Philly Guyz in Minnesota

National FB News . . . (Phew!!)

By DOUG HUFF
StudentSportsFootball.com Senior Writer

   Mingo County in southern West Virginia may be known
nationally for the bitter coal field feuds between the
Hatfield and McCoy clans.
   Bordering northern Kentucky, the area isn't a
stranger to controversy in political elections, coal
mining incidents and, now, high school football.
   The center of the latest flap is Matewan High School,
a small Class A school, and its fleet-footed 5-foot-9,
170-pound senior running back Paul McCoy.
   In the season opening game at Hi Hat, Ky., Matewan
outlasted host Shelby Valley High of Pikeville, Ky.,
in a come-from-behind 48-43 victory. The Pikeville
News-Express newspaper staffed the game and recorded
McCoy with 28 carries for 440 yards and six
touchdowns.
   When the game was reported, by telephone, to
Matewan's hometown paper, the Williamson (W.Va.) Daily
News, McCoy was credited with 537 rushing yards on 33
carries. The yardage total would have broken the
listed state record of 460 yards.
   However, a film review of the game revealed the
accurate total of 440 yards.
   Controversy number one.
   Number two came a few weeks later when the W. Va.
Secondary School Activities Commission ordered
unbeaten Matewan to forfeit three of its first four
wins because of use of an ineligible player, Garrett
Epling, who transferred from nearby Belfry, Ky.
   Last Thursday, the SSAC reduced the number of
forfeited games to two and restored Epling's
eligibility. Matewan (4-2, 6-0 on field) plans to
appeal the ruling.
   A day later, on Friday, controversy number three
occurred.
   Matewan routed winless Mingo County rival Burch (0-6)
by 64-0 as 21-year Matewan coach Dan (Yogi) Kinder
left McCoy in the game deep in the fourth quarter as
he scored a state record-tying 10 touchdowns and
rushed 29 times for a state mark of 658 yards. His 10
TDs covered 477 yards and he also had a 77-yard TD run
nullified by penalty.
   The totals were verified by a Williamson Daily News
reporter staffing the game.
   With 6:05 left in the game, McCoy had 430 yards and
seven TDs. He added TD runs of 84, 87 and 25 yards
with his final score coming with 4:30 remaining
against a team which dressed less than 20 players.
   Kinder defended his decision to leave McCoy in the
game and run up the score.
   "All the turmoil we've had the last couple of weeks,
we just wanted to come out and prove a point. Why
should there be any guilty feelings?" Kinder said.
"Our school's smaller than they are. Why should I
punish my kids for having a pretty good team? We're
going to score 60 points if Paul doesn't even get on
the bus."
   Kinder, who also teaches at Burch High, said he'll
have no problem going back to work. "I show up every
Monday after we beat them," he said.
   Controversy number four came when it was reported in
local media, which was picked up by some national
media, that McCoy's 658-yard rushing effort set a
national record. It cited a listed record by the
National Federation of State High School Associations
as 619 yards set by Ronney Jenkins of Hueneme High of
Oxnard, Calif., in 1995. Many newspapers around the
country also reported through an Associated Press
story that McCoy's 10 TDs ranks in a tie for second
all-time nationally.
   However, the listed national standard by Student
Sports is 739 yards set by John Giannantonio of
Netcong, N.J., vs. Mountain Lakes in 1950.
   McCoy's 658-yard game would rank No. 2 on the
national charts and his 10-TD effort actually doesn't
come close to the national record that Student Sports
lists. In fact, 13 other 10-TD scorers are listed
behind eight players who scored 11 in a game, four who
scored 12, one with 13 and two with a record 14-TD
game.
   On Sunday, a follow-up story was released around the
nation on the Associated Press wire about McCoy's
national record, including information that the record
was disputed.
   Also, Jenkins' 619-yard single game best also came in
a 52-34 victory against Rio Mesa of Oxnard. It was a
performance in which his needed just about every one
of those yards to get the victory.
   Single game records can often provide the most
amazing totals, but it's equally important in
reporting on them to relate details about how long
those players were in the game and whether the coach
should at least be open to criticism about
questionable sportsmanship.
                               XXX
   EDITOR'S NOTE: Doug Huff is the national rankings and
records editor for Student Sports and is the original
compiler of national high school records in football
and boys basketball. The National Federation of State
High School Associations began its own multi-sport
record book with Huff's compilations as the starting
point for those two sports.