It's not how you start, but how you finish. That was the case for the Narrows Green Wave as they shut out the Covington Cougars in the second half on their way to a 42-14 triumph.

It was the Chase Blaker show in the second half as the quarterback threw for 168 yards and rushed for 65 yards. He tossed three touchdowns one to Matt Morgan, one to Cole Needham and the other to Dustin Wiley. The complexion of the game totally changed after intermission as the Narrows defense limited the visiting Cougars to only three first downs and 62 total yards.

Covington (2-4, 0-1) drove the ball 71 yards on nine plays in the first quarter to go up 7-0 as Skyler Barnett caught a middle screen pass for a 15-yard touchdown. Chadwick Tacy kicked the point after for the Cougar lead with 7:24 to go in the opening quarter.

Narrows would strike back at the 3:35 mark with Chad Blaker took the hand-off and raced around the left end for a nine-yard score. Matt Morgan's kick tied the game at 7-all. The game remained tied until 3:32 before half as once again Chad Blaker scored on a 11-yard run and Morgan's kick put the Green Wave up 14-7.

Covington would knot the score up at 14-apiece with just 25 seconds left in the half when Shaun Smith bulled his way in the end zone from three yards out and Tacy point after. That gave us a 14-14 stalemate at the break.

Narrows (6-0, 1-0) struck twice in the third quarter with Chase Blaker hitting Cole Needham on a 46-yard pass. Then on their next possession, Blaker found Matt Morgan on a 53-yard pass, providing the Green Wave with a 27-14 lead through three quarters. They would score yet again with 11:05 left in the game, this time with Blaker hitting dependable target Dustin Wiley on a beautifully thrown pass for a 30-yard touchdown.

Following Wiley's TD, Narrows decided to go for a two-point conversion after their last point-after kick was mishandled. Blaker would drop back and connected with Wiley in the corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion pass to up the score to 35-14.

To ice the contest, Blaker went off-tackle for a six-yard touchdown and Morgan's kick made the score 42-14 in favor of Narrows, still unbeaten on this 2019 campaign and in line for a top seed in next month's Region 1C playoffs.

"We made a couple of adjustments at halftime and the guys really stepped up in the second half," said Narrows Head Coach Kelly Lowe.

"I'm so proud of this group. They played excellent in the second half. Coach Jones is a great coach and Covington is fine ball club. We weren't too happy after last week's game and the kids made a statement here tonight."

Chase Blaker seemed to make big play after big play for Narrows, something his Head Coach is glad to see continue.

"He had a great game tonight. He really stepped up in the second half," Lowe remarked. "He's a dual-threat quarterback, will make you pay and did a heck of a job."

The Narrows defense forced Covington into four huge turnovers as they recovered two fumbles and intercepted two passes. They had 366 total yards to Covington's 261.

Narrows will host Eastern Montgomery next Friday, whereas Covington will take on Parry McCluer.

Narrows 7 7 13 15- 42

Covington 7 7 0 0- 14

Rushing- Narrows - Chad Blaker 6-33, Chase Blaker 14-88, Morgan 11-29, Robertson 1-1, Covington- Smith 17-144, Gibson 1-(-7) , Barnett 5-2, Groves 1-(-1), Crawford 1-2, Samuels 5-27

Passing - Narrows- Blaker 10-17-0 Ints.-3 Tds.- 215 yds., Covington- Gibson- 6-13-2 Ints-1 TD- 94 yds.

Receptions- Narrows- Conley 1-12, Wiley 4-89, Morgan 1-53, Kirby 1-6, Needham 1-46, Chad Blaker 1-3, Covington- Barnett 4-68, Williams 1-14, Angle 1-12,

First Downs- Narrows- 14, Covington 10

Penalties- Narrows- 10-58, Covington 9-63

Punts/ Avg.- Narrows - 3 /33.6, Covington- 1 / 51.0

Fumbles/ lost- Narrows 1-0, Covington 2-2