Sometimes, you’ve just got to get back to basics and make things easy.
That’s exactly what Covenant’s football team did during practice this week and it paid off with a 42-14 victory over Christchurch, believed to be the first win over the Seahorses in school history.
“We just changed up our offense — we were getting confused on where we were going last week,” said the Eagles’ Drew Gaffney. “So we changed it up, made it easier and obviously it showed.”
Gaffney performed like the versatile offensive weapon many believed the lacrosse star could be going into the year, scoring three times, twice on the ground and a third through the air on the receiving end of brother Jay Gaffney’s pass. Playing a hybrid fullback/running back and linebacker, Drew had the three touchdowns and seven tackles in the blowout.
“He did a great job running, blocking, defense,” said coach Dave Rocco. “We’ve just got a bunch of kids who will work hard. We just have fighters.”
Jay Gaffney went an incredible 15 for 17 at quarterback, throwing for 159 yards as he made more efficient use of his opportunities than he did a week ago against Atlantic Shores. The offensive line gave him more time and the Eagles also moved him out of the pocket regularly to create throwing lanes. His emergence indirectly helped the defense as Covenant’s other quarterback Gus Rose was able to focus more attention on his job at linebacker where he led the Eagles with eight tackles on the day.
Despite suffering a bone-jarring hit that separated him from his helmet early in the game, Austin Llera returned and finished with a combined 129 yards receiving and rushing. He was particularly adept at the Eagles’ most prolific play, a shovel pass style look that allowed Llera and others to pick up big gains. Christchurch didn’t have an answer for that particular package all afternoon. Llera also had three solo stops and an interception that ended a drive by the Seahorses in the first half.
Stephen Wilder and Quan Washington (who also gained 50 yards and scored as a part of the Eagles’ running back by committee approach) locked down the Christchurch passing game, particularly in the early going. Wilder had an interception while Washington broke up four passes on the day.
“This team was not the same team that we had out here last week and it was obvious,” Rocco said.
A 21-point third quarter blew the game open for Covenant after they build a 14-7 lead before halftime. During that stretch, the Seahorses were flagged for a rash of personal foul penalties.
Covenant gets a one-week layoff before getting back to the field September 13 on the road against Hargrave Military Academy.
