Michael Ball leads the way for the Raiders
(Covina) – Rowland turned two turnovers into 14 points, opened up a 28-0 first quarter lead and rolled to a 48-12 rout of Covina Thursday night at Covina District Field. Michael Ball did it all for the Raiders, throwing for a touchdown, running for another and intercepting a pass and returning it 97 yards for a score in the big first quarter.
“He’s probably one of the best athletes in the valley,” said Rowland Coach Craig Snyder of Ball, who is a two way starter for the Raiders.
Although Ball gets most of the ink for his exploits as quarterback, his interception was the turning point of the game. Yes, a 48-12 game does have a turning point. Ball had already engineered an 11 play drive that he finished with a one yard sneak and threw a 55 yard touchdown strike to Ervin Crawford, who found a seam right up the gut of the Covina secondary.
But with the score 14-0 Covina began to march. The Colts moved the ball from their own 20 all the way down to the Rowland three. That’s when Covina quarterback Billy Livingston fired a pass over the middle that Ball stepped in front of, snagged, and was off to the races. He broke away from several Colts that were in pursuit and 97 yards later he was in the end zone. Instead of 14-7, it was 21-0 and although there were still 17 seconds left in the first quarter, you could see the air escape from the Covina balloon.
It got even worse for the Colts on the next series. On Covina’s first play from scrimmage, Irvin Sanchez, a lineman, picked off Livingston and rumbled down to the Colt three. Josh Onovughe scooted in for the touchdown on the next play and with five ticks left in the period and it was 28-0.
Livingston attempted 22 passes in the first quarter; unfortunately two of them resulted in two scores for Rowland.
Onovughe busted off a 20 yard touchdown run in the second quarter and it was 35-0 at the break.
Danny Garcia returned the second half kick off 90 yards for a touchdown and 14 seconds into the third it was 42-0. There is no mercy rule in football but there is a running clock and the rest of the game was played on one.
Later in the quarter Steven David, who also was a force on defense, caught a 21 yard touchdown pass from Leonardo Freeman who had replaced Ball early in the second half.
Nick Hynes caught a Livingston strike over the middle and turned it into a 49 yard score late in the third to get Covina on the board. Hynes led all Colt receivers with nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. Matt Murray got the Colts into double digits with a five yard run in the fourth.
Ball completed five of seven passes for 119 yards and a score. Onovughe had 14 carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns.
“Turnovers were huge tonight. We jumped on them and then they had a great drive going. But Michael Ball came up with that big play and I think that broke their backs,” Snyder said.
Rowland improved to a perfect 4-0 with the win and will host El Monte next week. Covina, (1-3), travels to Wilson.
R 28 7 13 0 48
C 0 0 6 6 12
Summary:
1st Qtr:
R 6:13 Ball 1 yd run (Henry Calistro Kick)
R 3:44 Crawford 55 yd pass from Ball (Calistro Kick)
R :17 Ball 97 yd Int. Ret. (Calistro Kick)
R :05 Onovughe 3 yd run (Calistro Kick)
2nd Qtr:
R 2:50 Onovughe 20 yd run (Calistro Kick)
3rd Qtr:
R 11:46 Garcia 90 yd KO Ret. (Calistro Kick)
R 3:09 David 21 yd pass from Freeman
C 2:35 Hynes 49 yd pass from Livingston (2 pt attempt failed)
4th Qtr:
C 7:21 Murray 5 yd run (2 pt attempt failed)
Leave a Reply