South - Covington Duel in West Alexandria

J. C. Tilton

After a week where most everyone was affected by power outages, fans were able to get their minds off of their woes with a spectacular game between the Buccaneers and Panthers. Penalties and giving up big plays plagued Twin Valley South on Friday night. Still the team managed to win the time of possession and stayed even with the Buccaneers. The game was a nail biter with the winner being decided in the last 16 seconds of the game.

South scored first in the first quarter when Miles McCollum ran about 50 yards on a quarterback keeper. Both teams had problems with extra points this night and South's first try was blocked. Covington answered with a Logan Woloch touchdown but their try also failed. At the end of one, it was TVS 6 and Covington 6.

After a South drive stalled, thanks in part to a delay of game penalty, Covington ended their drive with a 30 yard TD run by quarterback Jake Bitner. South came right back with a great effort by fullback Tyler Leach. He bulled his way thru the line, shook off the secondary, and chugged 55 hard earned yards for a touchdown to tie the game again. But the South defense turned around and gave up a big play of their own - allowing a 70 yard touchdown that put Covington up at the half 19-12.

In the second half, South kept the Bucc's off balance by going into a spread offense at times. But after advancing to the redzone, an interception gave Covington the ball and a few plays later they ripped off another 70+ yard TD run to go up by two scores. South pulled closer when Grant Kreitzer had a 60 yard TD catch. And on their next possession, South caught a break when a bad snap on a punt gave them possession on the Covington 24. Miles McCollum scored and going into the fourth quarter it was a tie ball game - 26 all.

But another defensive breakdown allowed Covington to peel off a 64 yard TD on their next series. Late in the fourth quarter, South would catch a break as another bad snap on a punt gave them the ball on the Covington 42 with 4:27 left in the game. This would be their last possession of the ball game. Thanks to a pass interference call they were able to advance to the redzone. But with 16 seconds left in the ball game, they failed to convert on 4th down at the Covington 8 yard line and the Buccs were able to take a knee to seal a 32-26 victory.