BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - One win from perfection and one win from the school’s seventh state championship and first since 2005.
That’s where the Covington Catholic Colonels stand after defeating the South Warren Spartans 43-7 in a KHSAA Class 5A semifinal Friday night in Bowling Green.
Covington Catholic (14-0) compiled 411 yards of offense, including 273 through the air, and proved be too much for South Warren (11-3) to handle.
South Warren hadn't lost a home game since 2012. Suffice to say they hadn't seen a team like the Colonels or a quarterback like A.J. Mayer.
The Miami RedHawks-bound quarterback continued to build his resume for Mr. Kentucky by completing 18-of-27 passes for 273 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 52 yards and an additional score on nine carries.
Next up for the Colonels will be Madison Southern (10-4) in the Class 5A state championship game at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field (formerly Commonwealth Stadium) in Lexington.
Mayer’s first two scoring strikes went to junior Jack Coldiron, who led all Colonels in receiving with four catches for 114 yards.
Casey McGinness caught a Mayer 16-yard TD pass with 7:53 to go in the first half to give the Colonels a 21-0 edge.
The Spartans got a touchdown in the final 20 seconds of the half, but those be the only points South Warren would score all night.
McGinness and Mayer each added a TD run in the third quarter and Mayer capped off the scoring with a 20-yard touchdown pass to classmate Luke Lenihan. The Colonels went for and converted the two-point conversion to make 43-7 and put the game on a running clock.
CovCath has now gone to the running-clock versus all 11 of its opponents from the state of Kentucky.
The loss snapped a 36-game home winning streak for South Warren.
