COVINGTON – The Covington Buccaneers saw their season end with a 37-0 defeat to Miami East on Friday on a night where the senior football players, cheerleaders and band members were recognized prior to the game.
The senior football players recognized were Brian Morrison and DeAnthony Bennett, two individuals who can hold their heads high as both left everything they had on the field.
“Both seniors emptied their tank and left everything they had on the field tonight,” said Covington coach Austin Morgan. “They left a legacy for Covington football and embodied our philosophy for success – work, tough, unselfish and humble.”
Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as mistakes at inopportune times cost the Buccaneers and the size and strength of Miami East in the trenches proved too much to overcome for this young football team.
Covington did start the contest pumped up as the defense forced a Miami East fumble that was recovered by freshman Mason Epperson on the opening possession of the game.
With the ball at midfield, the Buccaneer offense couldn’t take advantage of the short field and was forced to punt. The punt was blocked by Miami East’s Vincent Crane, who scooped up the ball and ran it in from 45 yards out.
The Vikings then executed an onside kick to perfection and scored less than two minutes later on a 15-yard run by Connor Dalton.
Things went from bad to worse for the Buccaneers as untimely penalties killed the next drive for the offense and Miami East was able to take advantage of another short field with a 7-yard scoring run by Dylan Williams to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead after one.
The second quarter was a dog fight as neither team’s offense could gain much success against the defenses. Miami East was able to connect on a 35-yard filed goal by Caleb Staley with one second left in the half to give the Vikings a 24-0 lead at the break.
Covington received the opening kickoff of the second half, but a long run by DeAnthony Bennett was negated by a penalty and another penalty pushed the Buccaneers back deep inside their own territory, which ultimately led to a punt.
The Vikings used the ground game to churn out yardage and ate nearly five minutes off the clock on a scoring drive that ended with a 15-yard scoring run by Connor Dalton to push the Miami East lead to 31-0.
Miami East scored again midway through the fourth quarter to make the final score 37-0.
For Covington, there were some big plays made on the defensive side of the football. Nevin Bowling and Mason Epperson recovered fumbles, while Brian Morrison intercepted a pass. Morrison also broke up two passes that would have resulted into touchdowns for Miami East.
Unfortunately the Covington offense just couldn’t get much going against the Viking defense as it was held to 29 yards of total offense and converted on two first downs. The five penalties for 30 yards hurt the Buccaneers as all came at inopportune times where they negated potential big plays.
With the defeat, Covington ends its season with a 2-6 record.
