No. 1 Highlanders ready to face Cougars
- By DAVID WALSH
- Larry Butcher/for the Herald-Dis
Larry Butcher/For The Herald-Dispatch Huntington comes out of the tunnel as they prepare to take on Brooke in West Virginia high school football on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, at Bob Sang Field at Huntington High School.
HUNTINGTON - Huntington High football coach Billy Seals knows his team will see the same style of play Friday from Capital it saw a year ago.
The catch is the Highlanders can't perform the way they did in 2015 when the Cougars rolled to a 51-14 victory at University of Charleston Stadium at Laidley Field in Charleston.
"We didn't tackle, we didn't make plays in space," Seals said Wednesday prior to practice. "They run a fast break offense. Buddy, we just got taken behind the woodshed. They run the same thing, just different people. Our defense has to play its best football."
Huntington High (4-0) is rated No. 1 in Class AAA makes its third consecutive regular-season visit to Laidley Field to face the Cougars (3-1) and rated No. 6. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday.
The Highlanders are coming off a 28-6 win last week at Parkersburg. The Highlanders followed a familiar script to victory with a strong running game - Jadon Hayes ran for a school-record 232 yards and scored twice - and winning time of possession and field position thanks to the special teams while limiting turnovers to one.
"We have to do what we've been doing," Seals said. "The kicking game will be big in this one."
The Highlanders have senior Cason Kessinger, who's 11-for-11 on extra points, 2-for-3 on field goals (including a school-record 53-yarder against Spring Valley) and averages 36.9 yards per punt with seven inside the 20-yard line.
Capital is coming off a 42-23 home win over Cabell Midland. The Cougars trailed 17-13 at halftime, then came alive in the second half behind senior back Silas Nazario. He racked up 136 of his 151 yards and scored two touchdowns after having just two carries and one pass reception in the opening half. He piled up 189 yards rushing and scored four times in the 2015 contest.
At quarterback, sophomore Kerry Martin runs the offense after playing wide receiver a year ago. He took over from Tyrhee Pratt, who won the Kennedy Award as the state player of the year and signed to play at Conference USA member Charlotte.
"Silas is a really good kid who can take it the distance anywhere on the field," Seals said. "Martin's done a nice job. He's got a really strong arm. He's a really good athlete. Experience is the only dropoff from him and Tyrhee."
Martin threw for 132 yards and one TD against Cabell Midland. Against Parkersburg a week earlier, he ran for 71 yards and two scores and completed 16-of-25 passes for 228 yards and a TD in a 41-19 victory.
On defense, Capital has senior standout Dorian Etheridge at outside linebacker. He's given a verbal commitment to No.3-ranked Louisville.
"They've been a dominant football team," Seals said of the Cougars, who lost to Wheeling Park in the Class AAA state title game last year. "They're down to Midland at the half, then Nazario made some plays in the third and fourth quarters. They like the big play. They can score a bunch of points in a short period of time. They get on those runs. Big play, three and out on defense, big play again and you look up and you're down 14-0 before you look up. You have to play catchup. You don't want to play that way."
The question for Capital is who will start for the Highlanders at quarterback. Brandt Adkins took over from Luke Zban when the sophomore injured an ankle against Spring Valley. Zban dressed last week. Seals said it will be a game-time decision on who starts.
"He (Zban) moved around a little bit yesterday," Seals said. "I'm sure they (Capital coaches) will prepare for both. You kind of have to."
Friday's game has a traveling trophy that goes to the winner. It's "Play for The Bell" between the rivals. Capital has possession after winning the past two meetings.
