It was an awfully ominous sign. It’s also become par for the course for Covenant this season.
When Covenant quarterback/cornerback Jay Gaffney came walking off the field after the first defensive play holding his arm with an apparent shoulder injury, the Eagles’ offensive game plan suddenly had to be re-worked without even running a play.
A season where Covenant has been as injury-riddled as any local team in recent memory ended with a 56-12 loss to Trinity Episcopal Saturday afternoon.
The Eagles surrendered 354 yards on the ground to the Titans who also suffered a major blow when star running back Abe Ferrell-Logan re-aggravated an ankle injury, but didn’t get off track. Instead, Jack Fruendthal and Demetric Atkins each rushed for more than 100 yards. Fruendthal went for 180 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries. Aktins scored twice too and had 115 yards on eight touches.
Covenant executed well on the ground at times with Austin Llera rushing for 84 yards on eight carries including a 50-yard hard-nosed sprint up the middle to open the scoring for the Eagles in the first quarter. Even Llera went down with what appeared to be a minor injury, Cole Williams ran well during the second half, rushing for 55 yards on 14 carries.
But the passing attack sputtered with Gaffney on the sideline as the Eagles managed just 27 yards on the day.
The loss ends Covenant’s season, as well as Trinity’s, as neither team qualified for the VISAA playoffs.