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SPORTS
SC's Harris spoils Seals' HHS debut
more stats to come. ...
SOUTH CHARLESTON -- South Charleston quarterback Tyler Harris didn't exactly roll out the welcome mat Friday night for first-year Huntington High football head coach Billy Seals.
Harris threw for 227 yards and three scores in the first half and accounted for five touchdowns total in the Black Eagles' 40-10 win over Huntington High at Oakes Field in the season opener.
"The bottom line is that we made some mistakes and South Charleston didn't," Seals said. "They took advantage of our mistakes. South Charleston is a better football than we are right now."
Harris completed four of his first five passes with three going for scores and rushed for a 10-yard score to push South Charleston to a 33-0 lead with 7:16 remaining in the first half to put a quick end to any thoughts of an upset by the Highlanders.
The junior quarterback constantly put pressure on the Huntington High defense with both his arm and his legs. He finished with 358 all-purpose yards -- 230 through the air and 128 on the ground.
"The Harris kid is everything that everyone has cracked him up to be," Seals said. "He's the real deal."
While Harris led South Charleston's offense with ease, Huntington High struggled out of the gate against the pressure defense of the Black Eagles.
Quarterback Tyler Hutchison faced constant pressure all night, and the pressure disrupted the Highlanders' ability to get into their offensive sets.
It was the first game for Huntington High in a new offense, and South Charleston coach John Messinger made sure to make it as uncomfortable as possible.
Huntington High finally broke through for a score with just 52 seconds left in the first half when Hutchison showed off both his passing and running ability.
Following a South Charleston punt, Hutchison marched the Highlanders 62 yards in just three plays. He hit Taquan Hayes on a 23-yard strike before scampering 38 yards to give Huntington High its first touchdown of 2009.
Hutchison finished the game 8 of 27 for 114 yards while rushing for 41. Hayes caught three passes for 48 yards to lead the team in receiving.
Despite the lopsided score early, both Seals and Messinger complemented the Highlanders for keeping their focus on getting better throughout the contest.
"Any time you are looking at something new, you have kids on both sides of the ball trying to leave their mark," Messinger said. "I tell you, Huntington is going to win some ball games. At the end of the year, they are not going to be a 1-9 team."
Seals said he told his team at halftime that despite the score, he wanted to play the second half as a new game and see how the team responded.
"I just told our kids to keep competing because I'm going to look at the film and see who I can count on and who's going to quit on me," Seals said. "Our guys competed and I'm proud of them for that. We'll be better because of it."
Tevin Spurlock finished with four catches for 145 yards and a touchdown for South Charleston (1-0).
Huntington High (0-1) returns to action next Friday at Bob Sang Field against Spring Valley.
HUNTINGTON HIGH 0 7 0 3 -- 10
SOUTH CHARLESTON 19 14 7 0 -- 40
SC - Pierria Henry 12 pass from Tyler Harris (kick blocked)
SC - Tevin Spurlock 57 pass from Harris (kick failed)
SC - George Streater 36 INT return (Dakota Sanders kick)
SC - Walter Obey 30 pass from Harris (Sanders kick)
SC - Harris 10 run (Sanders kick)
HH - Hutchison 38 run (Joe St. Clair kick)
SC - Harris 7 run (Sanders kick)
HH - St. Clair 23 FG
