GAME OF THE WEEK NITRO-HURRICANE:
Publication: THE
Published: 09/06/2002
Page: 1B
Headline: GAME OF THE WEEK NITRO-HURRICANE:
Byline: RICK RYAN
rickryan@wvgazette.com
Everyone knows that when you play Nitro, you'd better be geared up for a
high-scoring explosion of offense. Maybe.
The Wildcats, who yielded an average of 39 points to their opponents
last year, opened up the season much in the same manner with a 39-36 victory at
Herbert Hoover, which gained 333 yards.
But mistakes put Nitro in a hole early in that game and the Wildcats
defense did make a crucial stop on
So what does that mean when Hurricane drops in to Underwood Field for tonight's
visit with Nitro?
"We gave up 36 points," said Nitro coach Scott Tinsley, "but I
felt like our defense played a lot better. We put our defense in bad situations
with some turnovers in the kicking game and that gave
"We got the stop at the end and that's a situation where, last year, when
we had to stop someone, we weren't able to do it. Hopefully, it's a sign of
good things to come."
When these same two teams met last year, the offense was moderate in Nitro's
27-14 victory. Hurricane managed just 55 yards rushing and 215 in all.
Meanwhile, Nitro tailback Chris McGhee scooted for 258 yards and three
touchdowns on 36 carries and caught two passes for 20 yards and another score.
"We couldn't tackle him last year when he was a junior," said
Hurricane coach Gary Eggleton. "Really, he was
probably the one who ended up beating us."
McGhee and quarterback Derek Midkiff picked up where
they left off last year in Nitro's opener. McGhee ran for 117 yards and three TDs and returned a kickoff 86 yards for a score, while Midkiff threw for 271 yards and two TDs.
"They're going to put some points on the board," Eggleton
said. "If you just had to defend the pass or the run, it would be easier. But when you have both, that makes it tougher."
Hurricane flashed a strong defense in its opener, a 15-6 win against Capital,
holding the Cougars to seven first downs and 173 net yards. The only letdown
was a 48-yard scoring burst by freshman tailback Seanteau
Page.
"The big thing when you're playing Hurricane is that you have to go
against Gary Eggleton's defense," Tinsley said.
"You have to find ways to get points of your own. He's one of the best
defensive coaches in the state, and he doesn't get nearly enough credit that he
deserves.
"They say offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships, and
Eggleton expects to have no problems getting his team
back to earth following last week's important victory over a program like
Capital, a three-time state champion.
"That's what we told them last year when we beat Capital [43-14]," Eggleton said. "Everybody on up until Thursday the
next week was telling our kids: 'Great game last week.' We tried to tell them
that we're used to beating Capital now. We don't want to think we've won the
state title or something - and we've tried to get the fans to understand that,
too.
"We want to get the focus back on Nitro, because they've kicked out butts
in the first half three straight years and we lost to them last year.
Hopefully, we'll get a better start. We've got to move the ball and put more
points on the board. We'll have to do some things offensively, because it's
tough to hold that pack [from Nitro] to a TD."
Hurricane picked up only 150 yards of offense and eight first downs against
Capital last week, with just 35 yards in the air from sophomore quarterback
Mike Williams, a transfer from George Washington. The top runner for the
Redskins was backup fullback Dustin Bodkins, who had 57 yards and one TD on
seven carries.