With a big physical line and a handful of talented athletes to get the ball to, Potomac was able to handle hosting Covenant on Saturday afternoon as running back Connor McNerny and receiver Mikey Duffey led the way in the Panthers’ 64-28 win over the Eagles.
“This was our MO last year — get the early lead, because we’ve got a good running game,” said Potomac coach Patrick Duffy. “Once we get that lead we like to just keep pounding it and pounding it and so far not a lot of teams have been able to keep up with that. That’s out gameplan and outside of that we’ve still got some dangerous weapons.”
McNerny got the Panthers rolling on the ground early and capped off the team’s opening drive with a 1-yard score. After a three and out on Covenant’s next possession, McDuffy hauled a Edwin Kuhn pass of the game for a 46-yard strike to make a 14 point game midway through the first.
“That was frustrating,” said Covenant coach Dandrige Payne. “We knew that that play was coming and we just had a mental breakdown.”
Three mintues later Duffy did it again, this time on a 23-yard reception, and after a botched PAT was then coverted to Duffy almost by accident, the Panthers lead was a healthy 22 points with a little under three minutes left in the first.
Early in the second quarter, McNerny appeared to be head for the endzone when Covenant safety Landon Brown was able to stop the bleeding. Estepp not only forced the ball out of McNerny’s hands, but picked it up at the 1-yard line and then hustled his way 99-yard down the sidelines to put the Eagles on the score board.
“This is Landon’s first year here and he’s still getting adjusted to it, but his best days are definitely ahead of him,” Payne said. “We’d like to get him more confident and a little bit more involved in everything we do.”
McNerny bounced back though, and on the Panther’s ensuing drive he finished the job with an 11-yard scamper.
The final two minutes of play in the second half were absolutely hectic as Potomac and Covenant peeled off 21 quick points. McNerny scored his third touchdown of the game on another Panther drive with 1:02 until halftime, this time a 3-yard run. Brown then answered immediately back when he took a quick hitter from quarterback Lee Coppock through the Potomac secondary for a 73-yard scoring reception. But just seconds later, McNerny broke loose on his biggest run of the day, a 53-yard touchdown to make it 43-14 at the half.
“The line just gave me huge holes to run through,” McNerny said. “They never gave up and so I’ve got to give them a lot of credit. And we were able to key in on our run game and then work the ball in the passing game through play action or quick screens.”
After taking care of the ball for the first half, turnovers bit Covenant in the third quarter. Ian McNerny was able to increase Potomac’s lead to 38 when he picked off a pass and ran it back 60 yards to the endzone. Then Devin Hill picked off another pass. Ian McNerny then scored his second touchdown of the game when Kuhn hit him for a 33-yard score.
Late in the third quarter the Eagles ground game was able to break open a big play. Covenant running back Chris Shifflett turned what looked like an 8-yard gain into an 80-yard touchdown after he managed to keep his knees and elbows off the ground on a pair of attempted tackles by the Panthers.
However, Duffy took the ensuing kickoff back for 60 yards and a score to seize the momentum back.
With five left to play Brown made his third big play of the day when he put together a 65-yard rushing touchdown.
Connor McNerny finished with 243 yards on 20 attempts. Duffy had a five receptions for 97 yards.
For Covenant, Shifflet finished with 13 carries for 104 yards. Sam Patterson had three receptions for 29 yards. Fred O’Connor ran for 34 yards on seven carries. Brown had 138 yards of offense on one reception and one rush.
“We just couldn’t stop them on defense,” Payne said. “We scored 28 points and you’d like to think that should be enough but its not right now. We need a lot more and we need the defense to snap-to.”
The Eagles (0-4) travel to Blue Ridge on Saturday at 1 p.m.
