By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Eddie Eviston, the new head football coach at Covington Catholic, is taking over a team that will have several vacancies in its varsity starting lineup when pre-season practice begins this summer.
The seniors on the 2014 team who will be graduating include the starting quarterback, top two pass receivers, three of the leading tacklers on defense and a highly recruited 6-foot-5, 289-pound offensive lineman. Finding replacements for those players and putting a competitive team on the field is the challenge that awaits Eviston, who will be officially introduced as CovCath’s head coach during a press conference at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at the school.
But his coaching background shows why school officials consider him the right man for the job. For the last two years, Eviston has been the offensive coordinator for the Georgetown College football team that averaged more than 500 all-purpose yards per game in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
Before he took that job, he was head football coach at Newport Central Catholic High School, where his teams compiled a 35-8 record in three seasons and won two Class 2A state championships.
Eviston also had a successful career as a player. He was starting quarterback at NewCath for two seasons and went to Georgetown on a football scholarship. He
led the Tigers to two NAIA national championships and was named NAIA Player of the Year three times.
In a statement released Monday, CovCath athletic director Mike Guidugli said Evistion is “a very impressive young man who has achieved success at every level in football.
“We are confident that his enthusiasm along with his leadership skills will inspire our student-athletes to reach their full potential both on and off the field,” Guidulgi added. “We are very pleased to have him join the CCH coaching staff and look forward with excitement about the future of the CCH football program.”
Eviston is replacing former CovCath head coach Dave Wirth, who resigned in January. The Colonels compiled a 49-27 record in six seasons under Wirth, but none of his teams made it past the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs. Highlands eliminated CovCath in the state quarterfinals each of the last four years.
Covington Catholic and Notre Dame will be tough to beat once again in the Region 4 boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving championships that begin Friday at Silverlake in Erlanger.
Based on times recorded during the regular season, CovCath has the fastest entries in 10 of 11 boys’ swimming events, including all three relays. On the girls’ side, Notre Dame has the top seed in eight of 11 swimming events, including the three relays. That means those two teams should wall away with the first-place trophies for the 17th consecutive year.
Three CovCath swimmers – seniors Mike Summe and Todd Sheets and junior Brendan Meyer — have the top times in two boys’ individual events. Notre Dame junior Madeleine Vonderhaar is expected to be a double-winner in girls’ individual events.
Preliminary heats will begin at 12:15 Friday for girls followed by boys’ prelims at 6:15 p.m. The championship finals are set for 5:40 p.m. Saturday. The regional springboard diving competition will be held Saturday at Scott High School. The girls will start at 10 a.m. and the boys are expected to begin at 1 p.m.
The Georgetown College football website has seven Northern Kentucky high school players listed among the recruits who signed letters of intent with the Tigers last week. The list includes Ryle linebacker Ryan Woolf and Campbell County offensive lineman Alex Kaufmann, who were both first-team selections on the 2014 All-Northern Kentucky Team.
Woolf finished the regular season as the area’s leading tackler with 135 total stops (85 solo, 50 assists).
Georgetown also landed four players who were second-team selections on the All-Northern Kentucky team – wide receiver Grant Arnwine of Ryle, offensive lineman Jake Etler of Beechwood, defensive back Brandon Gray of Newport Central Catholic and defensive lineman Colson Machlitt of Dixie Heights.
The other local player who signed with the Tigers is Campbell Country defensive back Eli Matthews. Last season, Georgetown posted an 8-3 record, finished the regular season ranked No. 10 among National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics football teams and made its fifth consecutive appearance in the NAIA playoffs.
Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.