CAPITAL-NITRO: RUN VS. PASS
Publication: THE
Published: 11/16/1996
Page: P1C
Headline: CAPITAL-NITRO: RUN VS. PASS
Byline: RICK RYAN
Capital will be out to give
Nitro a run for its money. And the
Wildcats will try to pass their first playoff test in 36 years.
Literally.
Teams that go about their
business in completely different manners
will square off at 1:30 p.m. today at Laidley Field
in the opening
round of the West Virginia Class AAA playoffs.
The Capital-Nitro skirmish
is one of four postseason games today
involving area teams. The others are: Point Pleasant at St. Albans in
Class AAA, Liberty-Harrison at Poca in Class AA and
Buffalo-Putnam vs.
Midland Trail at
The most compelling contest
could be the matchup of the Cougars (9-1),
the No. 2 seed and defending Class AAA state champion, against the
15th-seeded Wildcats (7-3).
Capital, operating out of
its familiar wing-T offense, runs the ball
89 percent of the time. Nitro, on the other hand, often splits out
five wide receivers and sticks sophomore quarterback J.R. House in
shotgun formation. The Wildcats pass on nearly 76 percent of their
plays, excluding QB sacks.
"We've been going
through a lot of preparation,' said Capital coach
Roger Jefferson. "It's kind of fun, I guess. It's
exciting getting
ready to play someone who throws the ball on about every down.'
House, considered one of
the top candidates for the Kennedy Award, has
just completed a record-shattering season. He connected on 238 of 397
passes for 3,265 yards and 28 touchdowns with 17 interceptions.
He set a state mark for
passing yards, narrowly edging Martinsburg's
James Franklin, who finished his regular season this year with 3,230
yards. Both broke the old mark of 2,952. Other records to fall to
House were: total offense in a season (3,320) and passing yards in a
game (463). House also matched the mark for regular-season TD passes
(28).
"We have some idea of
his capabilities,'
something of J.R. House. I've seen him at camps, although I haven't
seen them play any live. I know his talents. And they have great
receivers. They do a good job with the offense. It makes you work to
get ready for them.'
Capital can counter with a
slew of running threats. The Cougars have
breakaway speed with Clyde Tyler (736 yards, 6 TDs)
and Ricky Sherrod
(521 yards, 9 TDs), bullish power with 250-pound
Willie Hampton (683
yards, 13 TDs) and elusiveness with quarterback Ken
Brooks (374 yards
rushing, 377 passing).
Capital has been victimized
by the pass at different times this
season, but much of that yardage came after the Cougars were
comfortably in front. All nine of their victories came by a margin of
more than two touchdowns.
"If anyone is being
honest with themselves,' said Nitro coach Robert
Burdette, "they know that to win a championship, you're going to have
to play Capital sooner or later. Their record speaks for itself.
"We are excited. Most
people here in the community are happy. They
tell me our last time in the playoffs was 1960. But we're not satis
fied just because we're in the playoffs. We're going
up there to win.
We realize we're underdogs and going against the best team in the
state. But anything can happen.'