COUGARS SHAPING UP; RECORD GOES TO 2-0

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 09/08/1990
Page: P1B
Headline: COUGARS SHAPING UP; RECORD GOES TO 2-0
Byline: DON HILL

Capital High School football coach Roger Jefferson's
conditioning plan is right on schedule.
The talented and large Cougars continued to shape up Friday with
a lopsided 40-3 victory over outmanned Nitro at Underwood Field.
Jefferson said last week after a hard-fought 17-14 victory over
Herbert Hoover that many of his linemen were out of shape.
"We have some big guys playing in there,' Jefferson said last.
night, "and you have to play them into shape. Practicing just won't
do it.'
Those "big guys' include hulks like 250-pound tight end Mike
Gray and 268-pound tackle Jay Blair. Gray and Blair spearheaded a
crisp-blocking offensive line that enabled 11 Capital backs to romp
for 332 rushing yards.
Eric Smedley led the parade with 115 yards on nine carries and a
touchdown.
"The offensive line blocked well,' Jefferson said. "Our
offensive coaches did a great job planning for this one. This year
we've added the option. So now teams have that to defend as well as
our normal wing-T offense.'
Junior quarterback Chris Henry scored the first Capital
touchdown on a 35-yard keeper with less than two minutes gone in the
first quarter.
Sophomore Brian Reed recovered a Nitro fumble on the ensuing
kickoff at the Wildcats' 39. Eight plays later, Henry optioned to
senior Jack Pauley on a 6-yard scoring play to make it 14-0 Capital
. Nitro had yet to run a play from scrimmage.
Capital made it 21-0 early in the second quarter as Smedley, who
played sparingly on offense last week because of turf toe, raced 52
yards for a touchdown. Henry then scored on a 36-yard run, giving
Capital a 28-0 lead with 8:53 to play in the first half.
"Henry was excellent,' Jefferson said. "In fact, I think our
offense is ahead of our defensive unit at this stage. We have a lot
of inexperience on defense. We lost people like William King and
Todd Robinson. So we aren't as dominating defensively as we were.'
The Cougars (2-0) did, however, hold Nitro to 23 yards of
offense and no first downs in the first half.
Nitro head coach Greg Cyrus said after the game that the
Wildcats would not play Capital next year, despite a county rule.
which says it must. Cyrus maintained that Nitro can't be competitive
against Capital, which has hundreds of more students than Nitro.
The Wildcats (2-1) put together their only scoring drive last
night in the third quarter. They moved 77 yards in 12 plays to the
Capital 11. But Nitro had to settle for a 37-yard David Stalnaker
field goal.
Capital's final scores came on Shannon Stover's 6-yard run with.
a fumble recovery and a touchdown pass from Steve Somon to Mike Terry
Capital returns to action next week in a game at Laidley Field
against Parkersburg which will be telecast nationally by the
Sportschannel, a cable network. Nitro travels to Herbert Hoover.