Saturday could have gone very badly for Covington Catholic.
The Colonels lost their first two games, setting up a home opener against Cincinnati La Salle of the powerful Greater Catholic League against which CovCath had a 12-game losing streak.
La Salle won, 44-35 at Wooten Field, but the Colonels showed marked improvement over their first two games.
“The effort’s incredible – I couldn’t be more proud of them,” coach Dave Wirth said.
Senior quarterback Brayden Erpenbeck completed 39.2 percent of his passes the first two weeks, but he threw for more yards on Saturday than he did the first two weeks.
After passing for 176 yards in Weeks 1-2, he was 21-for-42 for 225 yards vs. La Salle, and ran the ball 29 times for 179 yards to finish with 404 all-purpose yards.
Erpenbeck said making reads has gotten easier as he has become more accustomed to starting.
“The first two weeks a lot of kids really weren’t too sure about some things, but it’s starting to click, and we’re going to score a lot of points,” Erpenbeck said.
His rushing highlight was an 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that cut La Salle’s lead to two.
“I was just trying to make it to the end zone,” Erpenbeck said.
CovCath outplayed La Salle on both sides of the ball in the first quarter. The Lancers went three-and-out to start the game, and the Colonels took over on their own 48 after a punt.
Erpenbeck completed passes of 17, 10 and 16 yards on the drive, with the latter two coming on third and long. He capped off the drive by running in the touchdown from the La Salle 3.
La Salle got one first down on its next drive but was again forced to punt, giving CovCath the ball on its 30. Erpenbeck rushed for nine on third and eight and added a run for 17 yards to take it down to the Lancers 27. After two incompletions and a false start penalty, CovCath faced third and 15.
Erpenbeck hit junior Alex Connelly for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
The CovCath defense again forced a three-and-out, but on the Colonels’ next drive, the momentum changed. Erpenbeck was sacked twice and threw an incompletion, then on fourth down a long snap sailed over the head of punter George Whitehead, and he was forced to cover it in the end zone for a safety.
La Salle ran the free kick back to the CovCath 27 and scored four plays later, making it 14-9. The Lancers took advantage of another botched punt late in the second quarter, when Erpenbeck rolled out and tried a rugby-style kick that netted minus-1 yards.
La Salle drove 41 yards on eight plays, capped off by a five-yard TD run by senior Zach Abbatiello with 1:45 remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, junior Paul Ritter fumbled deep in his own end and covered it at his own three. CovCath failed to get a first down and La Salle got the ball at the CovCath 30. Lancers junior quarterback Drew Kummer completed passes for 17 and 11 yards, and Abbatiello punched in the touchdown with 18 seconds left in the half.
“That’s really where our special (teams) has got to help up out,” Wirth said. “(La Salle’s) a really good team, they’re really well coached, so we come out, we do some things that maybe they weren’t anticipating, we’re up 14-0 and we can’t get down like that, that fast.”
But CovCath battled back in the second half. The Colonels drove 80 yards on 13 plays to cut the La Salle lead to two, 23-21. Connelly caught three passes on the drive – which included 20 yards in penalties against CovCath – for 48 yards, including a six-yard touchdown reception with 8:31 left in the third quarter.
La Salle went 91 yards for a touchdown on its ensuing drive, facilitated by 30 yards of Colonels penalties on pass interference and a late hit.
Erpenbeck responded with an 81-yard touchdown on the first play on CovCath’s next drive, and La Salle came right back with a 67-yard scoring drive, making it 37-28 with 2:23 left in the third.
CovCath again drove down the field, with Erpenbeck completing 6 of 7 passes for 61 yards, and he rolled out for a one-yard touchdown run to cut La Salle’s lead to two, 37-35 with 7:14 left in the game.
“I think that’s part of the learning curve for (us),” Wirth said. “I think they really need to learn how to bounce back, and I think it’s a confidence factor. I’m not sure the last couple years they believed in their ability to come back like that. I think they proved to themselves tonight that they can. We just have to finish the job.”
The Colonels made defensive stops on the next two La Salle drives, but their offense sputtered. They netted minus-11 yards in that span.
La Salle finally put the game away when Abbatiello broke a 40-yard run for a touchdown with 1:20 remaining.
Connelly had 10 receptions for 124 yards and caught both Erpenbeck TD passes.
Kummer was 15-for-26 for 190 yards and a touchdown in La Salle's third straight win vs. CovCath. Junior Matthew Woeste caught six passes for 129 yards, and Abbatiello led the Lancers in rushing with 105 yards on 14 carries, including three touchdowns.
CovCath plays at Campbell County next week before returning home to host Beechwood then Newport Central Catholic before beginning district play.
Wirth expects his team to be in peak form for the Class 5A opener at home vs. Scott on Oct. 10.
“I told everyone from Day 1 that this was a process, and we’re going to have some growing pains, and at the end of the season, we’re going to be a very good football team,” Wirth said. “And we will be.”
Said Erpenbeck: “Every week has been a huge improvement. Sure, we’re 0-3, but we’re going to win a lot of games. I mean a lot.”
LA SALLE 2-21-14-7—44 at COVCATH 14-0-14-7—35 CC-Erpenbeck 3 run (Talkers kick) CC-Connelly 32 pass from Erpenbeck (Talkers kick) L-Safety: CovCath snap on punt covered in end zone L-Farrell 10 run (Schuster kick) L-Abbatiello 5 run (Schuster kick) L-Abbatiello 1 run (Schuster kick) CC-Connelly 6 pass from Erpenbeck (Talkers kick) L-Kummer 1 run (Schuster kick) CC-Erpenbeck 81 run (Talkers kick) L-Woeste 8 pass from Kummer (Schuster kick) CC-Erpenbeck 1 run (Talkers kick) L-Abbatiello 40 run (Schuster kick) RECORDS: La Salle 2-0, CovCath 0-3.
COVCATH, LA SALLE CONVERT OFTEN ON 3RD AND 4TH DOWNS
Covington Catholic converted on third or fourth down 12 times on Saturday.
The Colonels were 10-for-19 on third-down conversions, and 2 of 2 on fourth down.
“That’s exactly what we talked about in our pre-game meditation – who’s going to win those big battles,” CovCath coach Dave Wirth said. “And those big battles were third downs.”
Among CovCath’s highlights on critical downs were conversions on 3rd and 15 for a touchdown in the first quarter and 3rd and 22 in the third quarter. The Colonels also got a first down on fourth and six and fourth and seven.
Nine times CovCath converted on third or fourth down and five or more yards.
La Salle also had three third-down conversions of six yards or more. The Lancers finished 4 of 10 on third down.
“I think that’s what happens when you get a GCL team over here playing a CovCath team,” Wirth said. “Two spirited, pretty athletic teams going at it.”
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