Despite big night, McCoy's 658 yards rushing may not be record

DELBARTON, W.Va. -- Paul McCoy ran for 658 yards in a high school football game and, believe it or not, may not have set a national record with his feat.

The total tops the National Federation of State High School Association's listed record of 619 yards set by Ronney Jenkins of Oxnard, Calif., in 1995. But high school records historian Doug Huff said Saturday the recognized record is 739 yards by John Giannantonio of Netcong, N.J., in 1950, against Mountain Lakes.

McCoy piled up his yardage on just 29 carries -- an average of 22.7 yards per attempt -- and scored 10 touchdowns as Matewan beat Burch 64-0 on Friday. McCoy racked up 477 of his yards scoring on TD runs of runs, which covered 69, 1, 52, 56, 52, 20, 31, 84, 87 and 25 yards.

He also had a 77-yard TD run called back because of a penalty.

"The National Federation book for some reason does not include that (the 739 yards), and I think the reason is there's a formal process for submitting those things," Huff said Saturday. "This school doesn't exist anymore. The papers recognized it. The school had a special ceremony. It's been in my records for years."

McCoy did set a state record with his 658 yards, and his 10 TDs would tie him with two others for the second most nationally. The record is 12, set by Ken Pearson of Hugo, Colo., in 1930.

McCoy, averaging 345 yards per game, has 1,723 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.