NITRO STEPS DOWN, STANDS TALL MCGHEE SCORES 4 TDS IN 51-0 WIN OVER LOGAN

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 10/12/2002
Page: 1B
Headline: NITRO STEPS DOWN, STANDS TALL MCGHEE SCORES 4 TDS IN 51-0 WIN OVER LOGAN
Byline: RICK RYAN

rickryan@wvgazette.com

After running the gauntlet of playing four straight top 10 teams, Nitro didn't mind stepping down in class Friday. And the Wildcats didn't mind getting down and dirty, either.

Senior running back Chris McGhee ran for 211 yards and four touchdowns at soggy Underwood Field, lifting Nitro to a 51-0 Homecoming victory over visiting Logan.

McGhee, who carried the ball just a dozen times, scored on runs of 37, 61, 7 and 26 yards - all in the first half as Nitro built a 30-0 lead at the break. He seemed to have no trouble navigating the muddy playing field, but Logan's defenders sure did.

"I'd like to look at [McGhee's] cleats and see what he had in there," said Logan coach George Barker. "He moved a whole lot better than we did.

"We couldn't play on that field at all. Our linebackers couldn't get out of their stances. The effort was there, but our kids' feet were stuck in the mud and theirs weren't. Nitro played a good game and they whipped us up front, but I'd like to play them again on a dry field just to see if they're that much better than us."

McGhee said his success in the slop was simply action beating reaction.

"It's a matter of me knowing earlier than they do where I'm going," he said. "They have to react to my cut."

Nitro coach Scott Tinsley said the playing conditions on Friday were actually better than his team's two previous games - at Parkersburg South and a home match with University.

"If you can get used to playing in the mud," he said, "then I guess our kids were."

Nitro racked up 537 yards of offense, including 301 passing. Senior quarterback Derek Midkiff hit on 18-of-31 attempts for 282 yards and one score, a 60-yard hookup with Ryan Meadows, who turned a short slant into a long gainer.

The host Wildcats (3-4) also received a 4-yard scoring pass from backup quarterback Lance Ervin to freshman Chris Fulmer, a 3-yard TD rumble by 300-pound Greg Eads and a safety when Eads tackled Logan tailback Brian Knox in the end zone.

The safety was set up when McGhee blasted a 46-yard punt that rolled to the Logan 1. Eads played the game with a number "2" taped to his helmet in tribute to younger brother Holden Eads, a starting defensive back who was seriously injured in an ATV accident two weeks ago.

Logan (3-3), which entered the game ranked No. 16 in Class AA, managed to gain just 130 yards, with 55 of those coming on a final drive that fizzled at the Nitro 4 as the game ended.

Brandon Adkins carried 15 times for 39 yards and Brian Knox 13 times for 31 yards for Logan. Mike Manuel completed 4-of-11 passes for 39 yards. Logan certainly didn't beat itself, having only one penalty for 5 yards and not committing a turnover.

Jonathan Godby gave the visiting Wildcats good field position thrice in the first half when he returned three kickoffs for a total of 110 yards. But those possessions petered out on downs at Nitro's 21, 30 and 27. Godby also had three catches for 21 yards.

Logan dropped to Class AA status this fall after spending several seasons in the Class AAA Mountain State Athletic Conference. But it was too late to change its schedule, which included six games this year against MSAC schools.

"They wouldn't let us out of the contract," Barker said. "We didn't have any control over it. I wish we'd had control over the part that said we were supposed to play football."

That was OK with Nitro, which was coming off a four-game stretch of playing No. 9 George Washington, No. 8 Ripley, No. 1 University and No. 4 Parkersburg South. Those four Class AAA teams are a combined 24-3.

"We've been playing a lot of top 10 teams," McGhee said, "and we haven't had the chance to run the ball a lot. We'd get behind and have to throw."

Nitro still hasn't give up on securing a playoff berth of its own. The Wildcats close out with Riverside, South Charleston and St. Albans.

"Our playoffs started tonight," McGhee said. "If we lose one, we're out. If we play like we can, especially on offense, there's no doubt in my mind that we can't do it."