The Covington Lions stunned the homecoming crowd at the Dawg Pound Friday night, jumping to a quick 13-0 lead early and holding on for a 20-10 District 6-5A win over the Fontainebleau Bulldogs, who fell to 1-2 in league play.

The 2-1 Lions took the opening kickoff and put together an 82-yard drive in 10 plays to take the early lead. Covington quarterback Tyler Scott hit Colt Bruhl on a 43-yard pass play to score. On the point after Covington kicker Spencer Graham was successful, but a procedure penalty moved the ball back 5 yards. He failed on the next attempt to keep it 6-0.

On the second play of the Lions’ drive from the 28-yard line Scott lofted a ball to Eddie Pea. The ball bounced off his hands into the waiting arms of teammate Neil Blanchard, who lugged it 72 yards for the score. The home crowd was silent as Graham hit the PAT for a 13-0 margin.

Fontainebleau'€™s Gerard Bell (4) attempts to break free being pursued by a host of Covington defenders including Curtis Hall (27), Jonathan Clemons (23) and Patrick Amie (32) in Friday'€™s district game played at FHS. (Photo by Gwen Ladner)

“We got lucky on a couple of plays tonight,” said Covington coach Malter Scobel.

Things continued to go downhill for the Bulldogs on their next series. Lion safety Otis Jacobs picked off a Melancon pass with 55 seconds left in the first period to thwart the drive.

Fontainebleau got things going on its next possession, driving down to the Lion 24-yard line, when the offense stalled. The Bulldogs called on place kicker Hunter Starring to try a 34-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights to cut the Lion lead to 13-3 with 6:14 left in the half.

In the third period both teams traded punts. On its second possession, FHS marched down to the Covington 25-yard line but ran into the turnover bug again.

Jacobs picked off Melancon again and rambled 71 yards for the third Lion touchdown of the night for a 20-3 cushion.

Being down by 17 points forced the Bulldogs out of their game plan forcing them to throw the ball. And throw the ball they did. Four first downs and 85 yards later, Melancon hit Anthony LaGuardia with an 8-yard touchdown pass to narrow the gap to 20-10 after a successful Starring PAT.

The tough Bulldog defense got the ball back for its offense, which was hoping for a quick score. But Covington’s Denizel Ladner picked off Melancon to end the threat and seal the deal for the Lions.

The Bulldog defense was stingy against the Lion ground game, allowing only 77 yards on the night. Coming up big for the Dawgs were Scott Korte, Gerald Gruenig, Thomas Babin and Chase Pennington.  

Covington’s defense stymied the Bulldogs all night. Jeffry Joiner, Jeremy Walker, Devin Perez and Jacobs stood out.

But it was Covington’s passing game and the three turnovers that made the difference.

Scott hit on 7-of-14 passes for 143 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Melancon hit on only 9-of-25 for one touchdown while giving up three interceptions. Covington had 220 total yards to Fontainebleau’s 344.

Bulldog coach Gregg Hudson was understandably upset with the loss.

“We just need to get better. The kids played hard, and they never gave up. That’s how they grew up, and that’s how they are coached. But there’s nothing you can do about those tipped balls.”

Lion coach Scobel was happy.

“We had a great team effort out there tonight. We played good defense, and the offense did what it needed to do.  We played together as a unit. I think the kids are learning new things every week. It’s nice to think that we are back in the hunt for the district title,” he said.   

Covington hosts Hammond this week, while Fontainebleau travels to Mandeville.