Sept. 15, 2006 – W. ALEXANDRIA
Covington’s Gene Studebaker turned Friday night’s contest with Twin Valley South into his personal highlight reel in leading the Buccs to a 42-21 victory.

The senior quarterback torched the host Panthers for 214 rushing yards and 138 yards passing. He also scored twice on the ground and threw for two more touchdowns while accounting for 352 of Covington’s 468 yards of offense.

“Gene had a nice night running the football,” said Buccaneer coach Kevin Finfrock. “He ran hard, broke some tackles and had some nice runs.”

Studebaker didn’t do it alone, however.

“Our offensive line did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage,” Finfrock continued. “They opened up some nice holes for our backs to run through.”

It was evident from the outset that Twin Valley South was on its way to a 33rd straight defeat as Arnold Thompson returned the opening kickoff into Panther territory. Thompson sparked the Buccs with 85 return yards on three attempts.

“Arnold did a nice job returning the ball,” Finfrock said. “Our special teams gave us good field position tonight.”

From there the Buccaneers drew first blood as Studebaker connected with Drew Craft from 19 yards out. Bill Dickey converted the extra point to give Covington a 7-0 lead.

After forcing South to punt on its first possession, Covington moved into scoring position again. But, the drive stalled on a holding penalty and a failed fourth down conversion attempt.

It would take Covington until the second quarter to hit pay dirt again.

Senior Corey Patty scored from four yards out to give Covington a 14-0 lead after the conversion kick by Dickey.

Moments later Studebaker broke loose on a 72-yard run to put the Buccs at the seven. He then called his own number again on the very next play for the touchdown to increase the lead to 20-7. Bill Dickey then converted on a two-point conversion by running the ball in off of a poor snap from center to push the lead to 22-0.

Needing a spark to get back into the game, South caught the Buccaneer defense napping on a halfback pass from 31 yards out to cut the margin to 22-7.

“We have some work to do defensively,” said Finfrock.

Covington responded before the half as Patty scored his second touchdown of the night, this time from three yards out. Dickey’s kick was true to make the score 29-7 at half time.

Covington then put the game away in the third quarter with two more scores.

First, Studebaker took advantage of an interception by Chris “Cookie” Long by breaking for tackles on a 15-yard touchdown run.

Moments later Skyler Mitchell intercepted another Panther pass and returned the ball to Twin Valley South’s 30. Two plays later Studebaker hooked up with Seth Mohler on a 24-yard scoring strike to increase Covington’s lead to 42-7.

With the game well in hand, Covington turned things over to the second unit.

South took advantage by scoring two touchdowns to make the final score 42-21.

“Offensively we moved the ball very well,” describe Finfrock in regards to a 330-yard rushing effort and 468 total yards. “We have some things we still need to work on defensively. We’ll continue to work to get better.”

Covington improves to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Cross County Conference. The Buccs host National Trail next Friday in the annual Homecoming game.

Scoring by Quarters:
TV South …….0……7……7…..7 – 21
Covington ……7…..22….13…..0 – 42

Scoring Summary:
Covington: Gene Studebaker 19-yard pass to Drew Craft (Bill Dickey Kick)
Covington: Corey Patty 4-yard run (Dickey Kick)
Covington: Studebaker 7-yard run (Dickey run)
TV South: #11, 31-yard pass to #21 (#22 Kick)
Covington: Patty 3-yard run (Dickey Kick)
Covington: Studebaker 15-yard run (Kick Failed)
Covington: Studebaker 24-yard pass to Seth Mohler (Dickey Kick)
TV South: #34, 3-yard run (#22 Kick)
TV South: #7, 67-yard pass to #88 (#22 Kick)