Covenant Christian claims school’s first state title in championship game thriller
INDIANAPOLIS (BVM) — Covenant Christian High School has only fielded a football program since 2014. But just a few short years later, it has already found itself on top.
Up and down in the first several years of its program, Covenant Christian returned an experienced team in 2020 poised to make the team’s furthest run. The Warriors are led by coach Shawn Lyons, who took over the program three months ago in the midst of the season.
Lyons had previously worked as the team’s quarterbacks coach for the past three years, and prior to that was a head coach at Traders Point Junior High School. But now, Lyons has finally had a chance to instill his own philosophy at the prep level.
“I was definitely excited to take over with the opportunity we had in front of us,” Lyons said. “The jump from a junior high program to high school is a big jump. I was excited to bring these guys forward through the season and get them focused on what we needed to do.
“I don’t think I approach things the same way as others do. I think coaches to a fault want people to run to their system. My approach is we need to tailor our offense and defense to the players we have on the roster.”
Coming off a 6-5 season that ended with a two-score playoff loss to Indianapolis Lutheran, Lyons and the coaching staff knew there was a special opportunity in front of them in 2020. With a senior-laden squad and more talent than the program had ever fielded, the Warriors made sure to put a strong focus on the 2020 season early on, holding team meetings since last January.
Confidence grew with the team throughout the offseason, as did uncertainty and apprehension on whether or not the fall football season in Indiana would be played. Practices began over the summer with new COVID-19 regulations and protocols, and that continued into the fall.
However, the Warriors had their chance to begin what would be a special season on schedule, and they quickly took advantage. Covenant Christian began the campaign with five straight wins of 38 points or more, giving up just 26 points over those contests.
On Sep. 25, the Warriors got their first big test against annual powerhouse, Heritage Christian. The team would win the game 36-21 to keep its undefeated season going, and it was a good test for Lyons and his squad.
“Heritage was really the one measuring stick we had on our schedule through the regular season,” Lyons explained. “I think the first year we played Heritage, they beat us 55 to nothing or something horrendous. So they’ve been the measuring stick for us for two or three years, they’re well coached and you know you have to go play a good football game. That win solidified any questions that anyone had about us being legit.”
Covenant Christian continued its dominant play throughout the rest of the regular season and the early part of the playoffs. Then came a playoff rematch on Nov. 6 against traditional power, Indianapolis Lutheran.
The Warriors would quickly fall behind to Indianapolis Lutheran 14-0. But after Lyons’ guys locked in, they returned back to form, and would win the game, 46-38.
“Beating Lutheran and what they have been able to build in that program was one of the highlights of the year,” Lyons said. “That game more than anything prepared us to win state.”
Back-to-back blowout wins against South Putnam and West Washington would indeed lead Covenant Christian to the IHSAA Class A state title game against South Adams. Going into the game, Lyons and the team were excited to make their first state appearance at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“The guys were obviously all sorts of excited,” Lyons said. “We had Pat McAfee record a short one minute video for us and a bunch of former Covenant football players record messages to encourage the guys and get them jacked up.”
Here. Are. Your. Warriors!!! pic.twitter.com/x8uh8SloLy
— Covenant Christian Athletics (@athletics4cchs) November 28, 2020
Lyons knew South Adams would be a tough contest, and they actually reminded him of his own Warriors’ team. By the time it was all said and done, the first-year head coach would be right.
However, the Warriors did come out hot. Scoring early and often, Covenant Christian took a 27-6 lead into halftime, aiming for another multi-score victory that had been the norm all year.
“Coming out, the game was exactly what we planned for and what we wanted to do,” Lyons said. “Everything was rolling and we were able to execute on defense. We moved through the first half focused and completely fine.”
But the second half would take a sharp turn. A couple long passing scores by South Adams quarterback James Arnold tightened the score to 27-20 early in the fourth quarter. Two more second half interceptions thrown by Covenant Christian quarterback Austin Frazier — who threw three total picks in the second half — led to a couple more rushing scores for South Adams. This quickly turned a 21-point lead into a seven-point deficit for the Warriors.
“We came out and went punt, pick, punt, pick, punt, pick, and that’s a recipe for disaster against a good team,” Lyons said.
However, Frazier and the Warriors would respond to the 28-unanswered points put up by South Adams with a 31-yard touchdown pass to tie the game with just under five minutes remaining. After forcing a punt, it took the Warriors just two runs to go 81 yards and take a 41-34 lead.
“I started seeing us coming back to life,” Lyons said. “You could feel the tide turning and I told the guys, ‘Just be you.’ They heard it and believed it because they’ve done it and that was huge.”
But South Adams was not done. A desperation pass that went over every defender’s head took the team 75 yards down to the two-yard line. After a two-yard touchdown run, the score sat at 41-40 with just over a minute left.
South Adams made a gutsy decision to go for two, but would fall short thanks to a big run stop by junior Warrior Ethan Sparks. Covenant Christian recovered an onside kick, ran out the clock and preserved their first state title win.
The football team brings home the program’s and school’s first State Championship! Congratulations, men. A job well done. Thank you again to the @Colts and @IHSAA1 for this opportunity! #beuncommon #StateChamps pic.twitter.com/a47zQgFwSC
— Covenant Christian Athletics (@athletics4cchs) November 28, 2020
“When that happened, it was so awesome,” Lyons noted. “If you surround yourself with great people who will work as hard as you and fight as long as you, good things are going to happen.”
The win was Covenant Christian’s first state championship in any sport. It is an impressive emergence for the football team, who previously had gone just 2-5 in the postseason all-time according to Lyons, and had never advanced past the sectional round.
“It’s tremendously impressive for the program to get here,” Lyons said. “I think it speaks volumes that throughout the last six years, the focus has always been on the fundamentals for each player and making sure they are playing to the best of their ability.”
“The school is all sorts of jacked up. Just about every student in the school was there and it’s just a big family at Covenant. This team had an unbelievable calming maturity about them that was insane and it speaks to the senior leadership and their love for each other.”
No matter the capacity, Lyons hopes to remain part of the Covenant Christian football program for as long as he can. Graduating several seniors from this year’s squad, the coach knows it will be tougher to replicate the success of the 2020 season. But with plenty of playmakers coming back, Lyons believes there’s certainly a chance.
“I want to be part of the program as long as possible,” Lyons said. “It’s a special group of young guys and I want to be around them. Next year, we’ll have our work cut out for us, but we have a group of guys who were playmakers that will be able to get more of the recognition next year. We could have never done what we did this year without them.”
No matter what happens next year or beyond, the 2020 team has changed the landscape of the program. And now, for the first time, everyone can call the Covenant Christian Warriors state champions.
