Saturday, September 30, 2000
Highlands 35, Covington Catholic 10
By Ray Schaefer
Enquirer contributor
FORT THOMAS — A 22-second stretch of the second quarter made the difference Friday for Highlands. That's how long it took the Bluebirds to score 14 points on the way to a 35-10 victory over Covington Catholic in a Class AAA District win at David Cecil Memorial Stadium.
“That was a big turnaround,” Highlands coach Dale Mueller said. “Our guys stepped it up when they needed to.”
The Highlands scoring barrage started with its running game. Junior Eamon Mueller carried three times for 40 yards, including a 29-yard run and a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 1:48 left.
On CovCath's first play of the ensuing series, Highlands senior defensive end Ben Scott stripped the ball from Cole Chadwick. Senior linebacker Josh Adams recovered and ran 19 yards to the Colonels 1-yard line, and two plays later quarterback Gino Guidugli scored with 1:26 to go in the half.
The result: A 10-7 CovCath lead turned into a 21-10 halftime advantage for Highlands, which scored 28 unanswered points after the first quarter.
CovCath coach Lynn Ray said such errors are a reason the Colonels are 1-5.
“Once again, we made mistakes,” Ray said. “We played hard. We've got to eliminate our mistakes. We're going to do that.”
Guidugli threw for 332 yards and two touchdown passes, and Mueller ran for two. But Guidugli wasn't happy.
“I thought we played sloppy,” Guidugli said.
Still, there were some numbers Guidugli should like: Senior receiver Brett Hamblen had three catches for 97 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown; senior receiver Kevin Mulroney had three catches for 72 yards, including a 23-yard TD; and senior Brent Grover's one catch was for 48 yards, which eventually led to Mulroney's score.
“Gino stepped up, found some guys in the end zone, threw the ball well,” Dale Mueller said.
The 14-point swing overshadowed CovCath's four major highlights.
Sophomore Neal Kreke's 41-yard field goal with 6:48 left in the first half put the Colonels ahead 10-7, their only lead of the game. Chadwick ran 26 times for 108 yards, junior quarterback Tim Grogan scored on a 1-yard run four seconds into the second quarter, and CovCath gained 318 total yards on offense.
CovCath also earned respect with a second-quarter defensive stand.
After Hamblen took the kickoff 35 yards to the Highlands 46 and caught a Guidugli pass at the 11, CovCath held, thanks to senior Alex Fedders' knockdown of Guidugli's pass to Hamblen in the end zone and an overthrow to Jeff Mason.
a Highlands mistake led to points. Guidugli fumbled a snap, but he picked it up and completed a 23-yard pass to Mulroney for a touchdown with 7:43 left in the game.
Grogan finished with 159 yards passing.
Cov. Catholic ....... 0 10 0 0—10
Highlands ....... 7 14 0 14—35
H-Hamblen 61 pass from Guidugli (Chuke kick)
CC-Grogan 1 run (Kreke kick)
CC-Kreke 41 field goal
H-E. Mueller 2 run (Chuke kick)
H—Guidugli 1 run (Chuke kick)
H-Mulroney 23 pass from Guidugli (Chuke kick)
H-E. Mueller 6 run (Chuke kick)
Records: CC 1-5 (0-1 in Class AAA district), H 5-1 (1-0).
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Kentucky football scores
Alter 39, Roger Bacon 26
Batavia 10, Hillsboro 0
Beechwood 47, Dayton 0
Bellevue 53, Holy Cross 3
Blanchester 26, East Clinton 0
Boone County 28, Campbell County 7
CCD 19, Summit CD 0
Colerain 49, Middletown 14
Dixie Heights 35, Scott 6
Edgewood 34, Fenwick 15
Elder 21, LaSalle 14
Finneytown 17, Indian Hill 13
Fleming County 46, Newport 14
Glen Este 49, Anderson 28
Hamilton 28, Oak Hills 14
Harrison 34, Turpin 14
 Highlands 35, Covington Catholic 10
Holmes 16, Conner 14
Hughes 26, Taft 0
Kings 34, Little Miami 14
Lakota East 14, Sycamore 13
Lakota West 24, Princeton 3
Lebanon 22, Loveland 13
Mariemont 55, Deer Park 32
Mason 7, Amelia 3
McNicholas 21, Purcell Marian 0
Milford 31, Fairfield 14
Moeller 20, St. Xavier 16
New Miami 27, Landmark 0
New Richmond 30, Clinton-Massie 0
NewCath 42, Ludlow 0
North College Hill 14, CHCA 0
Reading 47, Taylor 7
Ross 36, Goshen 26
Ryle 38, Simon Kenton 14
Talawanda 40, Lemon-Monroe 21
Walnut Hills 21, Withrow 14
Western Hills 41, Aiken 15
Williamsburg 30, Bethel-Tate 6
Wilmington 47, Norwood 8
Winton Woods 45, Northwest 0
Woodward 20, Mount Healthy 14
Wyoming 21, Madeira 0
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