Mandeville’s Skippers captured the District 6-5A title with a 25-17 victory over the Covington Fighting Lions Friday night at Jack Salter Stadium.

MHS senior quarterback Andy Bertoniere connected on two scoring strikes in the first quarter, hitting on 12-of-19 passes for 144 yards to help spark the Skippers to victory in the regular season finale.

MHS (8-1) takes the district crown with a 6-1 record only having lost to Fontainebleau 19-16 in overtime. Mandeville will host a first round playoff game, while Covington (4-5) closes out its district slate with a 3-4 mark.

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MHS coach Guy LeCompte, who always strives for perfection, said it wasn’t a perfect game, but his club fought hard to earn an outright district title.

“I know I’m singing the same tune that I’m not proud of the mistakes, but I am proud of the guys and the season they have put together.”

“Andy was poised in the pocket. And there’s no doubt, Will Bunns came up big for the second straight week. He did another great job running the ball with good blocking from the offensive line,” LeCompte added.

Bertoniere hooked up with Brandon Weeden on a 14-yard scoring toss with 5:17 left in the first quarter. Matt Dombrowski’s extra point attempt was blocked.

“It was a big victory for us, and we are district champions. It was good that we were able to pull out the win,” Bertoniere said.

“You have to give our offensive line credit. They gave me a lot of time in the pocket,” Bertoniere added.

MHS’ Jerry Mitchell picked off CHS quarterback Tyler Scott on the Lions’ first possession giving the Skippers possession on the Lions 39 yard line. Senior Will Bunns, who picked up 182 yards on 24 carries, ran the ball three straight times for a first down. Bertoniere finished the drive hitting Weeden who made a nice over the shoulder grab. Weeden had four receptions for 42 yards.

MHS held Covington on its next drive. The Skippers took over at its 22. Bertoniere finished off the eight-play drive finding Chris Houlemard on a perfectly thrown 32-yard post pattern to make it 12-0 as time expired in the first quarter. A two-point conversion try was unsuccessful.

CHS fought back as Scott engineered a 13-play drive that resulted in a Spencer Graham 28-yard field goal to trim the lead to 12-3 with 2:22 left in the first half.

Mandeville was held on its final drive of the half with Barry Grinnell and Casey Hebert combining on a sack.

On Covington’s first possession of the second half, the Lions had a punt blocked by MHS’ Hayden Harper, his second of the year, setting up the Skippers with first-and-goal at the five. The Lions’ defense stiffened as the Skippers set up for a 23-yard field goal attempt. The kick was blocked with speedy Denizel Ladner scooping up the ball, and racing 80 yards into the end zone to make it a ballgame at 12-10 following Graham’s PAT with 9:03 left in the third quarter.

With 10:10 left in the game, MHS started a drive on its 33-yard line. Kody Keowen finished off a 7-play, 67-yard drive scoring on a six-yard run with 7:01 to go. The PAT was blocked to keep the score at 18-10.

Keowen, a senior cornerback, described the Skippers’ victory as being huge.

“We had a good week of practice, and we are extremely excited to be the district champs. It’s an awesome feeling,” Keowen said.

Keowen came up with some key deflections.

“I’m used to being picked on. I just do what I have to do.”

With 5:02 remaining, CHS faced a fourth-and-nine from the Mandeville 36. Scott pitched to Ladner who rolled to the right side and threw a pass for Eddie Pea that was broken up down field turning the ball over to the Skippers.

Bunns galloped 54 yards before being brought down at the Lions 10. Bunns took care of the remaining yardage to put MHS up 24-10 with 4:10 to play. Dombrowski was true on the point after.

Covington didn’t go away quietly. Scott geared the Lions up on a 15-play drive, which included a first down on a fake punt on a fourth-and-four situation from the Lions’ 30. Scott linked up with Neil Blanchard from four yards out to cut the lead to 25-16 and Graham added the PAT with just 22 seconds left.

Graham attempted an on-side kick that was recovered by MHS senior linebacker Jeff Rebouche at the Skippers’ 48. Bertoniere took a knee as the final seconds ticked off.

Harper, the Skippers’ senior middle linebacker said winning a district title is a huge thing.

“What I have always wanted is a state championship of course, but to get this district title proves that we are No. 1, a team to always be looked at. We have brought our program up, and I think we can step in with anyone,” Harper said.

Harper praised the great game planning each week by the Skippers’ coaching staff.

“Every coach is amazing in their own way.”

MHS defensive coordinator Craig Jones was proud of his team’s defensive performance.

“We’ve had great senior leadership this year. At times, we have had 11 seniors on the field, and it has really paid off. We challenged them at halftime because Covington was still in the game (trailing 12-3). The defense stepped up on the first drive of the second half with Harper’s blocked punt.

CHS first-year coach Malter Scobel and his coaching staff made significant strides with the Lions this year. CHS won three district games in a row earlier, but dropped its final three district contests.

“Mandeville is a great team. That’s why they are the district champions. Coach LeCompte does a great job. His players gave a fantastic effort,” Scobel said.

“I thought we played good in the first half. We had our chances, but we didn’t take advantage of them.”

Scobel said the coaching staff and the players worked hard. “They did everything we asked. There was improvement, but you have to play big in big games. We don’t know how to do that yet,” Scobel added.