COVINGTON — ­Franklinton struggled on special teams early on and had problems stopping Covington’s running game in a 69-32 loss to open the regular season on the road Friday.

“We struggled getting the ball on kickoff, we struggled to stop the run and when we did stop the run, we got them in long yardage situations, we didn’t cover the pass,” Franklinton coach Stephen Burris said. “We didn’t do a lot good.”

Covington got on the board at outset when Milton Clark returned the season’s opening kickoff for a touchdown. The extra point was missed and the Lions were up 6-0 just 15 seconds into the game.

Franklinton came back and scored when Trequan Charles got in from a yard out. The point after was blocked, keeping it tied, 6-6, at the 8:06 mark.

Clark brought the ensuing kickoff back 47 yards to the Demons’ 47 and scored in four plays on Devin Brumfield’s first of four touchdowns. He ran for 216 yards. Devin McKnight added the extra point to make it a seven-point game with 6:42 left.

But Franklinton came back, this time on special teams. Kian Conerly returned the next kickoff back 78 yards to paydirt. Tahj Magee completed the two-point conversion pass to Shayland Allen to give the Demons a 14-13 lead with 6:30 on the clock.

But Covington scored the game’s next 29 points.

Joshua Alfaro completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to KeJohn Batiste. McKnight hit the extra point for a 20-14 lead.

Later in the period, Covington made it a two-touchdown lead when Chandler Washington returned an interception off of two deflections 58 yards for a score. Jeremiah Driver converted for two for a 28-14 lead with 11 seconds left in the first quarter.

Covington then recovered back-to-back onside kicks and scored on both. The first was on Brumfield’s 20-yard run. The second was when Alfaro hit Batiste under pressure. Brumfield converted for two on the first one, but Covington missed the PAT on the second. It was 42-14 with 9:56 left in the first half.

The Demons stopped the run when Magee scored from the 5. He ran for 111 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 140 more yards. The two-point try failed and it was 42-20 at the 5:05 mark.
Covington added a score with 1:21 left on Alfaro’s 8-yard run. The PAT was no good and the Lions had a 48-20 lead at the break.

Franklinton got within 48-26 to begin the third quarter on Magee’s 15-yard run with 9:06 left.

The two-point conversion was no good. Covington outscored Franklinton 21-6 down the stretch in the win.

Franklinton will try to even its record at 1-1 Friday night when they host Fontainebleau.