Covington Catholic couldn’t win the game on the final play, but it might have lost the game long before that.
The Colonels were unable to make up for missed opportunities early in the game as their furious comeback attempt in the closing seconds Friday night came up just short and they fell to Franklin County 14-10 in a Class 4A semifinal at Benny Watkins Field.
They were forced to come from behind after getting only three points out of three trips to the red zone in the first half, and their rally ended when they were stopped at the 5-yard line on the final play of the game.
“I’m so proud of these guys, and I’m not surprised that our guys fought to the end. They’ve been doing that all year, and we’re so proud of how they fought,” CovCath coach Eddie Eviston said. “Maybe if there’s a few more seconds, it may be a different story.”
The defeat stopped CovCath (11-3) one win short of a second straight trip to the state finals, but the Colonels gave themselves a chance after getting the ball back with 1:20 remaining on what Franklin coach Eddie James called an accidental punt.
With no timeouts, they drove from their own 20-yard line to the Franklin 7 with six seconds remaining and time for one last play.
Cash Harney threw a short pass to his right to Dylan Gaiser, who took two steps and was hit at the 5 by the Flyers’ Delano Collins. The ball came free, and Franklin’s Jacob Taylor appeared to fall on it as time expired.
“They ran at the ball, popped it out and the clock ran out. You can’t ask for more effort,” James said.
CovCath had an uphill battle after failing to finish its first three series.
The Colonels began the game with the kind of march that had been successful a week earlier in their win over Boyle County, an 18-play drive that got as far as the Franklin 16 before they came up inches short on a fourth-and-five pass play.
Soon after their defense forced a three-and-out, they had a first-and-goal from inside the 1. They got no gain on first down, took a 7-yard loss on second down, got 5 yards back on third down and lost a yard on fourth down.
CovCath’s defense stepped up again, as Tate Kruer recovered a Franklin fumble at the Flyers’ 17-yard line. But the offense couldn’t capitalize, and the Colonels settled for a 29-yard field goal by Ryan Urti.
“We made some mistakes early on in the game, and you just can’t do that in a state semifinal game. It’ll get you in the rear and eventually it did, even though our guys tried to overcome it,” CovCath coach Eddie Eviston said. “They gave it everything they’ve got.”
The score remained at 3-0 at halftime, but Franklin (14-0) needed only five plays – two of which went for at least 35 yards – to score on the opening drive of the second half on Landon Cottrell’s 1-yard touchdown run.
CovCath countered late in the third quarter with a 15-play, 92-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard TD run by Harney, who rushed 31 times for a game-high 144 yards.
Franklin regained the lead with 8:04 remaining on a 6-yard TD run by Jayquan Crawford, the last of 10 straight running plays in a 46-yard drive.
The Colonels were stopped on downs at their own 47 with 2:46 to play, but they stopped Franklin three times and the Flyers chose to punt from the CovCath 42.
“We accidentally punted it,” James said. “We’re trying to take a delay of game. That’s high school kids.”
CovCath got one last chance, and Harney completed two passes to Kruer and one to Oliver Link to move the Colonels from their own 32 to the Franklin 14 with 25 seconds left.
The Colonels were pushed back 5 yards by a penalty, but Harney recovered from a bad snap and ran for 12 yards to the 7 to set the stage for the final play.
Harney was 10 for 22 for 84 yards, and Kruer caught four passes for 56 yards. Gaiser ran the ball 12 times for 85 yards for the Colonels, who outgained the Flyers 319 yards to 184 and ran 32 more plays.
CovCath won 11 consecutive games to reach the semifinals in what some considered a rebuilding year, and Eviston said he is proud of the seniors who led the way.
“I don’t know how many people counted on them or believed in them, (and) they just kind of came together, they gelled well and they led us,” he said. “We’re going to have a rebuilding year, they said. And these guys proved everybody wrong by continuing to show up and working their tails off.”
FLYERS 14, COLONELS 10
COVINGTON CATHOLIC – 0-3-7-0–10
FRANKLIN COUNTY – 0-0-7-7–14
Scoring Plays
2nd Quarter
(CC) Urti 29-yard field goal (4:54)
3rd Quarter
(FC) Cottrell 1-yard run (10:45) Powell kick
(CC) Harney 5-yard run (:27) Urti kick
4th Quarter
(FC) Crawford 6-yard run (8:04) Powell kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Covington Catholic 84 (Harney 10/22), Franklin County 57 (Barrett 4/9)
Rushing Yards: Covington Catholic 235 (Harney 31-144, Gaiser 12-85, Bessler 1-3, Pitzer 1-3), Franklin County 127 (Oldham 8-61, Crawford 6-33, Simmons 5-28, Collins 2-10, Cottrell 2-3, team 1-minus-3, Barrett 1-minus-5)
Receiving: Covington Catholic (Kruer 4-56, Link 2-16, Gaiser 2-6, Brooks 2-6), Franklin County (Robinson 2-50, Oldham 1-7, Crawford 1-0)
Turnovers: Covington Catholic 1, Franklin County 1
Penalties: Covington Catholic 5-20, Franklin County 3-15
Records: Covington Catholic 11-3, Franklin County 14-0