COVINGTON – When you’re playing an “opportunistic” team such as the Covington Buccaneers, one small mistake could cost you dearly. Just ask the Miami East Vikings.
The Buccaneers scooped up two Viking fumbles and snatched off a pair of East passes and went on to wallop the hapless Casstown crew 52-12 Friday night at Smith Field.
The Buccaneers took advantage of every East mistake in posting their fourth Mad River Valley League win in five league outings. Miami East now stands at an opposite 1-4 in the league and 1-6 overall.
Other MRVL action Friday saw Graham blank Northwestern 28-0; Northeastern slipped by Greenon, 37-30; while Springfield Shawnee got by a non-league foe, Finneytown, 3-0.
The Vikings got on the scoreboard first when Covington’s Denny Cain fumbled on the opening kickoff, giving East the ball on the Buccs’ five. Three plays later, Steve Davis connected with Wayne Deaton on a five-yard scoring pass. The run for the conversion failed and the visitors had a 6-0 lead with less than two minutes gone in the initial stanza.
From this point on, however, the Buccaneers took over. After taking the kickoff on its own 42, Covington put together a scoring drive that took just five plays to rattle the scoreboard. With 2:18, Cain, the league’s leading scorer, capped the march with a 10-yard touchdown sweep around his own right end. The conversion pass from quarterback Rex Huffman to Dave Stacy was good, and Covington held a 8-6 lead.
This time, the Vikings fumbled the kickoff, and Ed Hartley scooped up the ball for the Buccs, taking the pigskin back to the East 28-yard-line. On the very next play, the Huffman-to-Stacy aerial combination again clicked for six points. The very same play was used to tally the conversion. With 1:59 left in the first period, it was Covington 16, Miami East 6.
The Buccaneers pushed across two more touchdowns in the second quarter, the first coming on a 25-yard pass from Huffman to Hartley, and the second coming on a 20-yard run by senior fullback Bud Clark. At the halftime gun, it was Covington, 30-6.
On the second play of the second half, Cain picked off a Steve Davis pass, setting up Covington’s fifth touchdown opportunity. Mike Manson capitalized on this chance scoring four plays later from the three. Clark handled the conversion chores, and it was 38-6.
The fourth quarter didn’t have any ill effect on the Buccs’ momentum. Hartley caught his second touchdown pass of the evening with 9:29 showing on the clock, and Cain handled the conversion for a commanding 46-6 lead.
Junior quarterback Bruce Shively then took over as the Vking field general and wasted little time piloting East’s second score of the game. After completing a pass to Deaton that moved the ball to the Covington five, Shively connected with Tom Barbee for a touchdown and with 1:55 left in the game, it was Covington 46, Miami East 12.
The final Covington touchdown came on an 18-yard pass from freshman quarterback Dave Dull to Hartley, accounting for Hartley’s third touchdown reception of the night.
Scoring By Quarters:
Covington …..16…..14….14……6 – 52
Miami East …..6…….0……0…….6 – 12
Scoring Summary:
Miami East – Deaton, 5-yard pass from Davis; PAT: pass failed
Covington – Cain, 10-yard run; PAT: Stacy, pass from Huffman
Covington – Stacy, 28-yard pass from Huffman; PAT: Stacy pass from Huffman
Covington – Hartley, 25-yard pass from Huffman; PAT: run failed
Covington – Clark, 20-yard run; PAT: Clark run
Covington – Manson, 3-yard run; PAT: Cain run
Covington – Hartley, 18-yard pass from Huffman; PAT Hartley, pass from Huffman
Miami East – Barbee, 5-yard pass from Shively; PAT: pass failed
Covington – Hartley, 18-yard pass from Dull; PAT: run failed