WILDCATS GO DOWN CLAWING AS "GIFTS' HELP CHS

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 09/12/1987
Page: P2B
Headline: WILDCATS GO DOWN CLAWING AS "GIFTS' HELP CHS
Byline: TOM ALUSIE

It is unusual for a Roger Jefferson-coached Charleston High
football team to be confounded on defense. But that is exactly what
happened Friday against a Nitro offense which had Jefferson throwing
up his arms in exasperation on Laidley Field's sidelines.
Charleston, ranked No. 3 in Class AAA in the latest Daily Mail
state poll, defeated the Wildcats 35-14 but the victory was no where
as easy as the final score might indicate.
"I didn't know what to call (on defense),' said Jefferson, who
watched the Mountain Lions improve their record to 3-0. "We were
just lucky we came up with some big plays and our guys hung in
there.'
Charleston scored 21 points in the second quarter and 14 in the
fourth while Nitro, 1-2, pushed across its two touchdowns in the
third and controlled the football for much of the first.
"If you analyze the first half we didn't stop them,' said
Jefferson, whose team led 21-0 after two quarters. "They stopped
themselves. We really had two gifts in the first half. We were
fighting our tails off to stop them.'
"They had two big plays in the first half,' said Nitro head
coach Pat Vance, "and we just felt like we weren't out of the game
. We told the kids at halftime that if you took the those two
plays away it was a 6-0 game.'
Charleston scored its first touchdown when Korey Skidmore picked
off an O.J. Estep fumble in the air with 10:02 to play before the
half and raced 53 yards for a touchdown.
Gift No. 1, according to Jefferson.
Gift No. 2 came on the final play of the first half when
Charleston quarterback Jason Berkley hooked up with John Vickers on a
49-yard touchdown pass. Charleston got the ball on its own 31 with
16 seconds to play before halftime.
Sophomore tailback Al Dean, who led the Mountain Lions with 64
yards rushing, scored Charleston's second touchdown of the first half
on a 3-yard run with 2:25 to play.
Nitro moved the ball well against Charleston's defense in the
first half. The Wildcats' opening drive consumed 51 yards and 11
plays before stalling on the Mountain Lions' 13.
Charleston was playing without all-state candidate Mark Mason at
nose guard. Mason was serving a one-game suspension after being
thrown out of the Mountain Lions' game last week against South
Charleston.
"He was missed,' Jefferson said. "He's our defensive leader
in there and we've got to have him in there when we're playing our
50 defense. You've got to have a good nose guard.'
Vance said Nitro was well aware of Mason's absence and attacked
that part of the Mountain Lions' line.
"We thought we could run the ball inside,' he said. "That's
where we wanted to go _ tackle to tackle.'
Despite what appeared to be a surge of Charleston momentum at
the conclusion of the first half, Nitro exploded at the outset of the
third quarter, scoring two quick touchdowns to make it 21-14.
Greg Bibbee, who led the Wildcats with 99 yards rushing, scored
on a 4-yard run with 8:54 to play in the third quarter.
After a Charleston punt, Nitro drove 75 yards in nine plays with
Estep going the final 2 with 2:42 to play in the quarter. Suddenly
it was 21-14 and Charleston seemed helpless against the Wildcats'
offense.
Nitro's defense, meanwhile, had Charleston's high-powered
offense in a headlock.
"I didn't know what to do,' Jefferson said. "Nothing was
working. They had us on the ropes. We just saved ourselves.'
Charleston junior Travis Ramseur turned in the big play of the
night for the Mountain Lions. Ramseur intercepted a Scott Dixon pass
deep in Charleston territory with 10:00 to play in the fourth quarter
as Nitro was moving for a game-tying TD.
The interception led to another Charleston touchdown _ Tony
Jackson's 3-yard run with 5:04 to play _ and stymied Nitro's comeback
bid.
Berkley ran 45 yards with 2:32 to play for the Mountain Lions'
final score. A 40-yard touchdown run by Charleston's Ford Davis with
2:20 to play was called back by a penalty.
"I thought our kids played hard all night,' said Vance.
"When we got down 35-14 there at the end we might have let up
a little bit. But they gave us a good effort. It was a lot
closer game than 35-14.'
KEY Travis Ramseur turned in the big play for Charleston
against Nitro with a pass interception. RAMSEUR