COVINGTON – In the opening game of the 2026 season the Covington Buccaneers put forth an impressive 31-7 victory over Arcanum.

“Tonight was a toughness win,” said Buccaneer coach Austin Morgan. “Really proud of the effort by our kids.”

The game was delayed for 55 minutes due to a thunderstorm that blasted through the town unexpectedly. Fortunately, Smith Field held up well despite the large amount of rain that dropped for nearly an hour.

The Buccaneers started off the game on defense and held Arcanum on a three-and-out and then the offense moved the ball to the Trojans’ 39 before being forced to punt. Fortunately, the Buccaneer defense held the Trojans on a fourth down play to take over the ball at Arcanum’s 45.

A few plays later, Jordan Miller opened up the scoring of the game on a four-yard touchdown run and Filip McMaken connected the extra point to take a 7-0 lead with 59 seconds left in the opening quarter.

“Our offensive line did such a great job adjusting to what they were doing and our backs ran hard all night,” said Morgan.

Arcanum responded quickly by taking advantage of the only critical defensive mistake of the game by the Buccaneers that led to a 67-yard touchdown pass from Weston Schmidt to Talan Stone. This tied the game at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Buccaneers hurt themselves offensively on the ensuing possession due to a penalty that eliminated a long run by Jordan Miller. This forced Covington to punt and Arcanum retook the ball at their own 25.

After shutting down the Trojans on the next possession, the Buccaneers moved the ball once again to the red zone, but a fumble turned the ball over to Arcanum.

Covington’s defense forced a quick punt by Arcanum to retake the ball at their own 43 with 46 seconds left in the half. The offense then moved the ball quickly into the red zone with outstanding execution and closed out the first half with a 28-yard field goal by Fillip McMaken.

Leading 10-7 into the second half, the Buccaneers pretty much dominated the rest of the game.

Jordan Miller started the Buccs off with a great kickoff return to the 40 and the Buccs moved the ball inside the ten. Facing a fourth-and-goal at the sixth, Landin Cassel made a great pass to Jordan Miller for a touchdown and Filip McMaken kicked the extra point for a 17-7 lead with 7:44 left in the third.

In Arcanum’s first possession of the second half, Landin Cassel forced and recovered a fumble to get the Buccs the ball back at their own 24. This set the momentum up for the Buccaneers and the offense became very impressive in execution. On this drive, Tyler Palsgrove made three outstanding runs to put the Buccs on first and goal at the 8 and Landin Cassel closed out the drive with a 8-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 24-7 with 1:40 left in the third.

“Our defense played sound and disciplined most of the night,” Morgan said.

The defense continued to make great plays as Jordan Miller picked off a pass by Arcanum to give the ball back to the Buccs at their own 31. Covington then powered the ball inside the running game and closed out the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by Rider Robbins. Filip McMaken made the extra point for a 31-7 lead with 5:03 left in the game.

A third sack recorded by Eli Brooks forced Arcanum to punt again and the Buccs took over the ball at their own 20 with 2;12 left in the game. The Buccs got a first down and closed out the game 31-7 with two knees by Landin Cassel.

Overall, Covington accumulated 395 yards of offense with 329 rushing yards and 66 passing yards. Landin Cassel led the team with 117 yards rushing and 66 yards passing, while Tyler Palsgrove had 86 yards rushing and Jordan Miller 81 yards rushing. Rider Robbins also tallied 22 yards rushing on just four carries.

Covington’s defense held the Trojans to 210 yards of offense with 67 yards coming on one play. Arcanum only tailed 52 yards rushing, but accumulated 158 yards in the passing game. One of the most critical defensive performance for the Buccs were the three sacks accumulated by Eli Brooks.

“Even though we played well, there will still be plenty of things we can find on film we need to improve on,” Coach Morgan commented. “At end of the day, it’s about us getting better. Our mission is to maximize.”

Covington (1-0) has another tough game next Friday at New Bremen.

SCORES:
1st – COV: Jordan Miller 4-yd run (Fillip McMaken PAT) – 7-0
1st – ARC: Talan Stone 67-yd reception from Weston Schmidt (PAT Good ) – 7-7
2nd ; COV: Fillip McMaken 28-yd Field Goal – 10-7
3rd – COV: Jordan Miller 6-yd reception from Landin Cassel (Filip McMaken PAT) – 17-7
3rd – COV: Landin Cassel 8-yd run (Filip McMaken PAT) – 24-7
4th – COV: Rider Robbins 2-yd run (Filip McMaken PAT) – 31-7