Charleston (W.Va.) Saturday Gazette, October 4, 2008

Capital shakes off early deficit, dominates Nitro 30-7

It's probably a safe bet that the deficit caught the Capital Cougars by surprise.

Not that the deficit continued for long.

Less than two minutes after Nitro assumed a one-point lead late in the first half, the Cougars retaliated on Joe Beane's 56-yard touchdown pass to Derrell McFadden.

The touchdown demonstrated Capital's explosiveness and, from there, the Cougars dominated and defeated the Wildcats 30-7 Friday night at Underwood Field in Nitro. A crowd of 1,000 attended.

Although the No. 7 Cougars (5-1) generally found it difficult to sustain lengthy, time-consuming drives against the Wildcats (1-4), they nevertheless made big plays, especially in the passing game.

Beane, who completed 4-of-6 passes for 120 yards, also hit Melvin Allen on a 26-yard scoring pass and Francis Nice on a 30-yarder. Joshua Sharp, Capital's reserve quarterback, capped off the Cougar scoring with a 48-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter. The Capital defense also scored a safety.

In addition, the Cougars intercepted four Nitro passes and limited the Wildcats to 131 yards passing and 65 on the ground. Entering the game, the Capital defense had allowed an average of just 10 points and 169 yards.

"We got some picks and made some big plays,'' said Capital coach Jack Woolwine. "But we were inconsistent with our play. I'm not disappointed, but I thought we could be more consistent.''

It was a game, said Woolwine, of good plays and some not-so-good ones.

"We weren't real sharp tonight,'' he said. "We played well in spots, and we had some individuals play well and we made some plays. Our kids continued to hustle. I'm tickled to death to get a win.''

Capital sophomore Keion Wright, who entered the game with 795 rushing yards on 134 carries, found little running room and picked up just 41 yards on 11 carries. Sharp led the Capital ground game with 83 yards on five attempts.

"Defensively, we played well,'' said Nitro coach John Sowards. "A penalty here and giving up too many yards there kept drives alive. More than anything, missing assignments on their receivers shot us on the foot.''

Indeed, on Capital's first play from scrimmage following Howard Davis' interception of a Nitro pass, Allen was wide open in accepting the 26-yard TD pass from Beane.

Capital, however, stalled on offense and, beginning early in the second quarter, the Wildcats began their only effective drive of the night - a 75-yard, 11-play work of art capped by Tyler Kennedy's 6-yard run. Highlighting the drive were Bodie Johnson passes of 16 yards to Kennedy and a 22-yarder to Mark Chandler, giving Nitro a 7-6 lead with 4:22 left in the half.

"We mixed it up a lot to where Capital was on their heels,'' said Sowards. "We threw something at them they didn't know about, but once they made the adjustment, that didn't work anymore.''

For the night, Johnson was 6-for-22 for 131 yards but threw four interceptions. Davis picked off two, and Tyrus Harvey and Allen had one each. Allen also returned the second-half kickoff 59 yards.

"Nitro played tremendously hard,'' said Woolwine. "They were well-prepared. Nitro did a nice job. They had a good scheme against us.''

Kennedy led the Nitro ground game with 33 yards on 14 carries. Chandler added 19 on four tries.

Reach Mike Whiteford at 348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.