OCTOBER 7, 2011 – COVINGTON
It was a special night in Covington as each junior and senior football player chose a community member who has had a positive impact on their lives. Those who were selected by the kids were recognized during the game – a game the Buccaneers dominated for a 47-7 win over Twin Valley South.

“Our effort was good,” emphasized Covington coach Dave Miller immediately. “We did make some mistakes, but a lot of times you can overcome mistakes with effort. Our kids gave maximum effort tonight.”

And the effort was outstanding all week in practice.

“It started in practice,” Miller continued. “That shows maturity. The kids want to be great. They are not satisfied with just winning. They want to get better every day and max out in their potential.”

Covington waisted little time setting the tone of the game as the defense held Twin Valley South to a three-and-out on the opening possession of the contest.

The Buccs then opened the scoring on their first possession as senior quarterback Isaiah Winston kept the ball on the option and weaved his way in from 13 yards out.

After forcing the Panthers to another three-and-out, Winston went to work again. This time he broke loose through the heart of the Panther defense for a 41-yard touchdown run.

And the senior wasn’t finished as he capped the first quarter with his third touchdown on Covington’s next possession. This time Winston raced untouched from 63 yards out to increase the Buccaneer lead to 21-0. Number ten for Covington finished the game with 160 yards rushing on 11 carries and scored three times, most of it coming in the first quarter.

“Isaiah made a lot of plays with his athleticism,” Miller explained. “The thing about it, and we’ll address this in films, is he made some wrong reads there and was still able to make plays with his athletic ability.”

With the Panther defense focusing on stopping Winston, Trent Tobias got into the act in the early moments of the second quarter, scoring on a 79-yard run to push Covington’s lead to 28-0.

The Buccs then scored again before the half on a 52-yard run by junior fullback Alex Baskerville to take a 34-0 halftime lead.

“Alex ran really hard tonight,” Miller praised. “He’s still doing a little too much dancing at times, but I was pleased with how hard he ran tonight.”

After controlling the game on the ground in the first half, Covington went to the air to start the second half and Kyler Deeter became the recipient of Trent Tobias pass, scoring from 37 yards away.

Covington then closed the show early in the fourth quarter with a four-yard touchdown run by Baskerville. The junior fullback joined Winston with over 100 yards on the ground, racking up 117 yards on 10 carries and scoring twice.

“The concept is making teams try and figure out who to stop,” said Miller. “Do you stop Isaiah (Winston) or Alex (Baskerville)? Trent (Tobias) has stepped up. People forget we still don’t have A.J. (Ouellette) back yet. When we do get him back – and I’m hoping we get him back – that’s another weapon.”

With victory in hand, Covington pulled the starters in favor of the youngsters on the roster and South took advantage with a well executed drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown strike from Cole Cottingim to Wes Cole to make the final score 47-7.

In the contest, the Buccaneers racked up 424 yards of offense, but gave up 231 yards to South – the first 200-yard output by a Covington opponent since week one at New Bremen.

“The one thing I’m not happy about was our defensive execution,” Miller said. “This is the first time this year we didn’t control the time of possession – and that concerns me. Sure, we scored fast a few times, but we didn’t do our job defensively to get them (the South offense) off the field. They had way too many offensive plays and first downs tonight.”

The Panther offense was on the field for 62 plays to just 36 for Covington.

“That’s not going to get it done, no matter how fast our offense scores,” concluded Miller. “We have to do better than that.”

Still, Covington improves to 7-0 on the season and remains at the top of the CCC with a 6-0 conference record.

The Buccs look to keep the momentum going next week at National Trail.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BUCCS – 21 – 13 – 7 – 6 = 47
PANTHERS – 0 – 0 – 0 – 7 = 7

SCORING SUMMARY:
COV: Isaiah Winston 13 yard run (Steven Blei kick)
COV: Isaiah Winston 41 yard run (Blei kick)
COV: Isaiah Winston 63 yard run (Blei kick)
COV: Trent Tobias 79 yard run (Blei kick)
COV: Alex Baskerville 52 yard run (kick missed)
COV: Trent Tobias 37 yard pass to Deeter (Blei kick)
COV: Alex Baskerville 4 yard run (Kick missed)
TVS: Cole Cottingim 9 yard pass to Wes Cole (Cottingim kick)