NOVEMBER 10, 2012 – CENTERVIILLE
Covington coach Dave Miller knew going into Saturday’s regional semifinal matchup against Cincinnati Summit Country Day that the Silver Knights possessed some dangerous offensive weapons – if they got going.
“Their quarterback is good and they have some talented kids around him,” said Miller. “We knew we had to get to them before they got going.”
And the Buccaneers did just that, scoring 13 points before Country Day had its first offensive snap and holding the Silver Nights to just three plays in the entire first quarter and to negative five yards of offense in the entire first half.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Miller said. “We got the ball and scored on our first possession and then recovered the fumble on the kickoff. The turnovers were huge.”
Covington’s first score came on a one-yard run by A.J. Ouellette and then the junior fullback scored again from four yards out following the fumble.
The Buccs then held the Silver Nights on a three-and-out and pushed the lead to 20-0 on a two-yard run by Justin Williams, who plowed over a Country Day defender at the goal line.
Covington then recovered another fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Ouellette followed with a 24-yard scoring run to push the Buccaneer lead to 27-0 at the end of one quarter of play.
The Buccaneer onslaught continued in the second quarter as Trent Tobias picked off a Silver Night pass and returned it to the Country Day 41. On the very next play Tobias found Kyler Deeter wide open down the middle of the field for a 41-yard touchdown strike and a 34-0 lead.
Covington forced a Country Day punt on its next possession and Tobias capped a time-consuming drive with a one-yard plunge with just over 4:00 left in the half.
Special Teams continued to be Country Day’s worst nightmare as the Silver Nights muffed the ensuing kick once again, only to fall on the pigskin inside their own 15.
After stuffing two running plays and knocking down a pass over the middle, the Buccs’ Bobby Alexander sacked Woods at the one to force a fourth down punt.
And the punt went just 20 yards, giving Covington excellent field position once again with under 1:00 left in the half.
But the Buccs had to settle for an Ouellette field goal as they took a 44-0 lead at the break.
“What we did defensively in the first half is pretty impressive, also our special teams,” Miller said. “To hold a team like that to minus yards of offense in the first half and get the turnovers like we did was impressive.”
With a ticket to the regional final virtually sealed up, the Buccs turned the game over to the second string offense in the second half and cruised to a 58-14 win.
In all, Covington racked up 420 yards of offense to just 78 for the Silver Nights. The Buccs pounded out 355 yards on the ground and surrendered just nine.
Covington also controlled time of possession by running 59 plays to just 32 for Country Day. A lot of that was due to the four turnovers forced by the Buccaneer defense and special teams unit.
“This was a pretty dominating win,” said Miller. “I’m proud of the kids. They did a very nice job.”
The win sets up a huge showdown with the same team that ended Covington’s season a year ago – Coldwater.
“That’s right,” Miller emphasized. “It’s a great opportunity for us and we are happy to be in the situation we are in. If you are a competitor, you look forward to games like this.”
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BUCCS – 27 – 17 – 7 – 7 = 58
KNIGHTS – 0 – 0 – 0 – 14 = 14
SCORING SUMMARY:
COV: AJ Ouellette 1 yard run (Bobby Alexander kick no good)
COV: AJ Ouellette 4 yard run (AJ Ouellette kick good)
COV: Justin Williams 2 yard run (AJ Ouellette kick good)
COV: AJ Ouellette 24 yard run (AJ kick good)
COV: Trent Tobias 41 yard pass to Kyler Deeter (AJ kick good)
COV: Trent Tobias 1 yard sneak (AJ kick good)
COV: AJ Ouellette 26-yd field goal
COV: Justin Williams 1 yard run (AJ kick good)
COV: Brandon Magee 3 yard run (Bobby Alexander kick good)
Summit: Antonio Woods 5 yard pass to Christian Kuehe (kick good)
Summit: Terry Atwater 23 yard run (kick good)
