Costly mistakes can upend the best laid plans for victory.

The Comets (2-5, 2-2 PTC) had their fair share of them and the Pirates took advantage, stealing a victory and running away with it Friday night, 20-7.

“We ran into mistakes, both penalties, turnovers and big plays came back to bite us a couple of times,” Coventry coach Jay Newcome said. “We eliminated it last week against Norton. It was a lack of focus.”

Southeast (2-5, 2-2 PTC) came out with a very simple game plan – run the football. The first quarter senior Gary Allen did his fair share, putting Southeast on the Coventry 15-yard-line on five carries for 34 yards. Quarterback Anthony Pennington then found an open receiver at the goal line, but it bounced off his chest and Coventry senior Jeff Walker was there to pick it off, giving the Coventry defense a critical red zone turnover.

Southeast got the ball back and this time both Allen and junior Eric Fleming worked their down to the Coventry 15-yard-line again, then Fleming fumbled, and Walker was there to recover.

Southeast’s Pennington picked off a Brandon Burns’ pass on the first play of Coventry’s drive, then had his second interception of the quarter occur on the Coventry 6-yard-line as junior Mike Smith picked off the ball on fourth down.

If all those turnovers weren’t enough, Burns’ was picked off on the final play of the first quarter by Southeast’s Doug Frances, bringing the combined total to five.

One team had to settle down eventually, and it was the Pirates. Behind the legs of Fleming and Pennington, they went 58 yards on 11 plays, aided by three Comet penalties, with Pennington scoring on a three-yard run to give Southeast a 7-0 lead going into the half.

The Comets came out focused for at least one drive in the second half. Southeast, like every team has since Walker returned two touchdowns against Tusky Valley, spent the night pouch punting to Coventry. Richard Geiger got the kick off and made them pay, going over 30 yards to the Southeast 35-yard line, giving the Comets excellent field position.

Walker, who switched back and forth with Burns at quarterback, took over and rushed four times for the 35 yards, including a 21-yard gallop to start the drive, to tie the game up at 7-7.

Later in the third quarter, Southeast took Coventry off guard when they passed to receiver Taylor Simyak for a 6-yard gain, then went back to him again for a 44-yard touchdown strike, giving them a 14-7 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

Coventry needed to respond, and on the second play after the Pirate’s score, Walker busted a 69-yard touchdown run to the delight of the crowd. One problem. There was a yellow flag on the field. Holding Comets.

“We had a lot of positive plays, but we then we would have a negative,” Newcome said.

This was the biggest of the bunch. Although they were able to move the football, the Comets couldn’t find another big play to get the game back to even.

When Southeast got the ball back, they put it in Fleming’s hands and dared Coventry to stop him. The Comets responded by forcing a fourth and 3, but when Southeast went to punt, the referees realized Coventry had 12 men on the field. The first down given to the Pirates allowed Fleming to run  down to the eight yard line where Pennington finished the job for his second touchdown of the night.

Walker had 94 yards on 22 carries, but would have more barring bad snaps which helped lead to three fumbles, all recovered but killed multiple Comet drives.

Senior running back Justin White also got some playing time in, still recovering from the broken wrist suffered in a Comets’ scrimmage earlier in the year. He had six carries for 20 yards, and Newcome said he brings back depth to the team and allows fellow back Geiger to get some rest now and then.

Coventry will have to aim at playing more like they did against Norton two weeks ago when they travell to Ravenna this Friday, game time at 7 p.m.