NITRO STEAMROLLS IN
Publication: THE
Published: 10/09/1999
Page: P1B
Headline: NITRO STEAMROLLS IN
Byline: ANDY HANSROTH
Nitro's running game - and its passing game - could not be stopped as
it won its Homecoming matchup 52-8 against
Wildcats.
Senior running back Chris Creamer
dominated the contest with a stellar
performance that included 241 yards on 21 carries and three rushing
touchdowns. His TDs came on runs of 15, 4 and 31 yards.
Creamer carried eight times
for 105 yards and two TDs in the first
quarter alone, including his longest carry of the game - a 49-yard run
- followed by a 15-yard TD for Nitro's first score.
Starting quarterback Jason
Ward, a junior, said afterward: "Chris
Creamer is unbelievable. He's a great runner who's never going to get
stopped in the backfield.'
Ward had a night almost as
impressive as Creamer's. He connected on
5-of-10 passes for 116 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown pass to
senior receiver Jeff Clark in the second quarter.
six receptions for 123 yards, while Ward was not sacked and threw no
interceptions.
"We're playing to the
best of our ability right now,' Ward said.
Creamer agreed.
"Everybody on this
team is doing a great job right now,' Creamer
said. "Everything is just going so great, it couldn't get any
better.'
Well, he took that back
almost as soon as he said it, adding that it
could be better if Nitro could win its next game against
and then Capital.
"I think we have a
good chance,' he said.
Nitro coach Robert
"Little' Burdette said he wasn't quite as
optimistic as his players, and wouldn't look past
week. But Burdette likes what he saw from his players Friday night.
"This was kind of a
momentum-building game,' he said. "I'm surprised
it came out the way it did, but it'll give us some momentum going into
the
Burdette says Nitro is
tougher to defend this year than it was during
the J.R. House era - because the Wildcats have both an effective
running and passing game.
"I was pleased when we
came out and scored on our very first
possession,' he said. "We normally don't score that early, and to get
30 points in the first half - you've got to be pleased with that.'
Burdette said Creamer's
early success in the game set the pace for the
rest of the contest.
"I don't want to
overlook the defense, either,' he said, "because
they did a great job. I don't think they could have played much
better.' Nitro held Logan to just 144 yards of total offense.
How about an unsung hero of
the game? Burdette said he thinks college
recruiters should be looking hard at senior offensive-defensive
lineman Rob Henson.
"I challenge anybody
to find a better lineman than Henson,' Burdette
said. "He hasn't been blocked, and there isn't anybody he hasn't
blocked. He came in here as a skinny little ninth-grader and now he's
a real fine player.'
Henson recovered a Logan
fumble just before halftime. He returned it
88 yards for an apparent touchdown, which would have been his first
career TD, but it was called back for a penalty. The Wildcats turned
that recovery into a touchdown anyway - with Ward's 40-yard pass to
Clark.
Junior running back Chuck
Pauley had a big game for Nitro, too. Pauley
carried seven times for 63 yards and a pair of touchdowns from 14 and
22 yards out.
Logan's only touchdown was
scored on its third possession, when Allen
Rushden carried it in from 14 yards out.
Nitro improved to 5-2.
Logan dropped to 3-4.
Nitro played without one
its top receivers and defensive backs,
Clarence Joyner, who has been indefinitely suspended from the team.