By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic’s offense was a little inconsistent in Friday’s season opener, but the defense played so well it didn’t really matter as the Colonels came away with a 37-0 win over the visiting Ryle Raiders.
Ryle finished with a net total of 79 yards and got nearly half of that on a 37-yard drive late in the third quarter. The Raiders also had five passes intercepted and CovCath scored touchdowns after two of the take-aways.
CovCath senior Daniel Felix scored two rushing touchdowns and made a team-high eight tackles in the win over Ryle. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
“Our defensive (coaching) staff has done an incredible job getting these guys ready,” said CovCath head coach Eddie Eviston. “A lot of these guys have kind of been waiting for their turn to play and perform. The combination of the coaching staff preparing those guys and them being coachable and playing hard, they really played lights out tonight.”
Last year, CovCath made it to the Class 5A state final with seniors in 16 of the 22 starting positions. The Colonels were still ranked among the state’s top teams in that class going into this season and they showed why by out-gaining Ryle, 309-79, in total yards.
CovCath’s offense scored on two of its first three possessions to open up a 14-0 lead. The Colonels had good field position on their next four possessions, but they ended up punting twice and had two passes intercepted.
They snapped out of the scoring slump late in the second quarter by getting a field goal and touchdown to extend their lead to 23-0 at halftime.
“We left a lot of opportunities on the field and left a lot of points on the field,” Eviston said. “We should’ve executed better than that. But we kind of regrouped and we were able to get two quick scores there at the end of the second quarter.”
CovCath junior quarterback Caleb Jacob threw three touchdown passes in the first half. On the second play of the game, he connected with senior tight end Michael Mayer on a 76-yard scoring strike. Senior running back Michael Boydsten caught the second TD pass on a 10-yard curl pattern with 3:45 left in the first quarter.
CovCath senior tight end Michael Mayer, who caught two touchdown passes in the game, dives to snag a ball that’s just beyond his fingertips. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
After getting two poorly thrown passes picked off, Jacob redeemed himself by firing a 30-yard TD pass to Mayer in the final seconds of the second quarter. Mayer set up that touchdown with a diving pass interception on defense.
At the halftime break, Jacob had passed for 178 of his team’s 243 yards. Ryle went into the locker room with a net total of 11 yards and only one first down on its nine possessions.
On the ground, the Raiders had negative-9 yards at halftime. Senior running back Kyle England was limited to six yards on eight carries. That forced first-year starting quarterback Bradyn Lyons to throw the ball, but he went 2-for-13 with three interceptions in the first half.
“England runs hard and we had to gang tackle him,” Eviston said. “We knew if we let him get going they’d have some momentum. We took care of that.”
CovCath scored on its first two possessions of the second half to put the game away. Those final two touchdowns came on runs by senior Daniel Felix, who also had a big night on defense. A second-year starter at middle linebacker, Felix made a team-high eight tackles. Five of his stops were behind the line of scrimmage and he had one of his team’s four quarterback sacks.
“I was just flying to the ball as fast as I can,” Felix said. “Our whole motto is all 11 to the ball and be nasty when you get there. I was just trying to live out that motto.”
Felix was one of four CovCath ball carries who provided a net total of 94 rushing yards. They’re trying to offset the loss of the team’s all-time leading rusher Casey McGinness, who graduated last spring.
“We all play some defense so they just want to keep everybody fresh so we can give 100 percent on offense too,” Felix said of the rotating running backs.
COVCATH 14 9 7 7 — 37
RYLE 0 0 0 0 — 0
CC — Mayer 76 pass from Jacob (Gronotte kick)
CC — Boydston 10 pass from Jacob (Gronotte kick)
CC — Gronotte 34 field goal
CC — Mayer 30 pass from Jacob (kick blocked)
CC — Felix 4 run (Gronotte kick)
CC — Felix 1 run (Gronotte kick)
RECORDS: CovCath 1-0, Ryle 0-1.
High school football scoreboard
Friday’s games
Holy Cross 30, Bellevue 12
Brossart 24, Dayton 8
Boone County 20, Holmes 6
Newport Central Catholic 29, Campbell County 13
Cooper 7, Dixie Heights 0
Highlands 42, Scott 13
Lloyd 30, Walton-Verona 6
Carroll County 14, Ludlow 12
Newport 19, Harrison County 14
Simon Kenton 38, Henry Clay 27
Saturday’s game
Conner at Madison Central, 8 p.m.
