SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 – BRANDT
Under the conditions, Covington couldn’t have asked for a better start than it got got against a Bethel team that was coming off of two straight wins.

With rain pouring onto the Bethel field due to a rash of thunderstorms that moved through the area, Covington’s triple-option attack set the tone early as A.J. Ouellette broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown on the Buccs’ second offensive play.

Ouellette then broke free on his second touch of the game, this time from 51 yards out on a punt return to make the score 13-0 in the early moments of the game.

“A quick start on a night like this was huge,” said Covington coach Dave Miller. “I think we set the tone early.”

Ouellette wasn’t done either as the senior, who was playing at quarterback due to an illness that kept starter Jared Williams out most of the week, scored again on a 10-yard run to push the margin to 20-0 midway through the opening frame.

Then, after the Buccaneer defense forced a Bethel three-and-out, Ouellette took the ensuing punt and raced down the Bethel sideline for a 90-yard touchdown to push the Covington lead to 27-0 after one quarter of play.

” A.J. just being A.J.,” Miller smiled. “But a lot of that is a credit to our special team’s blocking. We had a wall down the sideline and he (Ouellette) didn’t get touched.”

The Buccaneer defense was stellar all evening except for one play.

And that play was the highlight for the Bethel offense as Jason Clendining broke free around right end and raced down the sideline for a 66-yard scoring run early in the second quarter.

“Defensively, we played pretty well except for that one play,” explained Miller. “We had a lot of missed assignments on that play. We bit inside and they made us pay.”

Fuming from the defensive mistake, the Buccaneers went to a rare pass to get the seven points back as Ouellette connected with Chance Setters over the middle and the senior scatback raced 88 yards for the score to reclaim the momentum and give Covington a 34-7 lead.

After shutting Bethel down on the ensuing possession, Covington put together its most impressive drive of the evening as it chewed up nearly four minutes of the clock. Sophomore quarterback Jared Williams overcame his flu-like symptoms to cap the drive with a 15-yard touchdown strike to his older brother Justin Williams, giving the Buccs a 41-7 lead at the break.

“I give credit to our offensive line,” praised Miller. “We had some guys at different positions, including our center, and they continue to do a good job.”

With the game well in hand, Covington rotated players in and out throughout the second half.

And Miller didn’t like what he saw in the third quarter as the offense became stagnate.

“If memory serves me right, our one’s haven’t turned the ball over in the last three games, but our JVs need to do a better job of protecting the football,” Miller said as the reserves put the ball on the ground. “We still haven’t had a zero turnover game and that’s disappointing four weeks into the season.”

Still, Covington was able to put two more touchdowns on the board in the fourth quarter as Brandon Magee scored from seven yards out and freshman quarterback Nathan Blei broke free from 23 yards away.

“The one thing I’m pleased with is the effort of our kids,” said Miller. “No matter the situation, the kids kept playing hard.”

Even though the Buccs improved to 4-0 and have dominated every opponent in their path so far, Miller has been stressing improvement in all aspects of the game.

And he saw significant improvement in his kick coverage.

“Our kickoff coverage has improved dramatically this week,” Miller explained. “We’ve got some different kids in there, young kids too, and they are getting after it. If there is one area that has improved this past week it is in our kick coverage.”

With the 54-7 win, the Buccaneers improve to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the CCC with rival Bradford coming to town next week for Homecoming.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BUCCS – 27 – 14 – 0 – 13 = 54
BEES – 0 – 7 – 0 – 0 = 7

SCORING SUMMARY:
COV: A.J. Ouellette 63-yd run (Bobby Alexander Kick)
COV: A.J. Ouellette 51-yd Punt return (Kick Failed)
COV: A.J. Ouellette 10-yd run (Bobby Alexander Kick)
COV: A.J. Ouellette 90-yd run (Bobby Alexander Kick)
BET: Jason Clendening 66-yd run (Kick Good)
COV: Chance Setters 88-yd pass from A.J. Ouellette (Bobby Alexander Kick)
COV:Justin Williams 15-yd pass from Jared Williams (Bobby Alexander Kick)
COV: Brandon Magee 7-yd run (Bobby Alexander Kick)
COV: Nathan Blei 23-yd run (Kick Failed)