Denham Springs’ senior Josh Lewis hit a 47-yard field goal as time expired Friday, leading the Yellow Jackets to a 17-14 victory over the home standing Covington Lions.

Covington put forth a valiant effort but couldn’t hold on to a 14-0 advantage in the fourth quarter.

“They ran the ball, and we had trouble stopping them,” said Covington first-year coach Malter Scobel. “We missed a short field goal. We had numerous opportunities to seal the deal when we had a 14-point lead. We just didn’t get it done.”

Covington'€™s Tyler Scott (16) pitches to Phillip Bickham (24) in Friday night'€™s game at CHS. (Photo by Mike McCall)

“Our defense played scrappy. We fought hard for 48 minutes,” he added.

Denham Springs’ senior tailback John Simon (5-11, 225), a four-year starter, was a one-man wrecking crew as he ran around and barreled over Covington defenders, totaling 182 yards on 27 carries and scoring two second-half touchdowns. Simon’s runs covered 25 and 5 yards. But Simon fumbled four times, losing three of them.

“We just had to come together and fight for the victory. I had to forget about the fumbles. I’m a leader, and I know everybody looks up to me. I had to do it for the team,” Simon said.

“I’m not going to lie, Covington was a lot better than I thought they were going to be. They definitely brought it to us defensively.”

Simon scored from 5 yards out with 5:24 remaining, and Lewis tacked on the extra point to tie things at 14-14. Following the kickoff, Covington started its final drive of the game from its 14 with 5:16 to play. CHS picked up three crucial first downs, moving the ball to the Yellow Jacket 42-yard line with 2:45 left. Facing fourth-and-five, Lions’ junior signal caller Tyler Scott took the ball out of the shotgun formation. He rolled around the right end, put his head down and fought for the crucial first down, but he came up a yard short on a good tackle by senior Kevin Moss along the right sideline.

Denham Springs took over possession on downs at its 34 with 1:06 to play. The Yellow Jackets were penalized five yards for being off sides. Denham Springs’ senior QB Kevin Long then fired an incomplete pass, missing a wide-open Isadore Butler. Denham Springs was then whistled for another 5-yard infraction, setting up second-and-20 from the 24 with 1:01 to play. Simon ripped off a 12-yard gainer. He fumbled on the play, his third of the night, but Denham Springs recovered the ball to retain possession.

On third-and-eight Long found Butler for a critical 15-yarder, picking up the first down at midfield with a mere 13 ticks left. Butler finished with five catches on the night for 54 yards. Long reconnected with Butler, covering 20 yards to move the ball down to the Lions 30 with only 5.1 seconds to go, setting the stage for Lewis’ heroics.

Denham Springs called a time out to set up the field goal. Once the Yellow Jackets lined up, Scobel used a time out in hopes of icing Lewis.

Lewis, who had connected from 57 yards out last week in a 20-0 victory over East Ascension, said he was confident.

“Coach (Dru) Nettles is always doing pressure kicks for me in practice. I felt very prepared and confident. I just stepped up and made the kick. It was just a kick, you know, the same as always,” Lewis said.

Nettles said he was extremely proud of the way his team fought back.

“Josh (Lewis) was ready to go. He’s an extremely accurate kicker and is an exceptional talent. We knew if we could get him on the field, we would have a shot. We were fortunate to get it within his range. It was a great kick,” Nettles said.

Nettles said as a coach and player, he has been part of the Denham Springs-Covington rivalry for a long time.

“It’s been 22 years since we have won a game here in Covington. This is a big win for Denham Springs High School,” Nettles said.

Nettles credited Scobel with having his team excited and playing good football early in the season.

“They play extremely hard, and you can tell they are in great condition,” he said.

Both squads failed to capitalize on good field position and were unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities, resulting in a hard-fought scoreless first half.

Covington junior running back Phillip Bickham did his best to counter the rushing of Simon as he finished with 112 yards on 23 carries.

CHS senior offensive left tackle Joshua Stampley said it was a tough loss.

“We gave it everything we had. It is a big disappointment for all of us. We put our heart and souls into this game,” Stampley said. “We made quite a few mistakes. We want to pick it up and pull it together to get ready for next week. We’ll continue to fight as hard as we can.”

Stampley described his teammate Bickham as a very wormy runner.

“He can break loose at any time. We trust him to make good decisions, running the ball to get the yardage,” he said.

Scott completed 8-of-16 passes for 44 yards, including a 13-yard scoring strike to Eddie Pea with 8:14 left in the third quarter to give the Lions the lead. The extra point conversion snap was muffed, and kicker Luke Baudean picked up the ball and hit Chris Arnoult with a two-point conversion pass to make it 8-0. CHS pushed the lead to 14-0 when Otis Jacobs recovered a Simon fumble and returned it 39 yards for a TD with 1:45 left in the third quarter. The point after was missed wide right.

Senior slot back receiver Colt Bruhl caught four passes for 24 yards in the game. CHS senior linebacker Jeffry Joiner was credited with two fumble recoveries.