By Drew Goodman / Scrimmageplay.com Contributor
After rushing for 45 yards in two plays in the first quarter of Covenant’s Friday afternoon tilt with Virginia Episcopal, Eagles tailback Donovan Jackson had just one more rushing attempt for the remainder of the first half of Covenant’s 55-16 win over the Bishops.
The offense stalled after a fast start, as the visitors outscored Covenant 16-7 in the second frame. The Eagles entered the locker room with a modest 19-16 advantage and it didn’t take Covenant coach Seth Wilson long to determine that Jackson should get more touches in the second half.
As it turned out, Jackson registered just one more carry (four) than he got in the entire first half, but the 5-foot-10, 205-pound stalwart made every one of them count.
Jackson took all four of his second half rushing attempts to the house for touchdowns of 25 or more yards as the Eagles overwhelmed the Bishops on the ground in a blowout win.
Covenant (3-0) ran just 12 plays in the entire second half, and five of those snaps went for touchdowns. Jackson registered an impressive 207 yards off of just seven carries and four touchdowns. The senior’s four scores came from, 27, 44, 49, and 37 yards out respectively.
Jackson’s first score of the day was the ultimate justice after the senior nearly polished off a 24-yard touchdown on his second carry of the game, before being tripped up at the three yard-line. This time around, the senior would not be denied, as Jackson followed a great block from sophomore Nic Sanker for a 27-yard scoring run into the same end zone that he fell just short of in the opening quarter.
After coming up short of notching his second career score in the first stanza, Jackson brushed aside contact like it was nothing and found the end zone on 100 percent of his second half carries.
“[The first touchdown]” felt pretty great,” Jackson said. “Nic Sanker had a great block for me down the field and I thank him for that… It really boosted my confidence and I was like, ‘I finally got one.’ ‘Yes!’ The other touchdowns just kind of fell in place for me.”
Once it became clear that the Bishops had no answer for Jackson, the Eagles kept feeding him the ball, and he simply bulldozed his way up the middle for touchdown after touchdown.
Covenant standout Rick Weaver’s preseason injury was an unfortunate setback for both the talented junior and for Covenant as a team, but if Friday’s dazzling performance is any indication of what’s to come, it is clear that the Eagles are in good hands on offense going forward.
“[Referring to himself and Weaver], We both like to run through people,” Jackson said with a laugh. “He tells me to keep running hard, keep my feet moving, and keep getting at it.”
“I see a lot of [Weaver in Jackson] and I see a lot of [Jackson in Weaver]; to me it’s 1A and 1B, which I’m not sure who you put at 1A and 1B from time to time,” Wilson said. “They’re both incredible human beings, both have incredible hearts, are incredible servants, and just want to do everything they can do help the team.”
Junior Connor Poindexter joined the fun in the fourth quarter with a 43-yard sweep for a touchdown that ended up being Covenant’s final offensive play for the contest.
The second half was all Covenant, but the first two quarters featured a series of big plays in all three phases of the game for both teams. Before the intermission buzzer sounded, spectators were treated to a blocked punt, a 56-yard kickoff return, a pair of interceptions, a bevy of long runs, and two passing plays of 60-yards-plus.
Fortunately for Covenant, the Eagles were on the right side of the majority of those highlights. Both VES and Covenant stretched the field for the aforementioned long gains through the air on their respective first offensive plays of the game.
The only difference was, the Eagles scored on their big play, while the Bishops ended up turning the ball over on downs. Following a big defensive stand after giving up a 65-yard gainer on the first play of the game, the Covenant offense went right to work.
Huemme found a streaking Nic Sanker and the speedy freshman outran the entire Bishop defense for an 85-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Sanker added another receiving TD from 13 yards out late in the second quarter.
The first half was a big one for Nic and his younger brother Jonas, who picked off two passes and returned one of them to midfield.
Jonas Sanker’s two interceptions put an end to pair of VES drives that reached the Covenant 25 yard-line and beyond. VES travelled deep into Eagle territory on its first three offensive possessions of the game, but could not find the end zone until the mid-second quarter.
Covenant is off to its first 3-0 start in over a decade. The Eagles are averaging 41.1 points per contest, and have yielded just five touchdowns so far this season. After a nice home stand, Covenant will play four of its next five games on the road, including clashes with local rivals Blue Ridge and St. Anne’s Belfield during the stretch.
“They’re starting to believe in themselves, and that’s exciting to see,” Wilson said. “Since I first took over, I put a plan in place that has us playing in the last Saturday in November. That’s the plan I have out there, so let’s take steps towards that, let’s keep reaching towards that.”
The Eagles will return to action on September 23 at Blue Ridge.
