Some football teams run a ‘Cover 2’, a type of zone defense where everyone on that side of the ball is responsible for an area on the field and not a specific man.
Well over at Magnolia High School, they’ve been running what they call a ‘Covar 2’ defense for three seasons now. That’s not a type of defense. It’s more about the personnel on the field.
The ‘Covar 2’ is the best way to describe two of their best players on the field.
Twin brothers Tyler and Tanner Covar play different positions with the goal of stopping the opposition. Tyler is a force a linebacker while Tanner roves the secondary as a safety.
Both have made a tremendous impact for a Bulldogs team that is in playoff contention as the last week of the regular season is upon us.
Tyler is set to play Friday night at Klein (5-4, 3-4) while Tanner is a game-time decision as the Bulldogs (5-4, 4-3) need a win to clinch a playoff spot out of District 15-6A. Tanner has missed the past two games with a leg injury, but could be available against the Bearkats.
The brothers are leaders on the field and each other’s biggest supporters.
“It’s different seeing him make a play compared to another person,” Tanner said in an interview last month. “Because I want to see his success just as much as I want mine.”
FOOTBALL FAMILY MOVES TO MAGNOLIA
Tyler and Tanner’s father Zack played high school football at McNeil High School in Round Rock and helped influence his sons involvement in the sport at a young age.
“We played flag football growing up and my dad was pretty good at football,” Tanner said. “We just looked up to him and decided to play football.”
Tyler remembered having a lot of fun with the sport at a young age.
“It was a lot of fun and you got to play with all your friends,” Tyler said. “It wasn’t all that serious back then in little league. I had a lot of fun.”
Due to their father’s job, the family moved from Pflugerville to Magnolia when the boys were second graders.
Tyler and Tanner were involved with baseball up until eighth grade and have competed on the track and field team for the Bulldogs.
But football is where they’ve made their biggest mark at the school. The twins have had a front-row seat of a rise back to the playoffs in 2023 and into the Class 6A era this fall. And they still have one year left to continue writing their stories.
Tyler and Tanner were pulled up to varsity as freshman – along with four other teammates – back in the 2022 season when the Bulldogs experienced some growing pains with a 3-7 season.
“They’re still juniors, but I feel like they’ve been here forever,” Magnolia head coach Craig Martin said. “They’ve been a big part of this football program for the better part of three years now.”
IMPACT BULLDOGS
The brothers were pulled up to varsity the same game, and it was a memorable one.
The 2022 Magnolia Bowl against rival Magnolia West. It was a game they would watch as kids and it was definitely an intense feeling to actually be on the field for it their first year in high school.
Both remembered a packed Bulldog Stadium.
“There were a ton of fans here,” Tyler said. “It was crazy.”
Added Tanner, “I was nervous, for sure. But I figured it out and I felt like it was a good opportunity.”
Martin admitted he didn’t know much about the brothers until they were on campus that summer. As head coach with many responsibilities at Magnolia, Martin doesn’t always make it out to the junior high to visit the football team as often as he might want to.
“A lot of times, we just rely on the information from our junior high coaches,” Martin explained. “I didn’t really didn’t get a chance to get to know them until their freshman year. And we had a really good freshman group that year. They played both sides of the ball when they were freshman for us, so we got to see them play offense and defense. Fortunately for them, and unfortunately for us (as a program), we were not very good on defense that year. We struggled to make tackles and to make plays and we didn’t have a ton of depth.”
Tyler was pulled up to resume his role as linebacker. Tanner was there to provide secondary support at safety.
Sophomore year brought better results. The Bulldogs went 9-3 and made it two rounds deep into the playoffs.
“I thought that we had better chemistry,” said Tyler, who was a first-team All-District selection that fall. “The guys were closer together than the year before and we had a lot more experience.”
Tanner was a second-team All-District selection.
“We came together as a group,” he said. “Everybody was selfless and we came together as a group.”
Both have solidified themselves in their respective positions. Tyler has over 100 total tackles this year with a pair of sacks. Tanner has enjoyed plenty of success against the pass. Martin said that Tanner would be great on offense too at receiver, but depth there has kept him on defense.
“Tyler has always been an inside linebacker for us and Tanner has been kind of a receiver and safety for us,” Martin said. “It just so happened that year that’s where we needed some help. That’s where they started and that’s where they’ve been.”
The brothers, with their shaggy blond hair, are both over 6-foot tall and are similar in weight.
“It’s been hard for everybody to tell us a part,” Tyler said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called Tanner.”
“It’s a pretty good running joke around here that they are very, very difficult to tell apart,” Martin said. “We try to get them to have different hair cuts or wear different color shoes or something. And there are times where Tyler is a little heavier than Tanner and Tanner is a little heavier than Tyler.”
Everything is a competition for the brothers in the weight room. They try to outlift each other whenever possible.
The brothers are loyal Dallas Cowboys fans and are the type of leaders Martin loves seeing at Magnolia.
“They’re quiet, but they also are vocal when they need to be,” Martin said. “If you’re not around them a lot, they’re quiet kids. But if you’re around them more, they actually talk. They’re actually pretty funny kids. But they’re typical Magnolia kids who are hard workers and they put in the work. That in itself puts them in leadership positions.”
Magnolia twin brothers Tanner (18) and Tyler Covar (10) have been starters on varsity since the middle of their freshmen seasons.
