The Colonels finished their 2023 season with a perfect 10-0 record, the fifth time in their football program's 57 year history to accomplish that feat (1992, 2017, 2018, 2019), and the fourth time they've swept their regular season under head coach Eddie Eviston. The Colonels outpaced their regular season opponents 446-143, or an average score of 45-14. With Cov Cath returning to 4A football for the first season since 2014, the Colonels' new district proved little challenge for the team, with the boys in blue averaging 56 points per game in each of their four district contests, to their district opponents' average of 7 points per game. This left more than a few people wondering, with so many seemingly "go-ahead" wins on the back half of Cov Cath's 2023 reguar schedule, will there be some rust to knock off once playoff time rolls around?

Coach Eviston and company are without question here to prove this week that they are completely in A-form for the playoffs, though, starting with University of Kentucky commit Willie Rodriguez at TE/LB. Willie spent two weeks on the DL in the first two weeks of district play during the regular season, nursing an ankle injury. But he has shown that he's no worse for wear in the three games following his time off, with 6 receptions and 3 touchdowns since. Rodriguez has also averaged 18.2 yards per reception this season, making him one of multiple dangerous receivers for opponents, and one of the favorite targets for QB Evan Pitzer. Pitzer is currently on pace to set a new program record for single-season passing percentage, currently at 73.1% (125-171), eclipsing AJ Mayer's current record of 64.1% (170-265) set back in 2017. He is currently averaging 206 yards passing per game, and has 24 touchdown passes in addition to being only 22 yards shy of leading the offense in rushing yardage as well. Evan has connected by air with 9 different players for touchdowns this season, and his stable of receivers is led by WR Braylon Miller (41 catches for 641 yards and 5 TDs), WR Oliver Link (22 catches for 422 yards and 4 TDs), TE Willie Rodriguez (17 catches for 310 yards and 8 TDs), and Noah Johnson (18 catches for 299 yards and 1 TD). The final major skill-position cog in the Colonels' offensive machine is senior RB Owen Leen, who is back and healthy from an ankle injury. Leen, who saw fairly limited playing time as a sophomore, leads the offense in rushing this season with 78 carries for 465 yards (5.9 yds/carry) and 8 TDs. Owen has pounded his way forward into the Top 15 scorers in program history, doing so almost entirely within two seasons - including his injury hampered 7-game regular season this year. Owen is back and looking healthy, and will continue to be a workhorse for the Colonel offense.

On defense, it all starts up front. And you can't talk about the defensive front line without talking about DL Ben Reeves. Reeves leads the team in sacks this season (6), and although there are no official team stats for QB hurries, Ben's unofficial stat for hurries would most easily be tallied by fives or tens rather than single digits. With Ben anchoring the 3-man front for Cov Cath, he's also joined by varying combinations of Isaac Mason, JP Sullivan, and Mason Edwards up front, and the group create more than enough for offensive lines, especially in combination with edge linebacker Willie Rodriguez. At Mike linebacker, junior Tate Kruer leads the Colonels with tackles for a second straight season, and Andrew Bessler, Nick Krallman, and Tucker Evans round out the rest of the linebacking corps. Sophomore safety Cash Harney leads the team in interceptions, and is joined by Braylon Miller, Logan Sanning, Noah Johnson and Dylan Gaiser are the go-to defensive backs for the Colonels.

Greenup County has seen some ups and downs in recent years, going from two straight 6-5 seasons in 2017 and 2018, and then dropping to 4-7, 2-4, 1-9 in the three following years. But they saw quite a turnaround under Zach Moore last year, jumping back to 8-5 and making it to the 3rd round of the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. The Musketeers had been grooming OC/QB coach Travis Jones to take over for Coach Moore, who had to step down after moving into an administrative role within the district, and this year, Coach Jones has led Greenup County to a second-straight 6-4 regular season.

The Muskies are a run-heavy offense, with 61% of their yards gained on the ground - and the lion's share of those yards gained by junior QB Tyson Sammons. In the regular season, Sammons led 4A and was 7th across all classes for total yards rushing with his 1453 total yards...only 5 yards short of his 1458 total yards passing during the regular season. With 23 rushing touchdowns on 172 carries, Tyson is averaging 8.5 yards per carry. Also joining him in the backfield is senior RB Ike Henderson, who has 460 yards on 78 carries this season. Greenup County's top three receivers this year have been WR Aiden Gue (26 catches for 620 yards and 9 TDs), WR Drew Boggs (24 catches for 358 yards and 2 TDs), and WR Brody Stevens (19 catches for 339 yards and 2 TDs).

