The Shadow
Football is a game of four quarters.
The Covington Cougars showed up for three as the Rural Retreat Indians scored 30 fourth quarter points en route to a 44-20 first round Region C win Friday night at Casey Field to put an end to the Cougars turnaround season.
“We just got our backs to the wall and fell apart,” said an emotional Covington Coach Steve Dressler. “We had a few calls that didn’t go our way and they just wore us down and took it to us.”
The Cougars were making their first playoff appearance since 2006 and was playing host to their first home playoff game since 1999. The bigger picture – the Cougars were coming off an 0-10 2008 season but turned around to make the playoffs.
It was a tale of two halves at Casey Field Friday night as both teams struggled to get any momentum going in the first half.
The lone score of the first two quarters came late in the opening stanza.
Rural Retreat intercepted an R.J. Jeter pass and set up shop at the Cougars 42 yard line.
Nine plays later, sophomore fullback Travis Anderson took it in from one yard out and the first of five placements gave the Indians an early 7-0 lead with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Indians took their 7-0 lead into the locker room at the half, running 33 plays to Covington’s 22, while the defense limited Covington to just three first downs.
Covington got the ball to open the second half and senior Keenan Smith provided the Cougars with a much needed boost with a 95 yard kickoff return to cut the Cougars’ deficit to one (7-6) after the two-point conversion failed.
The Cougar defense started to step things up with junior Josh LaPrade providing the hits. LaPrade constantly wreaked havoc in the Indians backfield all night long but it didn’t matter as the Covington offense was having problems generating any momentum.
“We just could never really mount a drive to get any momentum going,” said Dressler.
The turning point in the game came on an Indians 3rd-and-15 from their own 47.
Rural Retreat quarterback Zayne Williams was pressured by LaPrade but got the pass off and senior receiver Tyler Hash won the jump ball battle over Covington’s Dominique Jordan and Aaron Fertig and went 53 yards untouched to increased the Indians’ lead to 14-6.
Following a quick three-and-out by the Cougars, the Indians would have gotten the ball near midfield but a personal foul call marched the ball down to the Cougars 23 and Foster’s 25 yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter increased Rural Retreat’s lead to 17-6 with 11:55 left to play.
The Cougars quickly went three-and-out again and the Indians started their next drive at the Covington 47.
Six plays later, QB Williams went straight up the gut from eight yards out and Foster’s placement made it 24-6.
That started a run of 21 straight points by the Indians in just a minute, 15 seconds.
Covington started their next drive at their own 19.
Senior Adam Simmons carried for four yards on first down and quarterback R.J. Jeter’s second down pass was picked off by Hash and returned 25 yards for the score to increase the Indians lead to 31-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, Rural Retreat cornered the ball to the right side of the field down to the Cougars 7 yard line. As the Cougars were waiting to see if the ball would roll out of bounds they didn’t pay attention to the charging Indians and Rural Retreat recovered the ball and took over with a short field.
Freshman running back Tyler Caudill took the first play from scrimmage off the right side and went seven yards for the score to increase Rural Retreat’s lead to 37-7 after the failed PAT.
The Cougars started their next drive at their own 36 and senior bruisers Simmons and Preston Waddell took things into their own hands.
Waddell carried for six yards on first down before Simmons rumbled 46 yards on the next play, moving the ball to the Indians 22. Both gained one yard on consecutive plays and Jeter’s third down pass fell incomplete to give the Cougars a 4th-and-8 from the Indians 20.
Jeter dropped back on fourth down and heaved a jump ball for Waddell who out jumped the Rural Retreat defender to haul in the 20 yard touchdown reception. The two-point conversion failed and the score was 37-12 with 4:14 remaining.
It didn’t take the Indians second team offense long to counter.
Following a failed onside kick attempt, the Indians were stopped for a one-yard loss on the first play from scrimmage but another Covington personal foul penalty moved the ball forward 15 yards and gave Rural Retreat a first down at the Cougars 39.
Freshman Dominique Epps took the next carry straight up the middle and ran 39 yards untouched to cap the scoring for the Indians. Foster’s placement gave Rural Retreat a 44-12 lead with 3:50 to go.
Covington’s second team offense responded with some power running of its own with sophomore running back Matthew Myers providing the bulk of the damage with 57 yards on four carries, including the final scoring run of 32 yards straight up the gut.
Jeter’s two-point conversion run made the score 44-20 and Rural Retreat took a knee on the final two plays to let the clock wind down and seal a trip next Friday to Damascus to take on the reigning Region C champs – the Holston Cavaliers.
“We had the big kickoff return to start the second half and had the momentum going our way but a few calls that really hurt us put our backs against the wall,” said Dressler. “We just could never seem to recover and had our backs to the wall.
“I give Rural Retreat a lot of credit,” added Dressler. “They were very strong up front offensively and defensively and they just outplayed us on the field tonight.”
The Indians outgained the Cougars offensively 303-184 and forced the Cougars to punt seven times.
The loss meant the end of the road for nine Covington seniors. Simmons, Waddell, Fertig, Smith, Ryan Kidd, Chris Johnson, Derek Harris, Austin Gibson and Kevin Baker donned the blue and gold for the final times for their careers.
“I just want to thank my seniors for a great year,” said Dressler.
“They have been here through the thick and thin and were the heart and soul of this football team. My door will always be open to them if they ever need anything.”
The Indians (4-7) advance to next week’s Region C semifinals to take on the Holston Cavaliers, while the other semifinal pits Bath County (7-4), a 48-7 winner over Narrows Friday night, at Eastern Montgomery.
Covington finished the season with a 6-5 record.
