Coventry had a fever, and the prescription was not cowbell.

Between high humidity causing heat cramps, another key starter going down with an injury and a Trojan running attack that would not stop, the Comets ran out of gas in their 53-20 loss to the Tusky Valley.

Coventry had an auspicious start, as senior Jeff Walker dropped the opening kick off, fell down, picked himself and the ball back up and proceeded to go 95 yards for a touchdown to give the Comets a 7-0 lead 16 seconds into the game.

Although the Trojan fans were discouraged, possibly thinking back to the week before when Waynedale throttled Tusky Valley 55-7, the Trojan team was not phased.

Trojan senior running back Cody Close along with a pack of other running backs proceeded to go 62 yards in nine plays to tie the game back up at 7-7. Close carried the ball four times on the drive for 33 yards, including the final 15 for the score.

Close then intercepted Coventry’s freshman quarterback Jeff Kuykendall, which led to another 62-yard touchdown drive. Close contributed another 39 yards plus the score to give the Trojans their first lead of 14-7.

Tusky Valley then made the mistake of kicking the ball to Walker again. After being stopped on the last kick off partially because he ran into one his blockers, this time Walker went untouched for a 75-yard touchdown return. Between his three kick returns in the first quarter, he totaled 202 yards and the two scores. 

“It was pretty impressive,” Coventry coach Jay Newcome said. “He’s our horse, but we have other guys stepping up.”

Trojan coach Dale Martini, was equally impressed.

“(Walker), what can you say about that,” Martini said. “Our kids could have gotten out of it after that.”

Walker was not done. 

Following a fumble by Tusky Valley, Kukendall connected with Walker who slipped some tackles and went 35 yards for his third touchdown of the first quarter, and Coventry retook the lead at 20-14 after a blocked PAT.

All that excitement, and it was just the first quarter.

The problem for the Comets was not effort, but energy. Senior tight end/defensive end Ethan Wichterman went down in the first quarter with a knee injury. This forced the Comets to go to their young depth in his place, and the Trojans made sure to take advantage. 

Between their five running backs, they wore down the Coventry defense, keeping them on the field. Although with nine Comets playing both sides of the ball, even when the offense was out there, they were not receiving any rest. Martini said that even when one of his backs were cramping up, the man behind him stepped up in his place.

Tusky Valley used an 11-play, 59-yard drive to take back the lead at 21-20 with five minutes to go in the second quarter. Junior Justin Wyant provided the final blow to take the lead on a four-yard run. He finished the game with nine carries for 93 yards and the touchdown.

Tusky Valley scored again to make it 27-20 at the half, and for most of the third quarter, neither team could punch it in, as either a forced or sometimes unforced error would kill a drive. 

Then, late in the third quarter, Coventry forced a three and out. The Trojans punted, and accidently sent it straight to Walker. Unfortunately, Walker muffed the punt and the Trojans recovered, gaining 22 yards in the process.

Newcome said this was when the floodgates opened up, as the wearing down the Trojans were doing to the team finally took their toll.

This seemed to knock the wind right out of the Comets, as they gave up a third touchdown to Close as the third quarter ended. This made the game 33-20, and the Comets fell apart in the final quarter which led to the Trojans running up the score with 20 unanswered points.

Close finished with 192 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Tyler Robinson, their other major contributing back, gained 43 yards and scored two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving.

“We needed that,” Martini said. “We got beat just as bad last week. We’re very young, only four seniors. If they keep getting better each week, we just need to build confidence in them. Hopefully they got that tonight.”

With injuries mounting, the Comets will have to get their younger athletes ready for Friday nights a bit sooner than expected.

“It’s been one of those years,” Newcome said. “We started with nine seniors, now down to four or five. There are no freshman or sophomore players. You are all varsity players now.”

 Newcome is hoping some home cooking will help with the healing process. “It’s always good to have a home game. We have got to get the new kids ready faster than maybe we wanted to, and just do the best we can.”