©2006 by Ron Harrison
Covington Catholic (9-3) vs. Lexington Catholic (10-1) November 17, 2006
Coach John Rodenberg's Covington Catholic team's only losses have come to Ohio teams this season. The Colonels have a balanced attack with QB Josh Bleser leading the air game with 1721 yards and 19 touchdowns. Peter Sutton has caught 39 passes for 564 yards with eight touchdowns. Kurt Bovard is close behind with 38 receptions for 563 yards and has reached the end zone six times. Brandon Brown and Brent Buckley have combined for over 1300 yards and 21 TDs. Shane Popham set a Kentucky record this year with 46 career field goals including 15 this season.
Coach Bill Letton's Lexington Catholic Knights have a lot of weapons in their offensive arsenal. QB Tyler Hancock has gained 2437 yards and 31 touchdowns through the air. His favorite receivers have been Wes Caldwell and Ben Revere. Revere is also a dangerous threat as a kick returner. RB Shane Israel has gained 1307 yards on the ground and scored 24 touchdowns this season (21 rushing and three receiving).
Covington Catholic defeated Lexington Catholic 56-49 in a display of offensive fireworks in which the teams combined for 1296 yards of total offense and 50 first downs. Covington Catholic led 49-28 after three quarters but Lexington Catholic tied the game at 49-49 with 7:51 remaining on the clock. QB Tyler Hancock led the comeback with three fourth quarter TD passes.
Covington Catholic scored the winning points on a Brent Buckley 73 yard TD reception from Josh Bleser and a conversion kick by Shane Popham with 6:57 remaining in the game. Lexington Catholic's last opportunity was snuffed out by a Brandon Brown interception at the Covington Catholic 17 yard line with around two minutes left in the game.
Covington Catholic recorded 23 first downs and 706 yards of total offense. The Colonels lost two fumbles, had three passes intercepted, and were penalized eight times for 60 yards. The Colonels averaged 12.2 yards per offensive play. Lexington Catholic had 27 first downs and 590 yards of total offense. The Knights had three passes intercepted and were penalized nine times for 68 yards. The Knights had 30 more offensive plays (88-58) than Covington Catholic and averaged 6.7 yards per play.
Brent Buckley led the Covington Catholic ground game with 186 yards and a TD on 12 carries. Brandon Brown also topped the century mark with 130 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Josh Bleser completed 10 of 18 passes for 356 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Peter Sutton caught four passes for 123 yards with three touchdowns. Alex Wise added two receptions for 97 yards and a TD. Kyle Furnish led the defense with seven solo tackles. Joe Brueggemann added five solo and four assisted tackles. Sam Flynn recorded five solo and three assisted tackles.
Shane Israel led the Lexington Catholic gound game with 91 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Tyler Hancock completed 28 of 54 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Ben Revere had nine receptions for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Wes Caldwell also caught nine passes for 119 yards and a TD. Winston Guy recorded five receptions for 88 yards and a score. And. Rodriguez led the defense with four solo and three assisted tackles. Jake Conner added four solo and one assisted tackles. Ben Revere recorded two solo tackles and intercepted two passes.
Scoring Summary
| Covington Catholic | 56 | Lexington Catholic | 49 |
| School | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | OT | Final |
| Covington Catholic | 14 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 56 | |
| Lexington Catholic | 14 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 49 |
| LC | - Shane Israel 1 yard run (Logan Payne kick) |
| CC | - Alex Wise 74 yard pass from Josh Bleser (Shane Popham kick) |
| LC | - Wes Caldwell 9 yard pass from Tyler Hancock (Payne kick) |
| CC | - Peter Sutton 73 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
| LC | - Ben Revere 85 yard pass from Hancock (Payne kick) |
| CC | - Sutton 40 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
| CC | - Sutton 9 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
| CC | - Brandon Brown 13 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
| LC | - Israel 2 yard run (Payne kick) |
| CC | - Jace Ganshirt 37 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
| CC | - Brent Buckley 2 yard run (Popham kick) |
| LC | - Revere 10 yard pass from Hancock (Payne kick) |
| LC | - Winston Guy 32 yard pass from Hancock (Payne kick) |
| LC | - Revere 32 yard pass from Hancock (Payne kick) |
| CC | - Buckley 73 yard pass from Bleser (Popham kick) |
Selected Statistics
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| Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | Rushing | No. | Yds. | Avg. | Long | |
| Brent Buckley | 23 | 186 | 8.1 | 34 | Shane Israel | 26 | 91 | 3.5 | 14 | |
| Brandon Brown | 12 | 130 | 10.8 | 43 | Tyler Hancock | 8 | -8 | -1.0 | 11 | |
| Josh Bleser | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 29 | ||||||
| Alex Wise | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | ||||||
| Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | Passing | A-C-I | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Josh Bleser | 18-10-3 | 356 | 6 | 74 | Tyler Hancock | 54-28-3 | 507 | 5 | 85 | |
| Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | Receiving | No. | Yds. | TD | Long | |
| Peter Sutton | 4 | 123 | 3 | 73 | Ben Revere | 9 | 264 | 3 | 85 | |
| Alex Wise | 2 | 97 | 1 | 74 | Wes Caldwell | 9 | 119 | 1 | 35 | |
| Brent Buckley | 1 | 73 | 1 | 73 | Winston Guy | 5 | 88 | 1 | 33 | |
| Joe Ganshirt | 1 | 37 | 1 | 37 | Daniel Vogelsang | 2 | 27 | 0 | 21 | |
| Brandon Brown | 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 | Shane Israel | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| Brian Hennessey | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 | Oba Wilson | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
Acknowledgements
A special thanks to WL Stats for the comprehensive stats provided for tonight's game.
Other Games of Interest
Please refer to Week Fourteen in Review.
Please send your comments and questions to Ron Harrison at prepgridiron@yahoo.com.
Ron Harrison’s reports on this and other football events appear on https://www.angelfire.com/ky2/prepgridiron.
