September, 2002 – COVINGTON
“This is the kind of game we were looking for,” mentioned Coach Peacock after the Buccs thoroughly dominated National Trail for a 42-8 victory. “It’s the first game we have had our entire line together and the results were exactly what we wanted.”

Coach Peacock’s enthusiasm for the Buccs’ play is a stark contrast to the past two weeks. The Buccs were winning but they were not playing to their full potential.

Tonight, Covington played to their potential and National Trail was on the receive end of the Buccs’ onslaught.

Boomer Schmidt got the Buccs going on their first drive of the game. After Ross Mohler put the Buccs in good field position on the opening kickoff, Boomer pounded in from 10 yards out. Matt Fulks nailed the extra point to put the Buccs up 7-0 only 1:36 into the contest.

After National Trail went three plays and out, Jordan Shafer mishandled the punt, giving the ball back to the Blazers in Buccaneer territory. Again, the Buccs held National Trail on three straight plays to force another punt.

Starting on their own 11, the Buccs used a balanced attack to move the ball down the field for their second score. Brady Reck connected with Ross Mohler, Jordan Shafer and Matt McCord to put the Buccs in scoring position. Boomer finished things off with a 1-yard dive to put the Buccs up 14-0 at the 9:26 mark of the first quarter.

On National Trail’s next possession Dusty Hess read the screen perfectly and intercepted a Blazer’ pass which gave the Buccs the ball at the Trail 25 with 48 second to go in the first. A few plays later Jesse Hitt broke through from 9 yards out to give the Buccs a commanding 21-0 lead at the half.

“I’m proud of the way our defense dominated them early to give us good field position,” said Peacock. “We jumped on them early and really took it to them. We scored 21 quick points, which put them in the position of playing catch-up.”

The Buccaneer defense came up big again for the Buccs early in the third quarter. Ross Mohler stepped in front of a Trail Blazer’ pass and returned the interception 45 yards for the touchdown to put the Buccs up 28-0 with 10:22 left in the quarter.

Two minutes later the Buccs were in the end zone again as Boomer Schmidt scored his third touchdown of the game from 11-yards out. Matt Fulks kicked the extra point to increase the lead to 35-0.

Jesse Hitt put the finishing touches on a dominating night by scoring his second touchdown from 8 yards out early in the fourth quarter. Matt Fulks kicked his sixth straight extra point to give the Buccs a 42-0 lead.

With the game well in hand, Covington turned things over to the second unit. The Buccs’ reserves held Trail to a fourth and five situation, but the Blazers kept the drive alive with a fake punt. A few plays later the Blazers connected on a 32-yard touchdown pass and converted the two-point conversion to end the scoring at 42-8.

“I am very proud of the second unit,” complimented Coach Peacock. “They held their starting offense to a fourth down situation, but the fake punt hurts us. Other than that play and the touchdown at the end, the second unit really played well. I like where we are at heading into next week’s game against Ansonia,” said Peacock. “Ansonia is always tough for us because they really come prepared to play. We’ll just have to turn it up that much more.”

Boomer Schmidt led the Buccs on the ground with 100 yards on 14 carries and 3 touchdowns. Jesse Hitt contributed with 62 yards on 11 carries and 2 touchdowns as well. Brady Reck was accurate throwing the ball as he completed 10 out of 15 passes for 144 yards. Ross Mohler and Jordan Shafer each snagged 4 passes for 55 yards.

Covington improves to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Cross County Conference while National Trail drops to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. Covington travels to Ansonia next Friday.

Scoring by Quarters:
Buccs: …..14……7……14……7 – 42
Blazers: ….0…….0……0……..8 – 08

Scoring Summary:
Covington – Boomer Schmidt 10-yard run (Matt Fulks Kick) – 7-0
Covington – Schmidt 1-yard run (Fulks Kick – 14-0
Covington – Jesse Hitt 9-yard run (Fulks Kick) – 21-0
Covington – Ross Mohler 45-yard interception return (Fulks Kick) – 28-0
Covington – Schmidt 11-yard run (Fulks Kick) – 35-0
Covington – Hitt 10-yard run (Fulks Kick) – 42-0
National Trail – Travis Guthrie 32-pass from Randy Kearns (Steve Fryman pass from Kearns) – 42-8