TROY – The Covington Buccaneers overcame a sluggish start and put together 45-0 win over Troy Christian to improve the overall record to 3-1 and 1-0 in the TRC.

Yes, a win is always gratifying, but the Buccaneers were not completely satisfied with their overall performance – especially in the first half.

“We struggled in the first half offensively,’ said Covington coach Austin Morgan. “Our execution could have been much better. Our offensive line didn’t execute, especially on our first drive.”

On Covington’s first drive Jordan Miller had a long run of over 20 yards that would have put the Buccaneers in position for a potential scoring drive, but a holding penalty negated the run and ended the drive.

The Buccaneer defense kept Troy Christian in check, but another unexpected penalty of roughing the punter gave the Eagles an additional opportunity to keep a drive alive. Fortunately, the Buccaneer defense was able to hold up Troy Christian again to give the ball back to the offense.

Finally, the Buccaneer offense executed much better on their next possession and capitalized on a touchdown by Day’Lynn Garrett on a 15-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Landin Cassel.

The Buccaneers were able to score again midway through the second quarter as Cassel connected with Day’Lynn Garrett again from 13-yards out to put the Buccs on top 14-0.

Covington’s defense then forced Troy Christian to punt on its next possession and the Eagles punted the ball to the Buccs’ eight-yard line.

With the way the Buccaneers had been able to establish success in the running game, there was potential to move the ball down the field for another possible score due to the timing left on the clock. Unfortunately, a bad snap over Cassel’s head forced the Buccaneer quarterback to scoop up the ball and run it out of the end zone to the one-yard line to prevent a safety.

Covington was then forced to punt from the back of the end zone, which gave the Eagles a golden opportunity by taking the ball over near the Buccaneer 30.

Fortunately for Covington, the defense made a huge play as sophomore safety Jordan Miller picked off a pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the half. The extra point was off the mark, but the Buccaneers went into halftime holding a 20-0 lead.

“We didn’t play well in the first half, but we were better in the second half,” Morgan said. “We came out a lot more fired up.”

The fire under the Buccs to start the second half made a huge difference as Jordan Miller picked off another pass and returned it inside the red zone. A few plays later Miller powered his way in from one-yard out and Landin Cassel ran in a two-point conversion to push the lead to 28-0.

After Filip McMaken intercepted another Eagles’ pass, Jordan Miller scored his third touchdown of the game on a 14-yard run to push the lead to 35-0.

With the running clock going, Covington rotated many younger players onto the field throughout the rest of the game.

Still, Covington executed another drive that was capped by a 30-yard field goal by Wyatt Parker and then Christian Clark scored on a 31-yard touchdown run to make the final score 45-0.

“There was a lot of work we put in and I think that was the difference of being able to overcome some of our mistakes,” Morgan said. “Yes, there were some bright spots. I do think our passing game was better than last week and our run game was good.”

Even with a shutout victory, there are a lot of areas of improvement for the Buccaneers in order to have more success as the season moves on.

“Defensively, we have a lot of work to improve on, even though this was a shutout,” Morgan explained. “We did well in the run game, but we need to improve a lot in pass defense. Also, our kickoff team needs more work for improvement. We gave them (Troy Christian) way too many yards on kickoffs.”

Covington racked up 361 yards of offense on 252 yards rushing and 109 yards passing. The defense held Troy Christian to 57 yards of total offense with negative 10 yards rushing and 67 yards passing.

Still, the schedule from here on out will be a stiff challenge every week against good teams in the TRC. But, the Buccaneers have the potential to succeed.

“Every game the rest of this season will be a challenge, but we can compete,” Morgan said. “It’s all about how well we coach and how the kids execute what we need done. We have to get better of relentlessly attacking every opportunity with intent and energy.”

Next up is a huge showdown at home against Bethel in a game where the Buccaneers need to show more improvement due to the talent their opponent brings to the field.

SCORING SUMMARY:
1st – COV: Day’Lynn Garrett 15-yd pass from Landin Cassel (Wyatt Parker Kick) – 7-0
2nd – COV: Day’Lynn Garrett 13-yd pass from Landin Cassel (Wyatt Parker Kick) – 14-0
2nd – COV: Jordan Miller 80-yd interception return (Kick Failed) – 20-0
3rd – COV: Jordan Miller 1-yd run (Landin Cassel 2pt Run) – 28-0
3rd – COV: Jordan Miller 14-yd run (Wyatt Parker Kick) – 35-0
4th – COV: Wyatt Parker 30-yd field goal – 38-0
4th – COV: Christian Clark 31-yd run (Wyatt Parker Kick) – 45-0

	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	FINAL
BUCCS	7	13	15	10	45
EAGLES	0	0	0	0	0