COLDWATER – The Covington Buccaneers, which is a relatively young football team, lost 58-0 in the first round of the state playoffs, but was blessed to witness the elite level of football by Coldwater – a level the Buccs are striving for to achieve in the near future.
Coldwater is a state level powerhouse program each and every year and the opportunity to compete against the Cavaliers excited the Covington Buccaneers all week, which was on display every day at practice. The intensity, high energy and effort at practice was at the highest level of the season.
Yes, Coldwater was obviously the best team the Buccaneers played all year and the result showed up on the scoreboard when the Cavaliers won 58-0. But, it was a great experience for Covington because the Buccaneers never relented in the effort throughout the entire game.
Coldwater, which has a large portion of upper-classmen on its roster, took control of the game early by building a 44-0 lead in the first quarter. Part of the downslide for Covington was several mistakes that gave Coldwater so many scoring opportunities early in the game – once on a fumble, an interception and then a bad snap on a Buccaneer punting situation that gave the Cavaliers the ball inside the 20.
After trailing 44-0 in the first 12 minutes of a game, most teams would have packed it in and basically quit giving maximum effort. Covington didn’t do that and throughout the rest of the game was able to show competitiveness against a very good football team who is likely in contention to make it to the state finals.
Throughout the final three quarters the Buccaneers were able to hold Coldwater to just 14 more points. In that time, the Buccaneer defense showed the same type of grit that was on display throughout the entire year.
Covington’s biggest struggle against the Cavaliers was on the offensive side of the ball as Coldwater’s defense played at an amazing level. The Cavaliers swarmed to the football extremely fast throughout the entire game and their defensive front made it difficult for Covington to find enough time to make plays in the passing game and also limited space for the Buccs in the running game.
Throughout the entire game Covington only went across the 50-yard line once and had just one scoring opportunity, which was negated on a dropped pass over the middle that would have resulted into a touchdown if the ball wasn’t dropped.
What also hurt the Buccaneers were injuries suffered by three key players that prevented them from playing Friday night – all talented sophomores; Jordan Miller, Filip McMaken and Sam Hellman.
Overall, Covington tallied 71 yards of offense and Coldwater accumulated 396 yards.
This was the first playoff game the Buccaneers have played in since 2020.
The Buccaneers end their season with a 3-8 record.
| 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | FINAL | |
| BUCCS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| CAVALIERS | 44 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 58 |
