DUPONT'S BLAZING START BURNS NITRO
Publication: THE
Published: 10/24/1987
Page: P
Headline: DUPONT'S BLAZING START BURNS NITRO
Byline: GREG STONE
DuPont's offense struck like lightning in the first half, then
resembled a smoldering fire in the second, holding the ball for
nearly 10 minutes of the third and fourth quarters in rolling to a
27-8 win over Nitro at Underwood Field.
Tyrone Pierce, who rushed 19 times for 142 yards, supplied the
lightning, scoring all the Panthers' touchdowns, three
from scrimmage
and one on a 63-yard punt return. The four scores gave Pierce, the
KVC scoring leader, 16 touchdowns for the season.
But it was Pierce's punt return at the 8:17 mark of
the first
half that demoralized the 'Cats. With the Panthers up 14-0 in the
second quarter, Pierce took the ball on the run at his own 37, headed
toward the middle of the field, then flared out to the right
sideline, breaking several tackles along the way.
The return followed a 93-yard drive one Panther series earlier
. Pierce capped it by bursting 28 yards off the left sideline. The
5-foot-8, 160-pound junior used a good block by David Armstrong and
broke a tackle by the Wildcats' Matt McNeel on his
way to the end
zone. The score came with 11:20 left in the first half.
After the return, Nitro put together a 15-play, 84-yard drive
that took 6:10. Quarterback Scott Dixon, who went 8-for-20 for 119
yards, completed two 15-yarders to McNeel on the
march. Fullback
Bret Caldwell went over from the one with 1:59 left in the half.
snap from center at the 1:59 mark of the first half.
"We dominated a good bit in the second quarter,' said Wildcat
coach Pat Vance, who saw his team's record drop to 4-4. "But that
punt return broke our back. When DuPont needed it, they rose up and
got it.'
Coach Dick Whitman of fourth-ranked DuPont, which raised its
record to 7-1, wasn't ecstatic.
"We'll take the win,' Whitman said. "Nitro's a good football
team. When we got up 21-0, our kids got a little flat. We should've
buried them then, but we got a little soft on defense and lost our
concentration.'
With a 21-8 halftime edge, DuPont used its smoldering tactics in
the second half, marching for its final score in 20 plays. Pierce
finished off the grinding drive, which featured only four passes, by
bulling over McNeel and Ray Shamblin
for his fourth TD.
"It's hard for a defense to get hold of a back when the line's
blowing holes,' Pierce said. "You have to give credit where
credit's due. The line was knocking them back three or four yards at
a pop. Anybody can run like that.'
The Panthers got their first score with 7:37 left in the first
quarter, scoring in five plays from 33 yards out. Pierce skirted left
end from the eight.
Armstrong punted well for the Panthers, averaging 41.7 yards on
three kicks.
DuPont takes on undefeated and second-ranked
Saturday night at Laidley Field in one of the
season's biggest games,
while Nitro travels to 5-3 East Bank.