There was no stopping Boyle County this time.
Covington Catholic had halted the Rebels’ run of four consecutive state championships and a 32-game winning streak when they visited Rebel Stadium a year ago, but Boyle County ran roughshod over the Colonels in the rematch.
The Rebels rushed for 523 yards and contained the CovCath ground game that did them in last year as they pulled away for a 49-14 victory in a Class 4A quarterfinal.
CovCath (9-4) ran for 223 yards and saw only four rushing plays go for more than 15 yards. That was in stark contrast to what happened a year ago, when the Colonels rushed for 325 yards against a nationally ranked Boyle County team.
“They’re a good football team,” CovCath coach Eddie Eviston said of Boyle County. “We had a good plan; we just didn’t make plays when we could have, and that kind of got us behind on second and third down.”
Meanwhile, the Colonels had no answer for Boyle County running back Ji’Dyn Smith-Hisel, who rushed for a school-record 432 yards and four touchdowns.
Smith-Hisel and the Rebels’ offensive line effectively put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, when the senior rushed for 240 yards and three TDs, including scoring runs of 69 and 80 yards, to give the Rebels their second postseason win over the Colonels in the past three seasons.
“We ran into something we couldn’t fix,” Eviston said. “Give them credit, they found something and they nailed it.”
CovCath was very much in the game after Donovan Bradshaw caught an 11-yard TD pass from Cash Harney on fourth-and-goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter to pull the Colonels within 20-14.
However, Boyle County (12-1) needed only two plays to answer as Smith-Hisel broke free for his 69-yard TD run.
The Colonels then turned the ball over on downs at their own 33-yard line, and the Rebels scored less than three minutes later to go up 34-14 with 6:22 to play.
Two late TDs gave Boyle County its second running-clock win over CovCath in three years, along with a 41-0 victory in the 2023 state finals.
The Colonels came up one win short of the state finals last year and two wins short this season.
“A lot of people counted us out right from the get-go, and we’re still here. We’re still showing everybody that we’re a state title contender,” Eviston said. “That’s the standard we have, and obviously it didn’t happen for us this season, but I’m proud of these guys. … And we’ll start to rebuild and reconstruct and attack it again.”
CovCath fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter but opened the second half with an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive capped by Dylan Gaiser’s 11-yard touchdown run.
Boyle County got that score back with a nine-play, 84-yard drive of its own before the Colonels drove 62 yards for what would be their final touchdown.
The Colonels’ defense forced a three-and-out on the first series of the game, but the Rebels scored on their next two possessions and on all five of their second-half possessions.
Meanwhile, CovCath was stopped at the Boyle 19 and the Boyle 2 on its first two series.
Gaiser rushed for 143 yards and Harney had 75 for CovCath, which was outgained 602-325.
Harney completed 10-of-19 passes for 74 yards.
REBELS 49, COLONELS 14
COVINGTON CATHOLIC – 0-0-7-7 – 14
BOYLE COUNTY – 0-14-6-29 – 49
Scoring Plays
2nd Quarter
(BC) Smith-Hisel 7 run (11:56) Klosterman kick
(BC) Ray 54 pass from Raleigh (3:20) Klosterman kick
3rd Quarter
(CC) Gaiser 11 run (9:07) Zembrodt kick
(BC) Raleigh 1 run (4:35) kick failed
4th Quarter
(CC) Bradshaw 11 pass from Harney (11:06) Zembrodt kick
(BC) Smith-Hisel 69 run (10:09) Klosterman kick
(BC) Raleigh 4 run (6:22) Klosterman kick
(BC) Smith-Hisel 80 run (4:23) Klosterman kick
(BC) Smith-Hisel 3 run (2:41) Yancey run
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Covington Catholic 102 (Harney 10-19, 1 TD, Gaiser 1-1), Boyle County 80 (Raleigh 4-6, 1 TD)
Rushing Yards: Covington Catholic 223 (Gaiser 15-143, Harney 18-75, Brooks 1-5, team 1-0), Boyle County 513 (Smith-Hisel 25-423, Raleigh 6-62, Driver 2-16, Yancey 2-3)
Receiving: Covington Catholic, (Gaiser 3-43, Brooks 2-33, Myers 2-10, Bradshawn 1-11, Pitzer 1-9, Sanning 1-2, Harney 1-1), Boyle County (Ray 2-65, Smith-Hisel 2-15)
First Downs: Covington Catholic 14, Boyle County 16
Turnovers: Covington Catholic 1, Boyle County 1
Penalties: Covington Catholic 6-60, Boyle County 10-100
Records: Covington Catholic 9-4, Boyle County 12-1