HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL - WEEK FOUR NITRO ROLLS OVER SV CULBERTSON: 354 YARDS, 5 TDS; FULMER: 20 RECEPTIONS

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 09/17/2005
Page: 1D
Headline: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL - WEEK FOUR NITRO ROLLS OVER SV CULBERTSON: 354 YARDS, 5 TDS; FULMER: 20 RECEPTIONS
Byline: LOWELL CADE FOR THE SATURDAY GAZETTE-MAIL

SPRING VALLEY - Josh Culbertson, Chris Fulmer and Michael Scott were unstoppable Friday night and No. 2-ranked Nitro put on an offensive clinic in a 54-33 romp past winless Spring Valley.

Culbertson, who leads the state in rushing, ran for 354 yards and five touchdowns on just 15 carries. The 5-foot-9, 192-pound senior had scoring runs of 54, 28, 20, 88 and 43 yards.

He's now rushed for 18 TDs and just over 1,250 yards this season.

Nitro (4-0) had 11 possessions and scored on eight of them - including the first four in a row.

Fulmer, a senior wideout who should be on a lot of colleges' shopping lists, had two touchdown catches and 20 total receptions that lifted him to within 27 of a national high school career record. Fulmer's catches went for 280 yards.

Teaming with Michael Scott, his quarterback, Fulmer had scoring catches of 5 and 27 yards. Scott, a sophomore, was outstanding by completing 21-of-26 attempts for 304 yards.

"[Nitro], I felt, beat us with three people," said Spring Valley coach Don Money.

Nitro coach Scott Tinsley did not try to beat a young Spring Valley team as badly as he could have.

Tinsley played his regulars the entire first half, but in the third period he substituted freely on defense. That's when the 0-3 Timberwolves did most of their damage offensively.

The Wildcats led 34-7 entering the final quarter.

"I thought our young kids played hard," Money said. "But, you know that [Tinsley] put his younger players in, too. You guys do know that?"

Money and his Wolves suffered through a difficult week. The SV coach removed two players from the squad for breaking team rules and suspended six others.

He did not name any of them before the game and continued to remain mum following Friday's game.

Notably missing from the starting lineup, however, were junior quarterback-running back, Justin Phillips and junior tackle Michael Wechler.

The only time the Wildcats did not score in the first half was after Jamie Hamrick intercepted a Justin Thompson pass with 12 seconds to play in the second period. Scott took a knee and both teams took a halftime break.

Spring Valley's defense only stopped the 'Cats once - midway through the third period. Scott was sacked twice on that series, and Spring Valley held on fourth-and-19 with 5:24 to play in the third.

The Timberwolves got touchdowns from five different players - fullback Travis Nash on a 1-yard run, halfback Nicco Niday on a 26-yard run, Aaron Heck on a 92-yard kickoff return, Auston Pratt on a 56-yard fumble return and an 18-yard pass to Cody Bays from Kevin Lawrence.

Tinsley called his team's offensive outburst "a good feeling. We have a lot of skilled guys and our offensive line got better this week because we got a three-year starter back who hadn't been playing in Ross Martin. I thought his impact was noticeable."

Money said his defenders could not tackle Josh Culbertson or Fulmer.

"A lot of teams have had that problem so far," Tinsley said. "Josh really worked hard to get stronger in the offseason. He went to West Virginia's camp, and he was the strongest kid there."

Fulmer entered the season regarded by many as one of the leading college prospects in the state and is closing on a national career reception record. He now needs 28 catches in six games to break the record.