Khristian Tate, Covenant take aim at GICAA championship

It was a summer of change for Khristian Tate and Covenant's football team from the time school closed in May until practice started in late July.

Tate went from a non-descript two-way lineman to a running back with a national profile while Covenant became a championship contender instead of an schedule afterthought with an influx of young talent owning a winning pedigree.

"Nowhere in my mind could I have seen this," said Tate, whose team faces Creekside Christian on Friday in the GICAA Division I-AA championhip game.

The solid, 6-foot-1, 250-pounder is the poster player for the Rams' resurgence. Covenant went 1-9, 2-8 and 5-5 in Tate's previous seasons when he was a lineman who saw some time in the backfield.

Head coach Chris Oxford had Tate, who played about 15 pounds heavier last year, as the anchor of the line when school closed last year. All that changed after a visit to a summer camp at Tennessee, where Tate covered 40 yards in 4.58 seconds and spent time as a running back.

That exposure earned Tate an invitation to a top-100 camp in Texas from which he emerged as the session's second-rated back.

"So guess where I put him when he came back?" asked Oxford, who's in his second season with the Rams.

As the Rams' primary ballcarrier, Tate has amassed 1,956 yards and scored 28 touchdowns. He had 150 yards and three scores on 12 carries in the Rams' 40-3 romp of Community Christian in last week's semifinal.

Tate's move to the backfield full time left precious little depth along the line. Oxford was able to fill it courtesy of the unselfish attitude of seniors Hunter Duke and P.J. Taylor.

Duke was in the mix at quarterback while Taylor had seen a lot of action at fullback in 2014. Both, however, gave up those higher profile spots to toil in the trenches.

"I said, 'Are you guys willing to do whatever it takes to get to next level?' " Oxford said. "They said, 'Absolutely.' "

The two now man the left side of the Rams' offensive line.

Duke's move to the front put the football in the hands of Cody Farr, and he is one of the many Rams sophomores with key roles as a starters or backups. The left-hander has completed 31-of-50 passes for 807 yards and 14 touchdowns without an interception. He completed all four of his passes last week for 128 yards and three touchdowns.

More than half of Covenant's roster is composed of freshmen and sophomores, classes that have known only success in middle school.

"They've added a whole new feel to everything," said Tate, one of the Rams' 10 seniors. "They only lost two or three games in their middle school years."

Added Oxford, "You figure they're a year or a couple away, but the've really stepped up."

The Rams have been equally potent on both sides of the ball. They have scored 40 or more points eight times while allowing just a little more than a touchdown per contest with five shutouts.

Covenant's closest win was 49-35 against Calvary Christian, the team Creekside defeated 38-20 in its semifinal.

"Defense has been the big surprise," Oxford said. "I knew with Khristian running the ball and the way (Farr) could throw, we'd put up some points. I had no idea the defense would play like this. We kind of keep it simple, nothing fancy, and try to execute. So far, we have."

One of those top defensive efforts came against Creekside, a 29-0 pasting three weeks ago. The defensne contributed a touchdown off a fumble recovery, as well as a safety.

"They came in here having allowed only 13 points all season," Oxford said of Creekside. "Their defense is phenomenal. We'll add a couple of wrinkles to give them something different to think about this time."

The last component of the so-far dream season has been avoiding the kind of injuries that can rob key players of time on the field.

"With the number of young guys we were going play, I thought it might be a couple of years for us to compete (at state title level). But everything has just fallen into place. Sometimes it happens when you don't expect it."

Given the program's history, Tate didn't expect it either. His thinking changed after a 37-13 win over Community Christian in the Rams' second region game around midseason.

"At the beginning of the year, I thought we could probably better than last year's record," said Tate, who carries a 3.7 GPA and lists Georgia, Florida and Auburn atop his college list. "When we went up there and beat (Community) with some guys banged up, I thought we could actually go somewhere with this.

"We've been able to keep it going and now there's just one more (game)."

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Khristian Tate, Covenant take aim at GICAA championship ."