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Covington will take a team approach to replacing its stars. - (Ellis Lucia / The Times-Picayune)
At tradition-rich Covington, they put great stock on what it means to wear the school?s distinctive ?C.?
But this season, the Lions perhaps should be sporting a ?T? as well.
?T? as in ?Team.?
With the loss of All-State linebacker Otha Peters and do-everything quarterback Jay McDowell and five other college signees, the Lions are emphasizing the importance of everyone contributing instead of counting on just a few to make a difference.
?We don?t have any superstars,? senior fullback Dante Casnave said. ?So we?ve got to trust in each other and in the coaches to put us in the right position.
?We have one goal, and that?s to give it our all and leave everything on the field. We?re all we?ve got.?
It?s not that the Lions are bereft of talent.
While only four starters are back on offense, Casnave, a 5-foot-8, 230-pound bowling ball-type runner is effective at moving the pile behind a large offensive line which averages 248 pounds.
Six starters are back on defense, led by senior end Dylan Perez and junior tackle Garrald McDowell, who is getting recruiting attention on the level Peters, now a freshman at Arkansas, was getting at this stage.
But Lions? Coach Malter Scobel is focusing on the group aspect.
?Every good program is about the group, not the individual,? he said. ?Now individuals like Otha bring attention to the team and most of the time it?s positive, but you have to have every player believing in the importance of working together.?
Of course, Scobel added, it helps to have the tradition of Covington working for you.
?There?s a sense of community here,? he said. ?Football has meant something at Covington for a long time and pretty much every kid has had a relative who played here before him.
?They all want to help get this program known across the state again.?
And even some whose Covington roots don?t go so deep feel that.
Perez, who moved to Covington with his family from St. Bernard Parish after Hurricane Katrina, said it hits home to him every day.
?It?s amazing,? said Perez, whose older brother Devin, also was a defensive end for the Lions. ?You see all the pictures on the wall of the past teams and the players who went to college, and you realize what it means to be part of it.
?We?re all pushing ourselves to be good this year.?
Not that the Lions were awful last season.
They went 7-4, 3-3 in District 6-5A, knocking off eventual playoff semifinalist Mandeville in the regular season finale before a one-point loss to Airline, 28-27, in the opening round of the playoffs.
But in the Little Brown Jug game against rival St. Paul?s in the district opener, a game which Scobel had placed emphasis throughout the preseason, the Lions lost 31-7.
It was Covington?s eighth consecutive loss to the Wolves. And again this season, St. Paul?s will be the district opener.
?We were a little too obsessed about beating them,? Scobel said. ?I felt like we came back pretty strong after that, but we?ve got to make sure it?s just another game. No matter what happens, we just pull our britches back up and go on to the next game.?
But St. Paul?s still looms large.
?St. Paul?s wasn?t better than us, but when we got out on the field, we got too excited and didn?t do our jobs,? Casnave said. ?Getting that jug back is a big thing for me.
?If we get it back, we?d always be remembered as the team that did it and I?d feel happy for the whole school.?
Of course, accomplishing that will take some doing.
First-year starting quarterback Dylan Savarese replaced McDowell in two games last year and did a serviceable job. He?s looked on as a game manager who will be successful if he can read his options and complete a large percentage of his short passes.
Casnave will be the focus on the offense, either as a ball carrier or a blocker for tailback CJ Sims.
?I love blocking,? Casnave said. ?And our coaches say, ?If you don?t block, you don?t get the rock.??
As a ball carrier, Casnave prides himself on getting so low he makes himself a difficult object to stop.
?Whatever we need for a first down, I?m going to try to get it,? he said. ?Even if they hit my legs, I want to have enough speed that I keep on rolling.?
On defense, McDowell, whom Scobel rates the equal of Marlon Favorite whom he coached at West Jefferson as a technician getting off the blocks, should be a disruptive force on the line along with Perez, who gets kudos for his dedication to film study.
Junior Chance Barney is the lone starter back at linebacker but the secondary looks solid with Jacob Sandifer, Andrew Breeland and Lamarco Jacobs all back.
?I like our defense a lot,? Scobel said. ?But we don?t have enough depth on either side of the ball.?
Source: http://highschoolsports.nola.com/news/article/-4454566779162406523
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