SEPTEMBER 7, 2007 – COVINGTON
After two lightning delays that stretched the game until well past eleven o’clock, the Covington Buccaneers walked off a drenched Smith Field with a 31-0 shutout victory over Tri-County North, Friday.

“It was a long night,” said Covington coach Dave Miller. “Even with the delays, we did a good job of facing the adversity. We outplayed them – played harder I know that.”

Still, Covington made some mistakes Miller wasn’t happy with.

“We made a lot of mistakes with penalties and on special teams,” explained Miller. “Mental mistakes like off sides. It (penalties) puts the offense in a hole. With this offense you want to stay ahead of the chains and the penalties we had didn’t allow us to do that at times.”

Special teams was also an issue as Tri-County North recorded 130 yards on six returns for a 21.7 average.

“Our kickoff team missed a lot of tackles,” continued Miller. “It wasn’t a good night in that area. We were not blowing up the wedge and wrapping up when trying to make the tackle. We’ve got to get better in that area.”

What Miller was pleased with was the defensive performance of his Buccaneers.

Covington not only held the Panthers scoreless, it only allowed Tri-County North 52 yards of total offense.

“That (the defense) is the story of the game right there,” Miller praised. “That is outstanding defense when you dominate like that.”

The Buccaneers dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball as they recorded 294 rushing yards and only surrendered 36 yards on the ground.

“We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Miller said.

A number of players shared the load in carrying the ball with Bill Dickey and Jordy Burelison leading the way with 89 and 86 yards respectively.

The balance the Buccaneers displayed on the ground is something Miller takes pride in.

“That’s the nature of the offense,” explained Miller. “One night it may the the fullback and the next it may be the quarterback. You have to be unselfish. That’s part of the team concept here.”

The game didn’t kick off until 8:30 due to the first delay and it took Covington a while to get rolling.

A fumble deep in Tri-County North territory on the Buccs’ first drive didn’t help matters either.

But Covington was able to score on its next drive on a 38-yard pass from Bill Dickey to Chris Long and then early in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Brock Iddings.

As Covington was driving deep into Panther territory midway through the second quarter the lightning struck again to force another 30 minute delay.

With 7:00 left in the half Covington took the field with second-and-goal from the four.

Moments later Burelison pounded his way in to put Covington up 21-0, where the score would remain until the half.

The Buccaneers then added another touchdown in the third period as Long ran over two defenders to score from three yards out.

The final points of the night came on a 34-yard field goal by Brock Iddings after a Jordy Burelison interception.

Covington racked up 419 total yards of offense on the evening, while holding the Panthers to 52 yards and forcing five turnovers.

The Buccs improve to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Cross County Conference play.

Scoring by Quarters:
TC North ……0……0…..0……0 – 0
Covington …..6……15…..7…..3 – 31

Scoring Summary:
Covington: Bill Dickey 38 yd pass to Chris Long (Kick Failed)
Covington: Brock Iddings 4 yd run (Burelison run)
Covington: Jordy Burelison 7 yard run (Iddings kick)
Covington: Long 3 yd run (Iddings kick)
Covington: Iddings 34 yd field goal