By GALE CAVNESS
pressbox1.com

NEWBERN - The early minutes of the game weren’t very exciting for the Dyer County team and its faithful supporters, but the ending was one for the ages.

The Choctaws stopped Covington’s two-point conversion attempt at the close of the third overtime period to secure a 28-27 triumph and give DC a win in its first Region7-3A outing of the campaign.

Dyer County, now 3-1 overall, entertain Chester County next Friday night for annual homecoming activities.

Against Covingtonm DC had some early problems. Its first possession ended with an interception, it failed to capitalize on a Covington fumble that set up a possession in Chargers territory and the secondary got burned on a deep pass that gave the guests their first score.

Determined not to let the game turn into a repeat performance of the embarrassing, 38-7 setback at McNairy County Central in their previous outing, the Choctaws regained their composure. They tied the game up by the half and made a big defensive stand late in the fourth quarter to stay in a position to win.

After regulation play ended in a 14-14 deadlock, the teams matched touchdowns and conversion kicks in the first overtime. Both squads failed to score in the second OT frame, setting the stage for the third extra stanza frame and the thrilling finale.

Dyer County moved ahead 28-21 to begin the third OT period. A 10-yard touchdown pass from Adam Clark to Erick Bernard and the point-after by Gabriel Millan handed the game to the defense. Covington managed a touchdown of its own on fourth-and-goal from the one to pull within one, but decided to go for two and the win.

The Chargers gave the ball to senior standout Thomas Hall, who already had 90 yards rushing in the game out of the backfield, a touchdown pass while playing quarterback and two interceptions from his spot in the defensive secondary. Dyer County senior Justin Scott fought off his blocker, wrapped up Hall at the line of scrimmage and got some help from classmate Erick Bernard to thwart Covington’s two-point attempt and put the win in the books.

"I can’t brag on my kids enough," DC head coach Adam Renshaw said. "I’m proud of the way they prepared and the effort they put forth that gave us a shot to win a game against a good football team."

Both squads turned in an aggressive, hard-hitting effort that was taking its toll by the end of the contest. But, by all indications, Covington was taking the worst beating. Several times in the second half and in overtime, play was stopped because players had cramps and two Covington players had to be helped to the sidelines.

According to Covington head coach Brian Beaubien, the injury situation led directly to the decision to go for the two-point conversion. The coach explained that his club was hurting defensively and simply weren’t in any shape to go another overtime round.

"We didn’t think we could go another overtime and stop ‘em," Beaubien said. "We thought our best chance to win it was right there."

The loss leaves Covington with a 1-4 overall record and a 1-1 mark against region foes.

On the game’s first possession, the Choctaws moved quickly from their own 33 to midfield. A second-and-five pass play was deflected at the line and intercepted by Hall, however, and the Chargers took control.

At the Dyer County 44 following the interception return, Covington gave it right back. Trez Herron, a DC senior, picked up a loose ball and ran to the Chargers’ 44 to give the Choctaws another scoring opportunity. Instead, it was three-and-out and a punt the other way.

Covington started at its own 19 and a little screen pass turned into a big offensive burst. Hall hit Donya Dyson with a short pass that ended with a long ramble to the Dyer County 26. After another first down to the Choctaws’ 14, the Big Orange defense made its first big stand.

A short gain, a two yard loss and an incomplete pass left the visitors with a fourth-and-10 situation. The Chargers tried to run the ball, a decision B.A. Davis stopped with a thud. A loss of four forced the Chargers to give the ball up on downs at the DC 18.

Again, the home team had to punt.

Following a flag on DC that gave the Chargers five yards, Covington responded with another loss pass that caught the Dyer County secondary napping. Hall hit Clifford Dye with a perfect spiral for a 44-yard scoring strike. The conversion kick by Elon Weathers made it 7-0 CHS.

Dyer County’s answer was another turnover. Hall picked off his second pass of the opening period and the Choctaws were back on defense.

Again, the defense took a stand. After holding the Chargers to three plays and a punt, the Choctaws put together a quick scoring threat of their own.

A pass interference flag on a halfback pass attempt to DC junior Jared Hunter helped the Choctaws moved into Covington territory. Two plays into the second quarter, Dyer County was at the Charger 18.

Hall made another sparkling play on the Choctaws’ third-down play, a defensive effort that broke up a pass attempt that might have put points on the scoreboard for the home team. Dyer County’s pass play on fourth down fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs.

Again, the DC defense rose to the occasion. After a block in the back penalty erased a long touchdown run by the Chargers, the Choctaws got a spark when Adam Santiago, Kade Messersmith and Craig Whitt combined to stop a Covington rush attempt for a loss.

