Coppock’s passing fancy

The way Lee Coppock sees it, the stats aren’t that important. The Covenant quarterback might be the area’s most prolific passer, but he’s just doing what he has to do.

It’s a new era at Covenant after former coach Mark Sanford — architect of the school’s first playoff team last season — left to helm the rebuilding job at William Monroe. Also gone are workhorse running backs Luke Heinsohn and Andy Colberg, leaving Coppock and his cohorts to pick up the pieces.

For this year’s Eagles team, that means passing — a lot. Coppock downplays the role of his improvement in the style change.

“Last year, we didn’t get to throw the ball as much,” he said. “I was not good, and we had Luke Heinsohn. This year, we have a really good receiving corps.”

Coppock and his receivers, led by Sam Dale and Sam Patterson, have put up the gaudiest passing numbers in Central Virginia this season. Coppock’s 1,727 passing yards are nearly 500 better than his closest competitor, and his 17 passing scores are second-best in the area heading into tonight’s game at St. Anne’s-Belfield.

“It was nice on paper and it made me look good, but really, it’s the receivers doing all the work,” Coppock said.

It was Coppock’s work in last season’s playoff run that caught the eye of first-year Covenant coach Rich Little, who was an Eagles assistant last season. Once he got in the film room, the idea of building his offense around the 6-foot-3 junior began to take shape.

“Going into it, watching a lot of film for last year, we realized right off the bat that we had ourselves a great leader,” Little said. “We had to get him involved in a lot of plays on offense.”

Dale added: “Luke was a big piece of the team. He’s been here for four years running the ball 30 times a game. This year, we had to change our philosophy up a bit — go for more of a vertical approach, spread the defense out.”

Coppock passed for 872 yards and three scores last season in his first year as a starter and has already more than doubled his passing output. The Eagles (3-4, 1-2 Old Dominion Football Conference) have needed every yard, as they’ve found themselves in several shootouts against opponents that include powers Atlantic Shores Christian, Liberty Christian and Blue Ridge.

Coppock’s finest game came less than two weeks ago in a rescheduled road game at Hargrave Military Academy. He threw for 455 yards and seven touchdowns, with three going to Dale, the main benefactor among the Covenant wideouts.

“He’s got confidence this year,” Dale said. “I think last year was tough for him because we ran the ball so much. He had so much pressure to make that key pass. This year, we’ve been so aggressive in the passing game that his confidence has exploded.”

Coppock will need that confidence tonight against St. Anne’s (2-4, 0-1), a team that beat Covenant twice last season, including a VISAA Division II semifinal defeat that ended the Eagles’ season.

“We’re going into it thinking, absolutely, we’re going to win the ballgame,” Little said. “Our kids are prepared…I know the kids, every time we go up against somebody local — whether it’s St. Anne’s or another institution around town, public or private — the kids are going to get excited. These are their peers. These are the kids they know by name, that they’ve grown up with.”

The Saints will look for a better showing than their effort last Friday night against Collegiate, when they allowed Cougars star Jake McGee to throw for 373 yards and four scores. While another Coppock aerial assault would help Covenant’s chances, the quarterback knows he can’t do it by himself.

“We’ve got to make some defensive stops and get our run game going to start clicking,” Coppock said. “It’s something we can do very easily. We’ll wrap it together this season.”