Cougar Gang Strikes First
By: CJ Harvey
More than 20 days ago the Capital High School football team took the practice field with many questions; will James Richmond come back more aggressive after last season’s rough ending? Can the team move past losing Class AAA all state members, Julian Baker, Mark Latta, and R.J. Symms? But probably the biggest question for Coach Jon Carpenter’s Cougars this season was who is going to start at the quarterback position? Now, one game into the 2012 season, a few more questions have arisen, but thankfully, one question has been answered.
Last night our home town Capital High School Cougars took a long trip down south the visit the rising Greenbrier East Spartans, with worries on their backs as starting quarterback Carrington Morris was not on the bus making the trip. Freshman Tyhree Pratt would be taking the reins for a team, loaded with speed, waiting to get on the field for the first game of the season. Pratt, an amazing athlete, was not even notified that he would be starting Friday night, until Thursday afternoon at school. The night looked like it might be a long one after Greenbrier East scored on their first play from scrimmage on a 73 yard bomb from quarterback Isaiah Kinder to Cole McClain. Although the nerves of the entire team were going crazy, critics would soon be silenced as Pratt scored on the team’s first drive on a 3 yard quarterback sneak. Minutes later he drove the team down the field again and hit Devon Tyson on a 10 yard pass for another touchdown to go up 14 to 7. Both TDs were in the first quarter. Before the end of the first quarter the Spartans' Tre Morris would rush for a 3 yard touchdown and tie the game 14 to 14. Right out of the gates on the second quarter James Richmond hit a nice hole in the red zone to score an 18 yard touchdown and take back the lead 21 to 14. After that, neither Richmond nor Pratt would look back. The cougars would score 28 straight points to lead the team to a 42 – 21 win over the Spartans.
Although James Richmond had the longest rush of the day, with a 61 yard run for a touchdown and finished with 148 total rushing yards, Pratt was the shining star of the night. Pratt completed 10 of 16 passes for 219 yards in the air, and had 0 interceptions. Apparently no one told Pratt that freshmen are not supposed to tear defenses to shreds. Other major stats included Devon Tyson with 2 catches for 51 yards; Kashaun Haley had 2 rushes for 45 yards; and older brother of Tyhree Pratt, Cliff Pratt, had 1 catch from his brother for 36 yards. For the night Capital ended with 499 total yards, with 0 turnovers. I don’t think anyone would disagree that this is a great start to the season.
Seeing this game was something special. After the first quarter everything on both sides of the ball clicked. Obviously Pratt looked nice, but seeing Richmond run like a gazelle again was beautiful. I was a bit offset that Capital had more penalties against them than I could count. If the team can keep their cool, and use this momentum to carry them onward, this year could be a big one.
Capital gears up for a rough stretch in their next 4 games of the season having 3 of them away. They visit St. Albans, who lost to Riverside 44 – 27. The Cougars return home to play Princeton, who lost to Beckley 31- 14. Then Capital will go on the road against South Charleston, who lost a tough game to George Washington a night ago, and finally travel to Hurricane who recently beat Winfield 44 – 7.
Check back next Saturday for updates and news regarding Capital High Football after the St. Albans game. GO COUGARS!
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