COVINGTON – Senior halfback John Flory scored six touchdowns and threw a pass for a PAT Friday night to lead the Covington Buccaneers to a 62-0 rout over the Graham Falcons.
The speedy 140-pounder ran wild as he picked up as school record 322 yards rushing and ran his season point production to 96. His rushing yardage came on 11 carries and he threw one 24-yard pass to halfback Kent Thompson.
In scoring their fifth shut-out of the season, Covington remained tied for the Mad River Valley League lead with Miami East and Shawnee. East defeated Northeastern 30-14 and Shawnee dumped Greenon 40-6. In the other league game, Tecumseh defeated Northwestern 14-0.
Thompson carried 11 times for 115 yards and scored two touchdowns and a PAT to run his total to 108 for point for the season. Fullback Bob Rudy carried nine times for 96 yards, including a 58-yard gallop for a touchdown. Rudy also scored two PAT’s, once a run and one on a pass for from Flory. The junior fullback has tallied 56 points this year.
Covington took the opening kickoff and marched 57 yards in five plays, the final yard coming as Flory scored his first touchdown of the night. Thompson ran the PAT. Flory’s tally cam with 9:53 showing in the first period.
Covington’s second score came with 5:23 left in the first period when Bob Rudy found a huge hole in the center of the Falcon line and slipped through to gallop 58 yards to paydirt. Thompson ran the PAT and the Buccs led 16-0.
Graham took Covington’s kickoff and marched 60 yards to the Covington 10 yard line before the tough Buccaneer defense took over on downs. Quarterback Rick Zirkle completed three passes for 33 yards to highlight the drive.
The explosive Buccaneers marched 90 yards in five plays as Flory scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run with 7:15 showing in the second period. The run for the PAT failed and the Buccaneers led 22-0. The drive included a 79-yard run by Flory.
Covington kicked off to the Graham 35 and on the second play from scrimmage Bucc defensive tackle Tom Weer stole the ball from Graham’s Karl Jacobs on the Falcon 32 yard line.
From there it took the Buccs only three plays to score. Thompson ran 13 yards for the touchdown with 5:25 showing in the second period. The run for the PAT failed and the Buccs had a 28-0 lead at halftime.
Covington kicked off to the Graham 38 to open the second half. Graham was unable to move the ball as Tom Weer, Mike Schaffer, and Chuck Deal used a strong defensive rush to throw the Falcon backfield for losses of three, five, and eight yards in three plays.
Graham punted to the Covington 43 and in two plays the Buccaneers were on the scoreboard again. Thompson picked up 17 yards on the first play and Flory scampered 40 yards for his third touchdown on the following play with 9:30 remaining in the third period.
Covington attempted an on-side kick and the ball was recovered by Graham on the Buccaneer 49 yard line. The Falcons made their biggest threat of the night as they drove to Covington’s three. Quarterback Zirkle threw 10 times, completing five for 29 yards. With fourth down and goal on the Covington three, and the Falcons in a shotgun offense, the snap from center went high over Zirkle’s head. The senior quarterback picked up the ball and hit Jacobs with a pass, but he was pushed out of bounds on the 11 yard line as the Buccs took over.
Covington marched 89 yards in three plays as Flory ran 59 yards for his fourth touchdown of the night with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Rudy ran the PAT and it was 42-0.
Covington kicked off to the Graham 33 and on the first play from scrimmage Thompson recovered a Falcon fumble on the Graham 39 yard line. The Buccs reached paydirt in five plays with Thompson scoring on a two-yard run. The run for PAT failed.
With nine minutes left in the game Mike Beireis recovered another Graham fumble on the Covington 25 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage Flory raced 75 yards for his fifth touchdown of the night. The PAT failed and Covington led 54-0.
The Graham defensive line thought they had seen all of Flory that they could see in one evening. But the speedy little halfback wasn’t finished. He added insult to injury as he ripped off his sixth scoring dash of the night, running 40 yards to paydirt with 5:10 left in the final period. He then completed his performance with a pass to Rudy for the PAT.
Covington coach Tom Steele praised his defensive unit for its excellent work. The likeable Bucc mentor felt that the blocking of the offensive line was better than it had been for the past several games.
Covington winds up its league competition next week at Northwestern.
Scoring Summary:
Covington ……..16….12….30…..14 – 62
Graham …………..0……0…….0…….0 – 0