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The (10-2) Covington Buccaneers were able to do something that no other team could accomplish this fall- slow down Lane Ruby.
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What would still be a big night for most players, Lane Ruby had 166 yards rushing and 125 yards passing and scored twice, but was unable to break the big play scores in a 36-20 season-ending loss in the Division 6/Region 24 Semis at Xenia's Doug Adams Stadium, Friday.
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The Panthers actually had more total yards than Covington, 355-302. But, Southeastern was hurt by 100 yards in penalties.
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Southeastern grabbed their only lead of the game after holding Covington to three and out on their first drive, leading the Panthers to get their first possession where they would drive 80 yards in 9 plays for an 8-0 lead. Mikey Nusser scored on a 9 yard TD run, then added a two point conversion run at 5:15 left in the opening period.
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Covington would then score three unanswered touchdowns, their first two on drives of 74 yards in 10 plays, then stopping Southeastern's fake punt, leading to a 20 yard/4 play drive for a 14-8 lead at halftime.
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The third unanswered score with three minutes left in the third quarter, gave the Buccs a 22-8 lead on a 61 yard/6 play drive. The Panthers got back to within 22-14 at 10:09 in the fourth quarter, when Lane Ruby scored on a 7 yard TD run to cap an 80 yard/11 play drive, but failed on their two-point conversion.
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Covington built their lead back to 29-14 on a 70 yard/5 play drive. Southeastern got back to within 29-20 on a 74 yard/14 play drive capped by a one yard run by Ruby, but failed again on a PAT- keeping the margin as a two-score game.
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Covington put the icing on the cake thanks to a 59 yard run by Trentin Alexander, that set up his two yard TD run later for the final margin lead of 36-20.
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Trentin Alexander was Covington's leading rusher with 106 yards and scored three TD's. Their highly touted quarterback Cade Schmelzer, who entered the game with over 2,000 yards passing, was held to only 57 yards on 6/8 completions.
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Southeastern closes their season as SVC Gold Ball Champs with an (11-1) overall record and Sweet 16 participant for the second time in the last three years. Covington improves to (10-2) and faces Mechanicsburg in the regional finals, after their 48-7 win over Grandview Heights.
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Listen to the WKKJ replay of Southeastern vs Covington on our podcast link below....