When Covington Catholic met Ryle on Friday night in Union, the two teams entered the season having to replace a significant amount of production from a year ago.
The Colonels showed early that they were ready to turn the page, pulling away for a 50-6 victory over the Raiders and snapping a two-game losing streak in the series.
Sophomore Brandon Smith took the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and the Colonels never looked back, snapping a two-game losing skid to the Raiders.
“Good to see some big plays. Guys making some big plays for us and have some enthusiasm, excitement,” Colonels coach Eddie Eviston said. “It was it was fun to kick off the season and win in that fashion.”
While Smith got the party started, Kiyan Miller kept it going. The sophomore running back tallied 102 total yards and three touchdowns, two rushing, one receiving. The two are part of a talented sophomore class that had no choice but to be next up for the Colonels.
“I’ve been waiting so many months for this to let people know who I am,” Miller said.
Dylan Courtney got his first career start at quarterback and managed the game efficiently, completing 7-of-10 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns, one to Miller and the other Evan Link. He also added 40 yards rushing.
“He just had to settle in a little bit, settle down,” Eviston said. “He missed some throws, but at the same time had some good throws and didn’t do anything to hurt us and manage the game. He has so much more, can be really, really good. It’s a little different Friday night the first time around.”
While CovCath’s youth didn’t show many of the first game jitters, Ryle struggled to get much going on the evening. The lone bright spot for the Raiders came in the second when Cameron Rahschulte recovered a fumble and on the very next play quarterback Brody Smith hit Cruze Sauley for a 67-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6 CovCath.
Ryle’s momentum looked to continue on CovCath’s ensuing drive, but a running into the kicker penalty on a 4th-and-5 gave CovCath a first down and eventually ended up scoring on Courtney’s pass to Link to make it 28-6 headed into halftime.
Miller got it to 35-6 on a 26-yard rushing touchdown as he raced down the sideline and snuck inside the pylon. Jonny Lind was a wrecking ball on the defensive line and recorded two sacks on the next drive, the latter going for a safety to make it 37-6 and it was just a matter of time before a running clock was on its way.
Lind and company helped control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball as they held Ryle to 110 total yards. Lind himself had three sacks and the Colonels defense forced two turnovers. Ryle committed eight penalties for 50 yards on the night.
“It’s something you got to take pride in,” Lind said. “And I take pride in being a protector on the offensive line and being able to dominate on the D-line.”
The Colonels continued to dominate in all three phases as Mac Cogswell returned the second of the Colonels special teams touchdowns on the night as the safety kick went for six, Cogswell taking it 75 yards for a score on a hole that a double-wide could have fit through. That made it 44-6 and enforced the running clock.
“Especially that first one to kind of kick off the whole season with a big return and get our guys excited. Brandon Smith’s going to be a special player,” Eviston said. “Alex Shelton does a great job coaching special teams for us. Make sure you spell that correctly. I don’t want his head to get too big though.”
Jamir Kirtley added a 8-yard rushing touchdown with 1:10 left in the third to get it to the final score.
The Colonels host Elder (Ohio) for their home opener next week. Ryle plays at Conner.
COLONELS 50, RAIDERS 6
COV CATH — 14-14-22-0 — 50
RYLE — 0-6-0-0 — 6
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(CC) Smith 97-yard kickoff return (11:47) Gillette kick
(CC) Miller 1-yard rush (3:14) Gillette kick
2nd Quarter
(CC) Courtney 24-yard pass to Miller (10:02) Gillette kick
(R) Smith 67-yard pass to Sauley (6:12) Run failed
(CC) Courtney 12-yard pass to Link (:47) Gillette kick
3rd Quarter
(CC) Miller 26-yard rush (9:27) Gillette kick
(CC) Lind sacked B. Smith for safety (8:35)
(CC) Cogswell 75-yard kickoff return (8:17) Gillette kick
(CC) Kirtley 8-yard run (1:10) kick failed
Records: Covington Catholic 1-0, Ryle 0-1
