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CovCath grabs school’s eighth state title

LEXINGTON, Kentucky – The Colonels won the coin toss and decided to receive the ball. They chewed almost the entirety of the first quarter on the first possession. An Owen Nally rushing touchdown capped off a 9-minute drive to give CovCath a 7-0 lead. 

Fredrick Douglass didn’t answer with much on their first drive, garnering one first down but punting four plays later. A shanked punt from Isiah Kenney gave CovCath the ball at midfield. The Broncos defense stood tall and forced a punt.

The second quarter was a defensive onslaught, no points were scored, and every possession ended in a punt for both teams. At the end of the first half, the score stayed 7-0 Colonels.

Both teams had less than 100 total yards. Daniel Felix carried the ball eight times for 21 yards, while Michael Mayer had three receptions for 27 yards. For the Broncos, Devin Neal, a UC commit, had three carries for 29 yards. Isiah Allen had three receptions for 31 yards. 

The second half started with a Fredrick Douglass and Covington Catholic three-and-out. There was finally a boost in momentum when Andre Molique picked off a deep pass from Josh Mcclurg and returned the ball to the Fredrick Douglass 48-yard line. 

Caleb Jacob connected on a 37-yard pass to Mayer a few plays later to set up the Colonels inside the five. A quarterback sneak from Caleb Jacob at the 1-yard line extended CovCath’s lead to 14. At the end of the third quarter, the score was 14-0.

The fourth quarter finally saw the Broncos break through. Neal went for two big runs that set up Fredrick Douglass in the end zone. A flawlessly executed reverse play lead to a walk in touchdown for Ty Bryant. With eight minutes to go in the game it was 14-7. 

The Colonels’ defense suffocated the next two drives, and the offense continued to run the ball and chew clock. Cov Cath had a chance to seal the game with 1:39 left on the game clock, but Trey Gronotte missed badly on a 38-yard field goal attempt. 

The Broncos had one last chance with the ball, but the defense in blue held strong again and forced a turnover to end the game. The CovCath defense allowed only 158 total yards, and the state title game made it five straight playoff games where the opposing team failed to score double-digit points. 

Michael Mayer took home MVP honors in his final game as a Colonel. Offensively, he rushed three times for 21 yards, and caught five receptions for 68 yards. Defensively, he tallied 6.5 total tackles, and 1.5 tackles for loss. The Notre Dame commit was everywhere on the field tonight, and when his team needed him the most, he delivered.

Covington Catholic has won two state titles in the past three years, and have won 59 of their last 60 games. Overall this is the school’s eight championship as they also brought home the hardware in 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2006, and 2017. 

The 2019 team will go down as one of the most impressive teams in Northern Kentucky history. From start to finish, there was no team in the Tri-state area that stayed consistently dominant like this team did.

POSTGAME VIDEO
–Head coach Eddie Eviston, CovCath
–Michael Mayer, CovCath

SCORING BY QUARTERS
Frederick Douglass 0-0-0-7-7
CovCath 7-0-7-0-14

SCORING PLAYS
C: Owen Nally 2-yard RuTD (Gronotte kick good)
C: Caleb Jacob 1-yard RuTD (Gronotte kick good)
F: Ty Bryant 13-yard RuTD (Leigeb kick good)

RECORDS: CovCath (15-0); Frederick Douglas (14-1)

*Image from Twitter (@KHSAA)


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