Chargers fall to Covington in football playoffs

Covington, Virginia – The Covington Cougars defeated the Bath County Chargers Friday night, 29-9, in a second-round football playoff game.

The Charger offense scored its only points of the night in the first quarter, with a three-yard touchdown plunge by Ethan Wrights, following a big pass play from Raymond Miller to Dariene Hepler.

The Charger defense held the Cougars to a single TD in the first half and Bath County held a 7-6 lead at the halftime break.

In the second half, the Charger defense scored on a safety in the second half, but the Charger offense failed to sustain drives and turned the ball over three times. The Cougars clawed back with three touchdown drives to secure a 20-point victory.

Bath County coach Will Fields says an inconsistent Charger offense was a factor in the game.

“We’ve been inconsistent on offense throughout the season,” he said. “That continued in the game. We were good in spurts and not very good in others. We felt like we needed to control the ball, due to their quarterback. We didn’t want to give him a lot of snaps. So, we wanted to try and control the time of possession and we weren’t able to do that.”

The coach says his defense struggled to contain Covington quarterback Troy Helton.

“He’s just a good player,” he said. “We were successful at times in containing him and other times he cracked free and it doesn’t take very times with a player like that that you give up a score. And, like I said, when we’ve been inconsistent on offense, it was tough for us to keep up.”

Following the game, Covington head coach Steve Dressler praises the Chargers and their coach.

“Coach Fields has done a wonderful job up there with that program,” he said. “He’s got some great kids with a lot of heart. I mean, when they step out on the field, you know you’re going to be in for a ball game. A great group of kids – they have a great coaching staff and if you’re victorious against a team like that, you’ve done something.”

Coach Fields said he’s going to miss all of his 11 graduating seniors.

“You know, there’s a lot of guys there that you’re going to miss,” he said. “I always tell them I always look back at guys and I always miss them more as people than I do as players, and a lot of times, they’re pretty good players. So, you know, that speaks to the kind of guys they are. But we always say, ‘they’re always Chargers,’ and a lot of our guys come back and been fortunate to have a few come back and help us coach, once they’ve gone on to school. So, you know, we see them still and we’re a tight group, so, you know, we’re going to miss them on the field.”