Normally they turn out the lights when the game is over.
It took nearly 40 minutes to get all the lights on at Liberty Tech on Friday night. Once they did come on, the Crusaders (0-7, 0-4 Region) likely wished for a power failure.
There was no lack of power for the Chargers (6-2, 4-1 Region), who scored 10 touchdowns en route to a 70-12 Region 7-3A victory. The point total came just short of the all-time record, according to statistician Chris Sage. The 1971 State runner-up squad holds that distinction with a 76-8 beat down of Fayette-Ware.
Per Covington Coach J.R. Kirby: “The offense was flawless.”
Covington went up 14-0 on a pair of Skylan Smith TD runs of 1 and 51 yards. For the night, he scored 4 TDs and had 10 carries for 125 yards. Touchdowns came from every quarter. Braden Gover (3/5, 75 yards) tossed a 29-yard scoring pass to Aden Deverell. Both Gover and Deverell showed off their wheels scoring on 9-yard and 42-yard runs, respectively. Azarion Harris rushed for 75 yards and a TD. Kaisyn Cariota had a 53-yard TD on a kickoff return and Jaheim Smith closed out the scoring from 5 yards out.
The Covington defense overwhelmed the undermanned Crusaders.
“The defense corralled them most of the night,” Kirby said. “Except for a couple of plays that allowed Liberty to score more points than they had all year in a game.”
Through the first 6 games, the Crusaders had a total of 34 points. The yardage total is off the charts on the bottom end. Liberty managed 34 net yards, 51 passing and -15 on the ground.
Of more concern to Kirby were the eight penalties that totaled 100 yards.
“We warned the players all week that Liberty had nothing to lose and that they were known to engage in extra-curricular actions after the whistle. We played right into their hands. Very disappointing. We can’t do that in a more competitive game.”
The Chargers have an open date this week. Region play will resume on Oct. 21 against a bitter rival, the Ripley Tigers. Martin Westview follows on Oct. 28. Both are home contests that CHS must win to finish no worse than 2nd in the region, which would give them home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
