TINSLEY SAW 2-0 START AS ESSENTIAL
FOR NITRO NEXT FOUR OPPONENTS CONSIDERED TOP-10 MATERIAL PREP FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Publication: THE
Published: 09/10/2002
Page: 3B
Headline: TINSLEY SAW 2-0 START AS ESSENTIAL FOR NITRO NEXT FOUR OPPONENTS
CONSIDERED TOP-10 MATERIAL PREP FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK
Byline: RICK RYAN
rickryan@wvgazette.com
The way Scott Tinsley sees it, his Nitro football team
had no other choice but to win its first two games.
The Wildcats' season-opening victories against Herbert Hoover and Hurricane may
have surprised plenty of other people in the
"I felt we had to be 2-0," Tinsley said following a 38-12 win over
Hurricane, "with the tough schedule we have ahead of us."
Starting with Friday's game against George Washington (1-1), Nitro faces four
straight opponents that are considered top-10 material in Class AAA - GW,
Ripley (2-0), University (2-0) and Parkersburg South (2-0). A
date with
"We'll find out in the coming weeks where we stand," Tinsley said.
Nitro hasn't made the playoffs since winning the Class AAA championship in
1998. The Wildcats may yet defy the odds and do so, even with a defense
that allowed 39 points per game to opponents last year.
"You could see the difference [on defense] this year at the first day of
practice," Tinsley said, "when we got 11 people going to the ball.
Last year, we didn't get a complete effort out of our guys, for whatever
reason."
Nitro gave up just 191 yards and one offensive touchdown to Hurricane, which
picked up 90 yards and its lone offensive score on a last-minute drive.
But that still doesn't satisfy Nitro's players, who will be underdogs again
Friday against invading GW.
"We've got a lot of room for improvement," said senior running back
Chris McGhee, who has rushed for 286 yards and five TDs.
"We need to get better before we play GW. We need to eliminate the
turnovers. We need to eliminate the penalties. We've got to step up our game a
lot."