Two plays later, the Choctaws forced a punt.

The DC offense continued to struggle and had to punt in four plays. B.A. Davis nailed a nice one and got a good roll to the Covington 13.

After getting a first down at the Choctaw 49, the Chargers tried to make something happen with a pass play on the DC defense once too often. An alert Kyle King, a Dyer County junior, picked off the attempt and returned the effort 44 yards for a touchdown. Millan’s PAT was good and, despite its offensive woes, Dyer County had tied the game 7-7 with 3:56 to play in the half.

Unfortunately, an offensive miscue gave Covington the lead again early in the third quarter.

After a punt by the Chargers left DC with the ball at its own 10, a fumble two plays later gave the guests the ball at the Choctaw two. Isiah Harris picked up the points on first down, the kick was good and Dyer County was facing a 14-7 deficit.

Finally, the Choctaws found some offense.

Jeff Miller fielded the Covington kickoff at the 20 and set up the DC offense with a 23-yard return to the 43. Clark picked up seven yards on first down and Corey Windle found a huge hole on third down, rambling 42 yards to the Charger eight.

A first-down pass fell incomplete, but Bernard hauled in a pass for a gain of five on second down. Davis scored on the next play from the three and the conversion kick had the game tied at 14 with about seven minutes play in the third quarter.

Both squads failed to make scoring threats on each of their next two possessions, but Covington shocked the DC secondary again midway into the final quarter of regulation.

After a Davis punt pinned the Chargers back to their own five, Covington picked up 29 yards on the ground to push the ball to the DC 34. On first down, Hall went deep again and Derrick Graham hauled it in. Herron made a touchdown-saving play to force Graham out of bounds at the DC five-yard line.

Once again, the Dyer County defense responded.

Davis made the tackle on Covington’s first play for a five-yard loss. The Chargers lost two more on second down, then DC defenders Toby Cashion and Bernard saw a screen play in the works and stopped it for a loss of four.

Covington tried a 33-yard field goal that was plenty short, leaving the game 14-14.

Both clubs swapped punts before the Choctaws got the ball for the final 14 seconds of regulation.

Hunter hauled in a screen pass for a 10-yard gain as regulation expired and a facemask penalty on the Chargers gave DC a free play from the Covington 43 with no time on the clock. A play to Herron picked up 13, but the Chargers made the tackle and the game went to overtime.

Covington won the OT toss, elected to go on offense and the Choctaws got the ball at the 10-yard line. Three plays later, Bernard hauled in a five-yard pass and Millan nailed the point-after. The Chargers got the ball at the 10, down 21-14.

On first down, Hall did it himself and scored easily. Weathers knotted it at 21-21 with his conversion kick.

Covington got the ball first for the second overtime period and struggled. After getting two yards on first down, Whitt led a defensive charge that backed the Chargers up three yards on the second-down play. Dyson got nothing on third down and King snagged his second interception of the evening on fourth down to deny the Chargers on the series.

Dyer County didn’t move it much on three plays and settled for a field goal attempt on fourth down at the four. Millan’s kick appeared good and the Choctaws began a victory celebration until they noticed that officials were signaling wide left, setting up the final OT frame.

With alternating possessions, it was Dyer County’s turn to begin the third overtime stanza on offense. Clark hit Bernard with the TD pass on second down and Millan booted what was to become the game winner.

With Hall carrying the ball, Covington gained two yards on first down, four on second down and three more on third down to make it fourth and goal at the one. Dyson kept it himself from the quarterback spot and pushed straight ahead.

The pile of bodies at the goal line made it impossible for sidelines or fans to see the ball and officials delayed for several seconds before making the call.

The Chargers were successful on the fourth-down play, but it was the DC defense that came up big when Covington went for the two-point conversion.

According to Renshaw, the DC team responded well to the coaches’ challenge during the week and during the game.

"All week during practice, we challenged the kids to put the McNairy game behind them and grow as a team," he explained. "I felt like they did a great job and rose to the challenge."

Renshaw also credited his assistants with a hard week of preparation to help get the team back on track. With a thrilling win over Covington on their minds and homecoming week ahead, the challenge now is to prepare for Chester County.

"It’s a new challenge," Renshaw said. "The key will be keeping our focus."

Windle led the offensive effort DC with 83 rushing yards on nine carries. Bernard caught five passes for 35 yards, Hunter caught five for 36 yards and Davis picked up 22 receiving yards on three catches.

Hall carried the ball 26 times for 90 yards and completed seven passes for 181 yards to pace the Chargers. Dye caught four passes for 104 yards.