WEST MILTON – The Covington Buccaneers suffered a 48-0 loss to Milton-Union on Friday in a game where there was plenty of situations to learn from – primarily, learning how to put a play that doesn’t go your way behind you and focus on the next play.
The Buccaneers played without junior Kian French, who is the ultimate team player who is unselfish and willing to go above and beyond what is expected in putting the team first.
Still, the Buccaneers started out fast by forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff that was recovered by sophomore Christian Clark in Bulldog territory.
Unfortunately the Buccs failed to take advantage of the field position and punted after a three-and-out. Milton the moved the ball inside the red zone, but the Covington defense stuffed a Bulldog runner on fourth down to take over at its own 11.
After another three-and-out by the Covington offense, the Bulldogs moved the ball into Buccaneer territory once again and scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Wyatt Kimmel to Payton Mayfield. The Buccaneers stopped a two-point attempt by the Bulldogs to leave the score at 6-0.
Covington’s third offensive possession resulted into another three-and-out and the Bulldogs scored on a 41-yard pass from Kimmel to Mayfield with 12 seconds left the first quarter. Milton followed by converting on a two-point run to push the lead to 14-0.
Things unravelled for the Buccs in the second quarter thanks to several miscues on both sides of the ball.
Covington turned the ball over consecutively on its next four possessions, three on interceptions and one via fumble. Two of the interceptions were returned for touchdowns, one by Payton Mayfield and the other by Peyton Nichols.
The Bulldogs also scored three more times in the second quarter to push their lead to 48-0 at the break.
After a rough second quarter, the Buccaneers responded extremely well throughout the rest of the game. Neither team managed to score under the running clock, but it was evident that the effort and intensity by both teams was gratifying.
Defensively, the Buccs continued to play physical and swarmed to the football. Covington corrected some of the mistakes and forced another turnover via fumble that was recovered by Jack Blumenstock.
Offensively, the Buccaneers put together some quality plays and managed to move the ball. Unfortunately there wasn’t much time with the running clock for the Buccs to put together a long sustained drive.
The Buccaneers fall to 0-7 on the season and travel to face Lehman Catholic next week.
