SEPTEMBER 21, 2007 – COVINGTON
It was a battle of two unbeaten teams at Covington Smith Field as the host Buccaneers took on the upstart Twin Valley South Panthers.

After four quarters of hard-hitting football, the Buccaneers celebrated a 21-7 homecoming victory.

“This is a nice win,” said a pleased Covington coach Dave Miller. “Twin Valley South came in here averaging over 30 points a game and to hold them to seven points was outstanding.”

The Buccaneers smothered Twin Valley South’s talented skill players, Josh Flynn, and Joe Moleski.

The result was just 61 yards rushing for the Panthers on 39 carries for a 1.6-yard average.

“We’re playing great defense,” Miller explained. “Our starting defense has only given up one touchdown in five games. That’s great defense.

“That’s due to our coaches doing a great job of putting a game plan together and our kids going out an executing it.”

The touchdown Miller referred too came in the third quarter with Covington holding a 14-0 lead.

On fourth-and-goal, Panther quarterback rolled to his left and found Marcus Boyd open in the end zone for the first touchdown scored on the Buccs’ starting defense this season.

“We turned the ball over with the fumble and gave them a short field,” Miller said. “We can’t keep putting our defense in that type of a situation.”

Covington struggled holding onto the football as it fumbled the ball four times and lost three. On each occasion it stalled potential scoring drives and the Buccs were moving the ball.

“We have got to eliminate the turnovers,” Miller continued. “We are not going to continue to beat good teams if we turn the ball over like that.”

Another problem Covington had was penalties. The Buccs had 10 infractions for 90 yards on the evening.

“Some of those penalties were because we are physical and flying to the football,” explained Miller. “We want the kids to play physical and go 100% to the whistle. I guess we have to live with some of those type of calls.”

The Buccaneer offense had little trouble moving the football and they racked up 348 total yards of offense, including 243 yards on the ground.

Covington opened the scoring in the first quarter with a one-yard run by Bill Dickey.

Sparked by a big defensive hit by Logan Woloch, the Buccs moved the ball down the field and a 14-0 lead on a two-yard run by Jordy Burelison.

“That hit by Logan Woloch was a big play,” Miller said. “They (South) had decent field position and you could see the momentum shift to them a little bit. Logan layed out their receiver and turned what could have been a big play for them into a big play for us. It ignited our defense and we forced them to punt.”

The timing of the hit was perfect as it gave Covington just enough time to score before the half.

“We only had a 7-0 lead at the time,” Miller continued. “If they go down and score, we’re in a dog fight. That hit by Logan totally changed the momentum.”

Another big sequence for the Buccaneers came after the Panthers had cut the margin to 14-7 in the third quarter.

Covington responded on its next drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by Brock Iddings to kill any momentum Twin Valley South had gained.

“It was big for us to respond after they scored,” said Miller. “We had some adversity and the kids faced it and made plays. That’s what you have to do.”

At the end of the day it was the Buccaneer defense that made the difference.

Coming into the game Miller knew he needed a big effort from his defensive line because of the athletic prowess of Panther quarterback Josh Flynn.

“The defensive line played very well,” Miller praised. “We knew they liked to roll out to the left because he (Flynn) is left handed. Teddy Hale did a great job of staying disciplined on that side. Jake Wise, Josh Boehringer and Logan Hall were all in the backfield. The secondary did a good job in coverage also.”

With the victory Covington is the final remaining unbeaten team in the Cross County Conference at 5-0 and 4-0 in league play.

Covington travels to winless National Trail next Friday.

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

Scoring Summary:
Covington: Bill Dickey 1-yd run (Brock Iddings kick)
Covington: Jordy Burelison 2-yd run (Iddings kick)
TV South: Josh Flynn 6-yd pass to Devin Eisenhower (#58 kick)
Covington: Iddings 12-yd run (Iddings kick)