By Brenden Connelly
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic senior running back Reid Hummel rushed for a game-high 154 yards in his team’s 38-8 win over Highlands on Friday and he gave his teammates on the offensive line credit for his impressive performance in the Class 5A playoff game.
“Every hole that we wanted to get to was there,” Hummel said. “Without the O-line creating those holes, I wouldn’t have as many yards as I had tonight.”
CovCath quarterback Preston Agee (No. 11) reaches the end zone behind a block by lineman James Napier (No. 66). (Photo by Dale Dawn)
The Colonels literally ran away with the game, racking up 369 yards and scoring five touchdowns on the ground. Senior quarterback Preston Agee rushed for 144 yards and three TDs. Hummel and Adam Holtz got the team’s other two scores.
“When you have a good O-line like that, it’s kind of hard not to run the ball a little bit,” said Agee, who completed six passes for 84 yards to give the Colonels a grand total of 453 yards in their ninth straight victory over the Bluebirds.
CovCath (8-3) will take a five-game win streak into next week’s home game against Conner (7-4) in the district finals of the Class 5A playoffs.
The Colonels took the field Friday looking to get off to a good start after pulling out an 8-7 win over Highlands in the regular season. On the second play, Agee connected with Zion Mason for a 20-yard strike and then Agee broke loose for a 46-yard touchdown run just 90 seconds into the game.
“The line did their job, flushed everybody down,” Agee said, “I went down there and just handled business.”
The teams traded three-and-outs over the next five possessions before the Colonels put together a 66-yard drive that ended with Eli Nally’s 19-yard field goal as the first half expired.
“We talked to our guys about how difficult that is, to put long play drives together and eating that clock,” said CovCath coach Eddie Eviston. “You need a strong, disciplined group, and I give our offensive line a lot of credit.”
CovCath tight end Trevor Wilson makes a leaping catch on a pass from Agee. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
Although the Colonels entered the locker room with a 10-point lead, they had a commanding 176-14 yardage advantage over the Bluebirds at halftime.
Highlands came into the second half looking to make a statement of its own. Clayton Lloyd caught a Cameron Bottom pass for 22 yards and Charlie Noon gained 21 yards on the ground, but the drive stalled after those big plays.
The Colonels reached the end zone on their next two possessions. An 87-yard drive in which they ran the ball on every play resulted in a 25-yard score by Hummel. A 61-yard drive ended with a 20-yard burst into the end zone by Agee.
Finding themselves in a 24-0 hole, the Bluebirds went on a 66-yard scoring drive to avoid a shutout. After an interception by CovCath was negated by a pass interference penalty, Bottom found Matteo Matteoli on a 28-yard touchdown strike and connected with Brody Benke for a two-point conversion.
CovCath responded with two more rushing touchdowns. Agee scored from 1-yard yard out, followed by a drive where Hummel picked up 48 yards before Holtz scored on a 1-yard rush of his own.
Highlands finished with 160 total yards (129 passing, 31 rushing). Senior linebacker David Sullivan led the CovCath defense with six tackles and one interception. Senior defensive back Dallas Wirth also picked off a pass for the Colonels.
