FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 – COVINGTON
If it were baseball the Covington Buccaneers would have batted .583 against Twin Valley South on Friday. That’s because the Buccaneers scored on seven of the 12 offensive plays they ran in a 48-0 win over the Panthers before the game that was called due to lightening with 6:12 left in the first half.

On what was a hot, humid night on Smith Field, lightening materialized during pre-game warmups – forcing a 35-minute delay to kickoff.

But the delay didn’t spoil what turned into a fun night as the youth cheerleaders entertained the Covington football players during the delay with cheers – cheers that got the players involved. It was a really cool showing of school spirit with virtually all grades from first to twelfth taking part.

Once the game kicked off Covington waisted very little time taking it to Twin Valley South – a team who had many underclassmen on the field.

Dalton Weer returned the opening kickoff to the Panther 39 and senior Brayden Wiggins broke loose on the first offensive play on a 39-yard touchdown run. Kleyton Maschino made true on the point-after to give the Bucks a 7-0 lead just seconds into the game.

After stuffing Twin Valley South on three straight plays, Alex Schaffer gave Covington excellent field position once again with a nice punt return.

Two plays later senior quarterback Cade Schmelzer found Austin Flick wide open behind the Panther defense for a 46-yard scoring strike to push the lead to 14-0 with 9:12 left in the opening frame.

Covington would push its lead to 35-0 by the end of the first quarter as Trentin Alexander broke loose for a 72-yard scoring run and Schmelzer followed with two straight touchdown passes to Andrew Cates from 30 yards out and a 61-yard scoring strike to Kleyton Maschino.

Schmelzer finished the contest by tossing for 170 yards and three touchdown passes on four completed passes on five attempts.

The toss to Maschino ended up being the lone scary moment for Covington as the senior wideout tweaked his knee while crossing the goal line in a scene that appeared much worse than it ended up being.

As dark clouds rolled in to begin the second quarter, Covington’s defense – which surrendered just four yards of offense – gave the ball back to the Buccaneer offense with 9:58 second left in the half.

On the very next play Schmelzer connected with Cates from 38 yards out to push Covington’s lead to 42-0 with 9:49 left on the clock.

Alex Schaffer then capped the evening with a 42-yard scoring run as lightening was spotted on the ensuing kickoff, which ended matters with 6:12 left in the half.

In all, Covington racked up 341 yards of offense in what was a balanced effort with 171 yards on the ground and 170 through the air.

The Buccaneer defense was stellar in the shortened contest as it only allowed 4 yards of total offense to the Panthers.

If there is one concern for the men in black it would be the penalties the Buccaneers committed. Covington drew five flags for 55 yards – two of those going for the only first downs the Panthers were able to manage.

Still, the win boosts Covington’s record to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the CCC.

Next up is a huge showdown at Fort Loramie (2-1), who is the defending CCC Champions.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BUCCS – 35 – 13 – 0 – 0 = 48
PANTHERS – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 = 0

SCORING SUMMARY:
1st – COV: Brayden Wiggins 39-yard run (Kleyton Maschino Kick)
1st – COV: Austin Flick 46-yard pass from Cade Schmelzer (Maschino Kick)
1st – COV: Trentin Alexander 72-yard run (Maschino Kick)
1st – COV: Andrew Cates 30-yard pass from Cade Schmelzer (Maschino Kick)
1st – COV: Kleyton Maschino 61-yard pass from Cade Schmelzer (Austin Flick Kick)
2nd – COV: Andrew Cates 38-yard pass from Cade Schmelzer (Flick Kick)
2nd – COV: Alex Schaffer 42-yard run (Kick Failed)

Game called at 6:12 left in the half due to weather.