than you win, where are your players at? Are we executing and just getting beat by better teams? I’ve coached a few teams where we started off 0-4 or 1-5 and still won a state title. It’s all about the mental approach and how we’re taking it.”

There’s no doubt about it, it’s a tall task for the Colonels to get back to Lexington this season. Boyle County is looking for a fifth straight state championship while Paducah Tilghman returns a loaded roster. Corbin, Franklin County and Ashland Blazer also return strong units.

“We obviously won’t see any of the teams in the regular season, but you keep your eye on it,” Eviston said. ” I feel like last year 4A had three or four of the top 10 teams in the state, regardless of class.”

What they see in August and September will certainly have them prepared for it.

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