NITRO COMES ALIVE, BUT IT'S TOO LATE
Publication:
Published: 01/01/1999
Page: P1B
Headline: NITRO COMES ALIVE, BUT IT'S TOO LATE
Byline: NOT AVAILABLE
JACOB MESSER
By JACOB MESSER
FOR THE DAILY MAIL
What the Wildcats
could have used is two more quarters.
Neither junior Jason Ward
nor freshman Derek Midkiff could get the
Nitro offense going during the first three quarters against an
impressive
and four first downs to the Wildcats before the fourth stanza.
"In the first three
quarters," Ward said, "we weren't executing when
we should have been and weren't making big plays when we could have."
Instead, the Wildcats
waited until the fourth quarter to gain 183 of
their 272 total yards and score all 18 of their points in a 23-18 loss
to
Stadium.
In a battle of Mountain
State Athletic Conference foes vying for
position for the Class AAA playoffs, the No. 14 Highlanders improved
to 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the conference and the No. 16 Wildcats fell
to 5-3 overall and in the MSAC.
"What a day,"
Nitro Coach Robert "Little" Burdette said with a sigh
outside the visiting locker room. "I have no idea what the difference
was between the first three quarters and the last. I just don't know."
The difference was the way
the Wildcats attacked.
Nitro used a balance of
running and passing in the first three
quarters, but amassed a paltry 70 yards on the ground and a measly 19
through the air. Running back Chris Creamer, who entered the game as
the leading rusher in the conference with 1,021 yards on 151 carries,
was held to 37 yards on 13 attempts Friday.
"We tried to stick
with what we did to be 5-2 entering the game,"
Burdette said of Nitro's balanced offense that was averaging 32.4
points per game before Friday. "We just weren't successful."
Burdette
credits that to the Highlander defense, which used a
combination of 4-3 and 5-3 schemes to contain the Wildcats.
"Hats off to
the receivers or overthrows by the quarterbacks cost Nitro three
touchdowns in the first half. "Both teams entered the game needing a
win. They just came out and beat us."
But not
without a fight.
Facing a 23-0 deficit with
about six minutes left, Nitro mounted a
furious rally in the fourth quarter after switching to its no-huddle
offense, dropping its running game and going to its passing attack.
In their no-huddle offense,
the Wildcats attempted 26 of their 37
passes in the final stanza compared to only four of their 23 rushes on
the night. Sending in plays to his quarterback with hand signals,
Nitro Offensive Coordinator Scott Tinsley attacked the Highlander
defense by mixing short and long passes.
Ward threw for 118 yards
and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver
Jeff Clark, who did not make a reception in the first three quarters,
caught six passes for 134 yards and all three Nitro scores in the
final period.
"We started being too
generous too early," veteran Huntington Coach
Bob Sang said. "We lost momentum and they gained it. You can't do
that, especially against this team. They're the scrappiest bunch we've
played all season. They never gave up."
That refusal to quit
impressed Burdette, as did his team's execution
of the no-huddle offense.
"If there is any
bright spot in this game," he said, "it's that we
didn't stop playing. We were successful with the no-huddle offense and
our performance tonight with it definitely gave us some confidence,
but at some point we have to be able to line it up and run the ball if
we want to be effective and win
games."