NITRO'S RALLY FALLS SHORT RIVERSIDE ESCAPES WITH WILD 49-45 WIN

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 10/19/2002
Page: 1B
Headline: NITRO'S RALLY FALLS SHORT RIVERSIDE ESCAPES WITH WILD 49-45 WIN
Byline: RICK RYAN

rickryan@wvgazette.com

Against almost any other team, you'd figure a 21-point lead with less than a quarter to play would be sufficient.

But not against Nitro. And Dick Whitman knew it. Riverside's coach had the look of a man whose life had flashed in front of his eyes.

Quarterback Kashif "Chiefy" Ealey and tailback Rusty Taylor each ran for more than 160 yards, but the fifth-ranked Warriors were taken to the limit Friday night before pulling out a wild 49-45 Homecoming victory over visiting Nitro.

"We came out on the right side," Whitman said. "That's the one good thing."

The 19th-ranked Wildcats (3-5), fighting for their playoff lives, battled back from a 41-20 deficit early in the fourth quarter.

Senior quarterback Derek Midkiff threw four of his five touchdown passes in the final 10:41, including a 9-yarder to freshman Chris Fulmer that brought Nitro within 41-39 with 4:14 remaining.

Midkiff would finish 31-of-50 through the air for 481 yards with five TDs and one interception. Fulmer grabbed 18 passes for 266 yards and three scores.

"We felt comfortable about moving the ball," said Nitro coach Scott Tinsley, "but we had to find a way to stop their great athletes. Chiefy Ealey and Rusty Taylor are just a dynamic combination. They can fly. You can't simulate that kind of speed in practice. You just can't get a bead on 'em."

Riverside (7-1) appeared to ice the victory when Ealey found tight end Josh Hughes with a 23-yard scoring pass on third-and-1 with 62 seconds left.

"We were going to give it to our fullback [T.J. Richards]," Ealey said, "but coach told me if there was no safety in the middle of the field, to hit Hughes instead. There was no safety, so I threw it over the middle to Hughes."

The play-action call surprised virtually everyone in the stadium, as most felt the Warriors would simply try to milk the clock with a running play. Riverside, after all, ran for 391 yards. But Hughes caught the ball 10 yards behind every defender and walked into the end zone.

"Coach [Ralph] Hensley made the call," Whitman said. "We had a dive called for the fullback, but [since] we had two downs to make the first, we also had the option for a check-off, and Chiefy ran the check-off because they really weren't covering the tight end. We wanted to take advantage of what they were giving us."

After Ealey ran for the two-point conversion, Riverside bumped its lead to 49-39. But the good feeling would last all of, well, 14 seconds.

Nitro's Chris McGhee returned the ensuing kickoff to his own 38. On first down, Midkiff wound up and hit senior James Kessler, who had somehow worked his way behind the Warriors secondary, with a 72-yard scoring bomb.

The Wildcats then tried their fourth onside kick of the final quarter, but Hughes tipped it out of bounds and Riverside ran out the remaining 45 seconds.

After giving up 247 passing yards and four TD tosses in the final quarter alone, Whitman didn't exactly feel the glow of victory.

"I'm not real happy that we gave up 45 points," Whitman said. "Offensively, we played well, but we know we made mistakes that we've got to get corrected. All you have to do against Nitro is make one mistake - and we made several. They were simple coverage calls, [but] we had no one within 30 yards of the receiver sometimes. There's no excuse for that."

In a 56-28 loss to Riverside last year, Midkiff threw for 327 yards and three TDs.

"He'd be an All-American if he played every game against us," Whitman said.

Riverside wasn't without its offensive heroes.

Even with minus-8 yards on kneeldowns to run out the clock, Ealey ended up with 164 yards and two TDs on 19 carries. His scoring runs covered 67 and 13 yards, both in the second quarter as Riverside earned a 27-20 halftime lead. He also completed 6-of-11 passes for 85 and two scores with one interception.

Taylor, meanwhile, carried 21 times for 161 yards and three TDs on runs of 10, 15 and 17 yards. Richards added 66 yards on 13 attempts.

After Nitro had whittled its deficit to 41-32 with 6:36 to go, an animated Ealey called for a team huddle on the sidelines.

"I had to get the team together," he said. "Nitro got us out of our game. It's my job to get us to where we need to be."

Nitro's McGhee managed just 57 yards and one TD on a dozen carries, but also had an interception and a solid game on defense, and often gave Midkiff a few extra seconds to throw by picking up blitzing pass rushers.

"We don't believe in moral victories," Tinsley said, "but I don't hesitate to tell you how proud I am of the effort our kids gave tonight. I'm sure they have to be down, because I'm down."