By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic senior quarterback A.J. Mayer went into Friday’s game at Beechwood needing 147 passing yards to reach the 1,000 mark this season and he managed to do it before the first half ended.
Mayer passed for 220 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and the Colonels rolled to a 45-9 victory over the defending Class 1A state champions to remain undefeated at 5-0.
“We were on the field a lot,” Mayer said of the CovCath offense in the first half. “Our defense just did great job, and I love having the ball in my hands and having control of the game.”
With less than three minutes left in the second quarter, Mayer threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Kameron Butler and Trey Gronotte kicked the extra point to give CovCath a 38-0 halftime lead.
The rest of the game was played with a running clock so the Colonels kept the ball on the ground. In the second half, junior Casey McGinness picked up 61 of the team’s 106 yards and scored a touchdown while Mayer threw only one pass for five yards.
CovCath finished with 409 total yards and Beechwood ended up with 195. The Tigers avoided a shutout by getting a field goal late in the third quarter and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter after CovCath pulled its defensive starters.
“Two things happened (Friday),” said Beechwood coach Noel Rash. “They’re a great football team and I didn’t do a very good job of getting our guys ready. It’s that simple.”
It’s been at least 20 years since CovCath started the season with five straight wins and the Colonels should remain the top-ranked Class 5A team in the state after Friday’s victory.
“It feels great,” McGinness said of the team’s 5-0 start. “It’s been a long time, but we want to keep it going. Hopefully, we can get a state championship this year.”
CovCath’s dominating performance had a lot to do with its offensive linemen. They gave Mayer plenty of time to find open receivers and cleared out running lanes for McGinness, who picked up 138 yards and two touchdowns.
“We were very impressed with our offensive line,” said Mayer, who now has 1,080 passing yards this season. “We’ve got some younger guys up front who don’t have a lot of experience, but they played really well. Over the past five games, they’ve come a long way. They’re not very big, just fast and physical. That’s the way we’ve got to play.”
CovCath’s defense limited Beechwood to 85 yards in the first half and scored a touchdown on a 25-yard interception return by senior defensive back Adam Schneider. His pick-six came on Beechwood’s second play from scrimmage and gave the Colonels a 10-0 lead with 5:34 left in the first quarter.
CovCath then scored touchdowns on its next four offensive possessions to open up a 38-0 halftime lead. Mayer threw scoring passes to three different receivers and McGinness finished off a drive with a 3-yard run into the end zone.
“Those are two very good football players who complement each other very well,” said CovCath coach Eddie Eviston. “A.J. was on point and really seeing the field well. Casey has been running hard every week. He might not have gotten the big plays on the ground that maybe he’s used to, but he got the tough yards and every once and a while he was able to pop one.”
Beechwood’s longest play from scrimmage was a 51-yard touchdown run by sophomore Josh Derry that came against CovCath reserve players with 6:33 left in the fourth quarter.
That play accounted for most of the Tigers’ 81 total rushing yards. Senior quarterback Braydon Burch completed 12 of 23 passes for 114 yards. His longest pass play was 31 yards.
“That’s one of the things we talked about — no big plays — and we did a pretty good job of that,” Eviston said. “Beechwood is a well coached team and they always have something offensively that can get them to the end zone pretty quick.”
COVCATH 24 14 0 7 — 45
BEECHWOOD 0 0 3 6 — 9
CC –Dyer 29 FG
CC – Schneider 25 interception return (Gronotte kick)
CC – Coldiron 8 pass from Mayer (Gronotte kick)
CC – Schuh 50 pass from Mayer (Gronotte kick)
CC – McGinness 3 run (Gronotte kick)
CC – Butler 22 pass from Mayer (Gronotte kick)
B – Mescher 39 FG
CC – McGinness 8 run (Gronotte kick)
B – Derry 51 run (kick blocked)
RECORDS: CovCath 5-0, Beechwood 3-1