J.R. HOUSE DESERVES IT AGAIN

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 11/06/1997
Page: P1B
Headline: J.R. HOUSE DESERVES IT AGAIN
Byline: CHUCK LANDON

MY Kennedy Award vote goes to J.R. House. There is no debate.

Nor should there be.

The Kennedy Award is supposed to go to the best high school football
player in West Virginia. Period. There are no other criteria.

This will be the 26th straight year I'll have voted on this award and,
trust me, there is no fine print regarding residency on the ballot.

If there were Eric McGhee wouldn't have won, because he lived in
Bellaire, Ohio, while playing for Wheeling Central.

Yet, many people want to make a big deal out of the fact that House
spent the first four weeks of Nitro's 1997 season playing quarterback
at Seabreeze High in the Daytona Beach, Fla., area before transferring
back.

I have one question for those folks.

So what?

It doesn't matter where House started the season. What matters is
where he finished. What matters is that he played in more than half of
Nitro's games. What matters is that he has accomplished more in five
games than anyone else has in 10.

What matters, most of all, is House is the best player in the state.

I defy anyone to try to prove otherwise.

Want to talk statistics? Try to match these.

- In eight games (Seabreeze and Nitro games combined), House has
completed 188-of-296 passes (.635 completion percentage) for 2,574
yards and 27 touchdowns.

- In five games at Nitro, House is 137-of-209 (.656 completion
percentage) for 1,945 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions.

- At Nitro alone, House is averaging 389 yards, 27.4 completions, 41.8
attempts and 4.4 touchdown passes per game.

- Just last week, House broke his own state record for most passing
yards in a game by hitting 26-of-36 passes for 471 yards and six
touchdowns in a 51-28 win over Herbert Hoover.

Want to talk value to his team, which is the ultimate measure of an
MVP? Try to match this.

- With House, Nitro is 5-0 and has outscored opponents 200-81.

- With House, Nitro is winning games by the average score of 40-16.

- With House, Nitro hasn't even had a close game. Without him, the
Wildcats lost to George Washington.

Want to talk common sense? Try to match this.

House is averaging more yards, more completions, more touchdown passes
and has a higher completion percentage and lower interception rate,
than he did when he won the Kennedy Award in 1996.

So, House has compiled incomparable statistics, has helped his team
become a Class AAA state championship contender and is playing much
better than he did last season when he won this same award.

With those credentials, how could anyone not vote for House?

There's only one way.

It would take a person who is petty enough to punish House, because
his father took J.R. to Florida. And how small-minded would that be?

I think voters should ask themselves one question before casting their
Kennedy ballots. If House had torn up a knee during a preseason
scrimmage and missed the first four games of this season, would that
be held against him?

Of course not.

That's why J.R. House deserves the 1997 Kennedy Award.