You could see it and read it in the faces of the players and coaches afterward. This win carried with it a feeling of joy mixed with a sense of relief. The Covenant football team stumbled out of the gate and has struggled, but none of that mattered on Thursday as it was able to shake the proverbial monkey off its back and thump Hargrave behind one big play after another in a 61-22 win at home on Thursday afternoon.
“The pressure’s been there,” said Covenant coach Dandridge Payne. “We’ve been on a losing streak since the middle of last season and it was wearing on the kids. I think they finally said ‘enough is enough.’ Hargrave’s a big physical team — they’re a whole lot bigger than we are — but we were just able to come out and execute.”
With the score knotted at seven after the first quarter, the Eagles clicked on both defense and offense. It started with a Hargrave fumble forced loose by Jesse Getchell. From that point forward nearly every bounce went Covenant’s way.
“You’ve just got to fly in there and make as big of a hit as you can,” Getchell said. “I just got out on the better end of it. He went flying, ball came out and we scooped it up, went back on offense and did work.”
After working down the field, it looked like the Eagles drive was going to stall as they faced third and long. However, receiver Sam Patterson peeled of a 69-yard rush around the end and down the sidelines to put Covenant out in front by seven.
Then Hargrave fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Moments later Eagles quarterback Lee Coppock hit Getchell in stride for a 33-yard touchdown reception.
The Tigers collected themselves and made it a 6-point contest late in the second when 6-foot-5 and 306-pound tight end Avery Johnson caught a 17-yard pass for a touchdown. However, with less than 90 seconds until halftime, Covenant answered right back, working all the way down to the goal line before Coppock executed a run fake and hit a wide open Patterson with a 4-yard throw to increase the lead to 13.
The Eagles came out of the break and continued to force Tiger turnovers and convert them into points. After Patterson picked off Rhoades in the middle of the third, running back Chris Shifflett put together his best run of the day, an 86-yard rush that was finished on a diving play into the endzone.
At the end of the third, Luke Benes pried loose a fumble, recovered it and ran it back 34 yards for to make it 41-14. Midway through the fourth, Patterson, who was playing at safety for the first time this season, picked off his second pass of the day and this time returned it himself 20 yards for a touchdown. Just two minutes later with the second string defense in, Jordan Hendrick gave Covenant yet another defensive score on his 55-yard interception return.
“We had a lot of interceptions,” Patterson said. “I think our whole defense did a great job when we intercepted them of just looking for a man to hit and just clearing open the field.”
Johnson bowled over a trio of Eagles defenders late in the fourth on a 40-yard run for Hargrave, but by then the Covenant lead was insurmountable. Just for good measure, Getchell made the most of his only carry on the ensuing drive. The senior broke to the sidelines for a 70-yard rushing touchdown to cap-off the game.
Shifflett, Patterson and Getchell combined for 255 yards on 14 rushes between them thanks in large part to the gaping holes the offensive line created.
“We came out and did what we had to,” said senior lineman Alex Payne. “They had a lot of talent up front, but I think we finally wanted to win one today.”
Shifflett finished with a game high 118 on his 12 touches while also adding 47 yards on three catches. Getchell had 131 total yards of offense, an interception and a fumble. Patterson caught a pair of passes for 28 yards to go with his 69 yards on the ground. Coppock went 7 for 14 passing for 136 yards, had one touchdown and no interceptions.
Covenant (1-5) travels to Virginia Episcopal next Saturday at 2 p.m. and hopes they can recreate there what they did against Hargrave.
“That’s always a great rivalry and a great game,” Dandridge Payne said. “We’re real excited.”
