On a Friday night that was one day shy of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, CovCath gave one of its lost alumni something to be proud of with the victory.
The school honored Brian Williams, a 1990 CovCath graduate who died in one of the World Trade Center towers after it collapsed on 9/11. He was an all-state tight end for CovCath football and helped the Colonels win two state championships.
Students and staff wore a shirt with Williams’ jersey number 81 on it. CovCath held an 81-second moment of silence for him before the national anthem. Family members and friends of Williams were honored on the field at halftime, and they are having a golf outing on Saturday.
The CovCath community has something to celebrate after defeating Dixie Heights 24-8 in a battle of Colonels. Both teams left CovCath's Dennis Griffin Stadium with 2-2 records.
“I feel pretty good,” said CovCath senior Preston Agee. “It’s nice to get a win like that, especially after playing with them growing up. It’s just something we’ve worked for all week.”
Said CovCath head coach Eddie Eviston: “We’ve already had two losses on the year so it’s good to get another win under our belt. We’re still growing as a team. I like our kids. We battled.”
CovCath has now won 14 in a row against the red Colonels from down the street on Dixie Highway.
CovCath has yet to develop the consistently potent offense enjoyed by Colonel fans the past few years, after six years of standout quarterback play by Miami University starter A.J. Mayer and Caleb Jacob; and record-setters such as Casey McGinness and Notre Dame sophomore Michael Mayer.
The blue Colonels have mainly relied on the running game so far, averaging 202 rushing yards per game.
But the blue Colonels, who were wearing black uniforms Friday, enjoyed a strong defensive effort, forcing three turnovers and shutting down an explosive Dixie offense with experienced weapons.
And CovCath got two, big explosive plays on offense at key times while keeping the red Colonels from big plays of their own.
Dixie came in with veteran senior quarterback Logan Landers and two of the fastest receivers in Northern Kentucky in Devin Holbert and Kel Hawkins. And Dixie had averaged 270 yards rushing the past two weeks.
But CovCath kept them from scoring.
“That’s a good team over there. A big, physical team, so I’m happy with how our guys performed,” Eviston said. “Our defense really buckled down this week and concentrated on playing disciplined football, doing their jobs. That showed tonight. Everybody did their job and didn’t try to do too much, and they played well together.”
