By: Rick Broering, Enquirer contributor (Cincinnati.com)
For CovCath football these days, everything comes back to one question – can the Colonels beat district rival Highlands? They've been arguably the second-best program in Northern Kentucky over the last five-plus years, but 11 straight losses to the Bluebirds have prohibited them from challenging for a state title.
Heading into the 2014 season, there's more optimism than ever surrounding the CovCath program that this might be the year. The sentiment is based more on the improvement of the Colonels' than an erosion of the Bluebirds' talent, but, either way, CovCath knows the fate of its season depends on beating its arch-nemesis.
"The Highlands thing is always a theme, but on a daily basis we really just try to focus on that day or that practice and the skill or techniques that we're trying to get better at for that specific week," CovCath head coach Dave Wirth said. "It's not always at the tip of our tongues and it's not necessarily something that drives us on a daily basis, but it's obviously a point of emphasis that we need to beat them and need to get over the hump. It needs to get back to being a normal series where you're exchanging blows and not just taking them."
One of the biggest advantages Highlands has held over CovCath and all of its opponents over the last several years is depth. In addition to having high-end talent, the Bluebirds have been able to wear other teams down by playing more guys on both sides of the ball. The Colonels feel they're closing the gap in this regard. They were hit hard by injuries throughout the 2013 season, which made things difficult at the time. But, it also thrust underclassmen into high-pressure situations and accelerated their progress, acclimating them to the rigors of varsity football.
Injuries last year made for an interesting quarterback battle heading into this season. After starter Adam Wagner injured his knee in the second game of his junior season, sophomore Ben Dressman was thrown into the spotlight. Dressman ended up thriving in the role, and proved to be a talented playmaker with the ball in his hands, racking up over 1,700 yards passing and 900 rushing with 29 total touchdowns.
Regardless of who starts, they are going to have an army of skill guys with speed at their disposal.
"We've got a lot of depth on the outside," offensive coordinator Matt Roberts said. "We're planning on using a lot of different guys at receiver. We have 10 or 11 guys every day in practice that can get in there and really do some things."
The Colonels typically have a balanced offense, which is partially responsible for their success, according to Wirth. That should again be the case this season. In addition to all of the speedy receivers to throw to, they also have junior Ben Darlington in the backfield, who did nothing but improve after starting as a sophomore because of injuries.
On the defensive side of the ball, there are some big shoes to fill with the graduation of linebacker Sam Burchell and safety Matthew Way, but once again injuries last season have made for an easier transition in 2014.
"You look at Cameron Pitzer last year and he's a 6-foot-3, 170-pound soaking wet kid who made it through all 13 games and actually ended up playing really great football as a sophomore," Wirth said. "Fortunately for us, we kind of got used to the post-Sam Burchell world while Sam was still here last year. Secondary-wise I really think we're going to reload with guys like Alex Wagner, Ben Zumdick and Caleb Summe. Up front, we've got a lot of seniors that are going to be really good in Chandler Brooks, Luke Foertsch, Chris Holthaus and Nate Bailey, and we've got a couple of underclassmen behind them in Luke Shields and Brody Thorson. Those guys aren't as recognizable names but a year from now they will be."
The talent is in place, and the Colonels look like one of the top teams in the state, but ultimately they have to hurdle their district rival in Fort Thomas to reach their goal. The two squads square off at Highlands on Sept. 26 during the regular season.
"We've got a goal to win a state championship every year," Roberts said. "Nothing less. That's why the kids are here. That's why I'm here. It's not really as much of a Highlands thing as much as it is they are in the way of us achieving our goal. We respect them. They're a great football team, but we want a state championship, and they're the main competition." ■