October 15, 2004 – Covington
Bethel came to Covington tonight and handed the Buccs a 21-7 defeat after the Buccs celebrated “Parent’s Night” during the pre-game activities. The loss was the third straight for the Buccs, a first since the 1998 season.
Despite the disappointing defeat, Covington’s coach Kevin Finfrock saw some positives from the Buccs’ effort.
“The kids really played hard tonight,” said Finfrock. “We had our chances, but we just couldn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”
Bethel reached the end zone first as Derek Goins squirted his way in from 7 yards out with 5:23 left in the first quarter. The point-after was good giving the Bees a 7-0 lead.
Covington, on the other hand, couldn’t get anything going offensively in the first half. The closest the Buccs came to reaching the end zone was a drive to the Bethel 35. A holding penalty stalled the drive, forcing the Buccs to punt.
Covington’s defense shut down the Bees for the remainder of the half and the two teams went into the locker room with Bethel ahead 7-0.
The tone of the game changed early in the second half as Covington found a match-up in they could take advantage off. Senior wideout, Kevin Wright found one-on-one coverage from the Bethel defense and caught a Seth Mohler pass in stride behind the Bethel secondary for a 65-yard scoring strike.
Matt Fulk’s kick for the point-after was true and the Buccs tied the score at 7-7 with 10:12 left in the third period.
Bethel responded on its next possession as they drove 85 yards to pay dirt. Goins scored his second touchdown of the night, this time from 5 yards away. Again, the extra point was true and Bethel took the lead again at 14-7.
Looking to tie the score again, the Buccs put together another potential scoring drive. Starting at its own 22, Covington moved across mid-field with a mixture of runs and short passes.
The drive stalled, however, as Mohler appeared to connect with sophomore Kyle Chalmers over the middle of the field in a controversial play. Chalmers made a diving catch, landing face down with the ball tucked to his chest. As he rolled over, the ball popped up into a Bethel defender’s hands. The play was ruled in favor of the Bees as it was determined Chalmers never had possession when he hit the ground.
Bethel was never able to capitalize on their fortune as the Buccaneer defense stiffened, forcing a Bees’ punt. The punt was downed at the Covington 1-yard line where Covington would begin the final quarter.
The fourth period was a battle of field position as Covington could never get the ball past mid-field. The Bees couldn’t mount much either, but kept pinning the Buccs deep in their own territory, giving them a long field to work with.
With 4:00 to go in the game, Covington had one last opportunity to tie the score. Mohler looked again for Wright, but this time the senior wideout was double-covered as Bethel picked off the pass and returned the ball to the Covington 5.
The next play resulted into the deciding score as Goins reached the end zone for the third time. The extra point was good making the final score 21-7 in favor of the Bees.
Bethel improves to 6-2 on the season and 5-2 in the Cross County Conference. The Bees host Tri-County North next Friday for their final home game of the season.
Covington drops to 4-4 on the season and 3-4 in the conference. The Buccs look to get back on track next week as they travel to face long-time rival, Bradford.
Scoring by Quarters:
Buccs: …….0……0…..7…..0 – 7
Bees: ……..7……0…..7…..7 – 21
