October 29, 2004 – Lewisburg
The four-game losing streak the Covington Buccaneers suffered seemed to last longer than the 45-game winning streak they accumulated over four-plus seasons. But, for the young Buccaneers, the streak is over after a convincing 24-7 victory over Tri-County North Friday.
“This is a great way to end the season,” said Covington coach, Kevin Finfrock. “It gives us something to build on for next season and it sends our four seniors off on a high note.”
After a scoreless first quarter of play the Buccaneers reached the end zone first.
After junior defensive lineman, Nick Meyer, recovered a Panther fumble at the Tri-County North 12-yard line, Buccaneer quarterback, Seth Mohler connected with freshman, Dan Rindler on a screen pass for the touchdown. Rindler caught the pass in the left flat and broke two tackles on his way for a 13-yard touchdown.
“Dan Rindler plays hard every single play,” said Finfrock. “He’s only a freshman, but he doesn’t back down from anything or anybody. He’s a gutsy kid.”
Matt Fulks connected on the extra point to give Covington a 7-0 lead with 8:18 left in the half.
Covington increased its lead to 14-0 on the next offensive series as Seth Mohler called his own number for an 8-yard touchdown run. Again, Fulks’ kick was good and the Buccs went into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
“Seth played a heck of a game,” praised Finfrock. “He took care of the ball and made some excellent decisions.”
Covington pushed its lead to 17-0 with 5:46 left in the third quarter as senior kicker, Matt Fulks connected on a 32-yard field goal. The field goal came after Covington’s junior linebacker, Logan Brown picked off a Josh Linder pass and returned the ball 25 yards into Tri-County North territory.
The Panthers, who struggled getting the ball past midfield most of the game, hit the big play on its next offensive possession. Bret Landis broke loose on a 66-yard touchdown run and the extra point made the score 17-7 with 55 seconds to go in the third.
Covington put the game away, however, with 1:51 left in the game.
Faced with a fourth-and-four at the Panther 16-yard line, Mohler scampered 5 yards on a keeper for the first down. On the next play from scrimmage, junior halfback, Nick Christian, powered his way in from 11 yards out.
Fulks then connected on his final PAT of his career to give Covington a 24-7 lead.
The Buccs had one more chance to score after Christian intercepted a Bret Landis pass as North attempted a halfback pass, but to no avail. Instead, the Buccs elected to run out the clock and preserve the 24-7 win.
“I’m so proud of these kids because they played with a lot of heart tonight,” Finfrock said. “We had a great week of practice because we were loose and having fun.”
Covington racked up 268 of its 296 yards on the ground. Nick Christian and Seth Mohler both rushed for over 100 yards as Christian racked up 148 yards and Mohler had 104 yards.
“Our line played aggressive and our backs ran hard tonight ,” complimented Finfrock. “The kids played the game the way it should be played. They had fun.”
The Buccs recorded 14 first downs on the evening and held Tri-County North to just 8 first downs. Covington had its problems with penalties as they were flagged 10 times for 70 yards. The Buccs held the advantage in turnovers, however, as they stole the ball from North twice and only committed one turnover via a fumble.
Covington ends its season at 5-5 and looks forward to 2005 as they retain the entire roster except the four seniors who will be lost to graduation.
Scoring by Quarters:
Buccs: …….0…..14….3…..7 – 24
Panthers: …0……0…..7…..0 – 7