On defense, junior LB Waylon Perkins leads Greenup County in tackles (78), with LB Caden Holmes not far behind him with (70) tackles, and safety Drew Boggs coming in third with (68) tackles. Boggs also leads the team in solo tackles at (28). Linebacker Austin Walker is another man to watch for, as he leads the team in tackles for loss (4). The defensive front is anchored by Cooper Howard and Gage Gullett and Ethan Thomas. I the defensive backfield, keep an eye out for more of Tyson Sammons, Brody Stevens and Aiden Gue, along with, Ike Henderson, RJ Veach, and freshman Jasper Davis.

What are your predictions for this third-ever matchup between the Colonels and the Musketeers?

Covington Catholic big. Greenup lost about a month ago 63-7 to Ashland.

Running Clock early.  Very early.

Anybody know if Gage Gullett is closely related to Don Gullett? I figure he's gotta be related somehow or another if they're both from Greenup County.

What’s the all time series record? Pretty sure CovCath has played Greenup once or twice?

34 minutes ago, colonel-fan said:

What’s the all time series record? Pretty sure CovCath has played Greenup once or twice?

Series Record:
1991 Cov Cath (Ray) beat Greenup County (Dunaway) 34-0
2014 Cov Cath (Wirth) beat Greenup County (Mullins) 39-8

5 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Series Record:
1991 Cov Cath (Ray) beat Greenup County (Dunaway) 34-0
2014 Cov Cath (Wirth) beat Greenup County (Mullins) 39-8

The KHSAA expanded their playoff system in 1991 to include the top four teams in each district, and I believe Greenup County county became one of the first group of winless teams to ever make the KHSAA playoffs. The '91 Musketeers ended up 0-11 after losing to Cov Cath in the opening round of the AAA playoffs.

Cov Cath also scrimmaged at Greenup County for three or four years back in the late 80s/early 90s before they started a five or six year-long run of scrimmaging at Shelby County. Coach Ray and company liked heading a good way out of town for scrimmages to make it tougher for local competition around NKY to scout them.

1 hour ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

The KHSAA expanded their playoff system in 1991 to include the top four teams in each district, and I believe Greenup County county became one of the first group of winless teams to ever make the KHSAA playoffs. The '91 Musketeers ended up 0-11 after losing to Cov Cath in the opening round of the AAA playoffs.

Cov Cath also scrimmaged at Greenup County for three or four years back in the late 80s/early 90s before they started a five or six year-long run of scrimmaging at Shelby County. Coach Ray and company liked heading a good way out of town for scrimmages to make it tougher for local competition around NKY to scout them.

Your knowledge of the history of Covington Catholic football is amazing! Thank you for sharing it with us!

2 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Anybody know if Gage Gullett is closely related to Don Gullett? I figure he's gotta be related somehow or another if they're both from Greenup County.

Yes I believe he is it is either his grandson or nephew. He still has his farm in rural Greenup Co. that he has had from the time he played for the Reds in the 70's. He has a brother Jack Gullett who cared for the farm in the 70's when Don played for the Reds and Yankees. In the late 70's his brother who was the caretaker of Don's had a run with the State Police when they discovered plants mixed in with the tobacco plants.

Don Gullett I think should be regarded as on of the best athletes in Kentucky High School sports history. As a high school pitcher, he once tossed a perfect game—including striking out 20 of the 21 hitters he faced. Gullett excelled as a high school football player as well once scoring 72 points in a single game. He ran for 11 touchdowns and kicked 6 extra points. He was named all-state in three sports his senior year (baseball, football, basketball).

 

Cov Cath freshman players Spencer Clukey (OL/DL), Owen Pitzer (TE/LB), and Jonny Lind (OL/DL) have all been practicing with varsity since regular season district play started against Holmes back in Week 6. Looking at the roster this morning, they've now moved up 5 more freshman players for the playoffs: Jimmy Carson (RB/LB), Ariel Garista (OL/DL), Jackson Payne (QB/LB), Lucas Rensing (TE/LB), and Colin Vinson (OL/DL).

Bump.

On 10/30/2023 at 5:21 PM, punttheball said:

Your knowledge of the history of Covington Catholic football is amazing! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Colonels_Wear_Blue is the GOAT

Cov Cath is decked out in all-blue tonight, and Greenup County is wearing their white pants and unis.

Colonels will be kicking off to the Musketeers.