COUGARS TAKE CHARGE IN 41-12 WIN
OVER NITRO
Publication:
Published: 09/12/1992
Page: P 3B
Headline: COUGARS TAKE CHARGE IN 41-12 WIN OVER NITRO
Byline: WILBUR JENKINS FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Nitro public address announcer Rusty Casto said it
best:
"I don't think if we had Underdog at a linebacker position, we
could stop Capital.'
He was right. Even though the Wildcats stymied the running game
of the mighty Cougars, they still had to contain Capital's Cunningham
brothers.
Which they didn't in a 41-12 loss to undefeated Capital at
Underwood Field Friday.
Cougars' quarterback Varian Cunningham threw the football well
and brother Donald make life miserable for Nitro with
his pass
receiving and special teams play.
"We shut the run down pretty well tonight, huh?' said Nitro
head coach Greg Cyrus, who hoped his team's new-found speed might
prove helpful against the Cougars. "We missed a few assignments
here and there but playing the big game does make you nervous.'
Donald Cunningham got things rolling, taking the opening kickoff
to the Nitro 43. Brother Varian then hooked up with Jonathan Ford and
Brian Berry on 17- and 25-yard passes before Ford ran 6 yards for
what would be the first of many Capital scores on the night.
"We threw the ball better tonight,' said Capital head coach
Roger Jefferson,' whose team improved to 3-0. "He (Varian) did a
nice job making good decisions.'
Nitro, on its opening drive, moved the football to Capital's 20
but stalled out when quarterback Joey Javins' pass
was picked off by
Ford at the 10.
Capital came right back with a touchdown as Varian hit Donald on
a 40-yard play to make it 14-0.
"It was just a little slant pass and the free safety was
playing somewhere in the middle,' Donald said. "Overall I felt
pretty good with my performance.'
The Cougars, No. 2 in Class AAA in the latest Daily Mail poll,
struck again in the second quarter on a 9-yard run by
touchdown was set up when Capital's Buster Bishop recovered a Nitro
fumble at the Wildcats' 19.
Fullback Gene Armstrong then rumbled for 13 yards down to the
six. Armstrong finished as Capital's leading rusher with 27 yards on
five carries.
"Varian beat us,' said Cyrus, whose team dropped to 2-1. "We
made him throw the ball and he stayed in there. Sometimes our
linemen got to him and he was on his can a couple of times.'
One bright spot for Nitro was running back Josh Bailey, who
picked up the slack on offense with 73 yards on nine attempts. He
scored twice in the second half.
"I think we played up to our potential,' said Varian, who
finished with 150 yards passing. He completed seven of 15 attempts
The second half for Capital wasn't unlike the first.
The
Cougars scored at will. Ford added another TD on a 9-yard run; Ed
Houston scored from 2 yards out and Derrick Tyson completed the
scoring with a 5-yard run.
Bailey scored Nitro's two TDs on runs of 3 and 15
yards.
Capital travels to Brooke next week for a showdown between the
state's No.1 and No. 2 teams.