By DEREK TAYLOR

CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL

 

CHARLESTON — By now, many high school football fans in West Virginia might think they have a good impression of Capital senior Kashuan Haley.

 

Loud, confident and intimidating are words that come to mind when describing the running back. Capital coach Jon Carpenter, who has worked with Haley for four years, said there’s more to it than all that.

 

Significantly more.

 

“He’s a good kid. He’s tall, a good-looking kid, but last year I told him, ‘You need to get a mirror and see what God’s blessed you with,’”

Carpenter said. “Yeah, he’s a little bit flamboyant than most players, but really I think it’s a character he’s created to convince himself he’s good enough to play.”

 

Haley did a solid job in convincing himself of his abilities in 2014, leading Capital to its first Class AAA state championship since 1995 with a 13-0 record by rushing for 1,726 yards and 27 touchdowns on just 160 carries. For his performance this season the West Virginia Sports Writers Assocaition has named Haley the winner of the inaugural Curt Warner Award, granted to the state’s top running back.

 

The award is one of six new individual awards given by the WVSWA, and follows the announcement of the Fulton Walker and Chuck Howley awards given to the state’s top special teams player and linebacker, respectively. The top wide receiver will be announced Thursday, the top quarterback Friday and top defensive back on Saturday. All award winners will be honored at the annual Victory Awards Dinner in the spring.

 

Haley, who was an All-State selection as a junior while being the state’s top rusher among underclassmen, entered 2014 as the expected focal point to Capital’s offense but was almost non-existant in the Cougars’ season-opening win against Riverside.

A week later at Princeton, however, Haley was in high gear. After one of five touchdown runs in a nine-carry, 204-yard showing in a 49-14 rout, Carpenter assured Haley, “You’re the best running back in the state of West Virginia, man.”

 

Carpenter clarified the statement three months later.

 

“I didn’t say that to brag,” Carpenter said. “I wanted to say it to Kashuan because, look, even coming up through middle school he’s always been ahead of his peers physically, but he’s been through a lot. So he’s created this guy that he is on the field, the guy fans and people like that see, a Deion Sanders, Brian Bosworth type.”

 

Haley finished with his high rushing total while missing two-and-a-half games from Capital’s regular-season schedule. He injured his knee in the first half of the Cougars’ regular-season win against South Charleston and subsequently missed the team’s next game, against Huntington. He also lost a game against Woodrow Wilson when the Mountain State Athletic Conference failed to schedule officials to referee that contest in October.

 

The award is named after 1978 Kennedy Award winner Curt Warner, who starred at Pineville High School before going on to win the 1982 national championship while at Penn State. He went on to star with the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football league, playing in three Pro Bowls and being named All-Pro once, in 1987.

 

Warner, Penn State’s all-time leading rusher, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.