October 8, 2004 – Union City
The Covington Buccaneers were on the receiving end of a devastating 20-0 defeat at the hands of Mississinawa Valley at Union City Friday night. The loss not only ends the Buccs’ slim playoff hopes, but it puts their record of 9 straight winning seasons in jeopardy.
The Buccs have three games left against Bethel, Bradford and Tri-County North and the last losing season the Buccs suffered was in 1994 with a 4-6 record.
Mississinawa recorded the first shutout against a Covington team since a 33-0 defeat the Buccs suffered at the hands of Twin valley South in 1999. The Blackhawks’ win was also their first over the Buccs since a 22-21 win in 1993 when the Blackhawks fielded former Mr. Ohio, Curtis Enis. Covington had won the previous 10 meetings between the two teams. The Buccs also lost back-to-back games for the first time since week eight and nine of the 1998 season.
“There’s not much to say about this game,” said Covington coach Kevin Finfrock. “They just played well and we didn’t.”
Mississinawa controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and the result was a 316-160 yard advantage in total offense. The Blackhawk’ ground game churned out 282 rushing yards, 215 of those coming from Rob Harris.
The Blackhawks rushing attack shredded the Buccaneer defense on the opening possession of the game. Starting at their own 20, Mississinawa drove 80 yards and hit pay dirt on a 1-yard touchdown run by Brandon Williams. The point-after attempt fell short, making the score 6-0 with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
Mississinawa struck again with 6:30 left in the half on a big play. Harris broke around right end and weaved his way through the Buccaneer defense on his way to a 73-yard touchdown run. Blackhawk’ quarterback, Kyle Linder found Josh Stetser for the 2-point conversion to make the score 14-0.
It took only 9 seconds for Mississinawa to reach the end zone again. Covington mishandled the ensuing kickoff and Kurt Moneysmith pounced on the loose ball in the end zone for the score. The attempt for the extra point fell short, making the score 20-0 with 6:21 left in the half.
The 20-0 lead the Blackhawks built up would stand throughout the remainder of the contest.
Covington had three chances to score points, only to be turned away by the Blackhawks defense, and their own mistakes.
The first opportunity came early in the second half as junior linebacker, Logan Brown, stepped in front of a Linder pass and returned the ball to the Blackhawk 10-yard line.
After a holding penalty and three plays, the Buccs were forced to try a 30-yard field goal attempt. The kick fell short, keeping the Buccs scoreless on the scoreboard.
After stopping Mississinawa on its next possession, Covington moved the ball deep into Blackhawks’ territory again.
Once again, the Mississinawa held Covington to a field goal attempt, this time from 40 yards out. The kick fell short for the second time, keeping the score 20-0 in favor of Mississinawa.
Covington’s final scoring opportunity came with 4:10 left in the game. After a fumble recovery by freshman, Dan Rindler, the Buccs moved the ball to the Mississinawa 30-yard line. Three straight incompletions left the Buccs with a fourth and ten situation. Seth Mohler’s pass was picked off by Kurt Moneysmith, ending Covington’s hopes of preventing a shutout.
The Buccs fall to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in the Cross County Conference.
Covington hosts Bethel next Friday.
Scoring by Quarters:
Buccs: …….0……0…..0…..0 – 0
‘Hawks: ……6…..14….0…..0 – 20
