by Jim Vertuno
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLESTON -- Eddie Flowers, who passed for two touchdowns and the game-winning 2-point conversion in Philip Barbour's victory over Grafton, was named The Associated Press West Virginia high school football player of the week on Monday.
Flowers completed 26 of 40 passes for 267 yards in the 22-21 victory. His pass to John Charnoplosky for the 2-point conversion with 2:06 to play proved the difference in the game.
Other standout performances included:
--Keyser's LaJavious Fagan rushed for 261 yards and five touchdowns in Keyser's 38-8 victory over Bishop Walsh, Md. Fagan's touchdown runs covered 58, 35, 17, 50 and 65 yards.
The first three were on consecutive carries.
--Morgan-town running back Chris Yura rushed for 206 yards and four touchdowns on 22 carries in a 55-20 victory over Fairmont Senior.
--Cameron quarterback Scott Berisford was 5-of-9 passing for 216 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-14 victory over Notre Dame. He also scored on a 2-yard run.
--University quarterback Cody Phillips passed for 266 yards and three touchdowns to lead University past Buckhannon-Upshur 37-18. Phillips also had a rushing touchdown.
--Matewan sophomore running back Fred Horton had 233 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 15 carries -- all in the first half -- in a 42-6 victory over Valley Fayette.
--Williamson's D.J. Vickers had 212 yards total offense and two touchdown receptions in a 34-6 victory over Van.
--Williamson running back Curtis Hight rushed for 145 yards on 14 carries and a pair of touchdowns in the victory over Van.
--Nitro quarterback J.R. House passed for 448 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-20 victory over George Washington.
Players of the week are nominated by state sports writers.
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LOSERS NO MORE: The end of South Charleston's nine-game losing streak rested on the foot of kicker Pat Steele.
Steele delivered with a 24-yard field with no time left to give the Black Eagles a 38-35 victory.
Ripley led 21-7 before South Charleston stormed back behind Tony Green's 235 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
The teams combined to score 24 points in the fourth quarter that ended with Steele's heroics.
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OFF AND RUNNING: The race for the Kennedy Award given to the state's best high school player is hitting full stride.
Yura, the 1997 winner who has orally committed to play at Notre Dame, has 521 yards and 14 touchdowns on 58 carries.
House, the 1996 Kennedy winner who is closing on several national high school passing records, is 85-of-134 passing for 1,172 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions.
The two dark horse candidates are running back Tremain Straughter of DuPont and Quincy Wilson of Weir.
Straughter has 414 yards and four touchdowns on 53 carries. Wilson has 603 yards and eight touchdowns on 60 carries.
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After a 10-0 regular season in 1997 and a stunning first-round defeat in the playoffs, Morgantown's preseason motto was "Unfinished Business."
So far this season, Morgantown (3-0) has finished off its opponents rather quickly, including the 55-20 rout of Fairmont Senior.
The early success has created a dilemma for Morgantown coach Glen McNew, who must decide how long to play his starters, including Yura.
"It's a tough decision; it really is," McNew said. "We have to play our kids, because there's going to be some tough games coming up. Then you worry about getting someone hurt, and that's worse than worrying about scoring.
"It's hard. We're going to have to play four quarters pretty soon against somebody, and it's going to be tough on us," he said.
Until then, McNew says he will continue to push his players in practice.
"We work them so hard in practice they have to stay focused. That's an easy job, really," McNew said. "We run them until they drop just about every day."