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CovCath uses offense to defeat Oak Hills
- Updated: August 26, 2016
Covington Catholic defeated Oak Hills 56-48 in an offensive showcase Thursday night.
Trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, Covington Catholic’s (1-1) 56 points came in only three quarters as they saw dominant performances from junior quarterback AJ Mayer and sophomore running back Casey McGinness.
“Things didn’t go our way early after we actually moved the ball pretty well,” said Covington Catholic’s head coach Eddie Eviston. “We just got to continue playing our game and that’s what we did. Casey McGinness had a big game tonight, AJ had some big plays tonight, and when those things happen, and we get some big plays, we can be explosive.”
After scoring zero touchdowns and throwing a pick in his team’s loss to Ryle last week, Mayer bounced back with four passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown and zero picks.
It looked as if the Colonels were going to coast to an easy victory at the end of the third quarter, leading 42-13, but Oak Hill’s (0-1) junior quarterback Jacob Woycke thought otherwise.
Woycke scored four touchdowns, three passing and one rushing, in the final period to cut the score to an eight point game with 1:11 left in the game.
Covington Catholic kept the ball the remainder of the game, however, to clinch their first win of the season.
“We just had to dig in,” said. “We were just making the same mistakes over and over and we got to fight until the end. I think our guys relaxed too much and we’ve got to fix that, that’s going to be an issue.”
The turning point of the game took place in the second quarter.
Tied at seven points apiece, Oak Hills had possession when their senior wide receiver Brandon Wieck was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct.
This cost the Highlanders yards and a loss of downs, forcing them to punt the ball deep in the Colonel’s territory.
On the ensuing possession, Covington Catholic scored on a 47-yard rushing touchdown from McGinness to take their first lead of the game and they did not fall behind again for the remainder of it.
McGinness finished the night with three touchdowns ― one rushing, one receiving and one 90-yard kickoff return ― as well as 319 all-purpose yards.
Despite, allowing Woycke to pass for 408 yards and to rush for another 64, Covington Catholic’s defense forced him into a fumble and an interception.
That could be seen as a bright spot for a defense that allowed over 30-points to their opponents in back-to-back weeks.
In addition to Woycke, senior wide receiver Kyle Montag found success against the Colonel’s defense, catching five passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Covington Catholic plays Sycamore in their next matchup 7 p.m. Sept. 2. The Colonels were blown out by Sycamore last season by a score of 42-7.
Oak Hills’ next game is against Elder at 7 p.m. Sept. 2. The Highlanders lost to them last season 56-14.
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