UPSETS REVIVE PLAYOFF HOPES
Publication: THE
Published: 10/10/2005
Page: 1B
Headline: UPSETS REVIVE PLAYOFF HOPES
Byline: RICK RYAN
-
n Kennedy Watch, 5B
rickryan@wvgazette.com
Desperation makes teams do funny things.
Like Parkersburg South, two spots out of the final playoff spot in Class AAA,
beating No. 7 Parkersburg. Or Hurricane knocking off unbeaten
and second-ranked Nitro.
Those victories rekindled the postseason hopes for the Patriots and Redskins,
who were rated 18th and 25th, respectively, entering Friday's games.
"This puts us back in the playoff hunt and gives us confidence," said
Hurricane quarterback Jered Chapman, whose 15-yard
touchdown pass to Jake Fields with four seconds left lifted his team to a 23-21
victory.
"This should give us a lot of [rating] points," Fields said.
"We'll work our way back up the list. That's what our goal is - the
playoffs."
Hurricane, which rode its running game all night (58 carries, 282 yards), moved
91 yards for the winning score and ran the ball the first 10 plays of the
drive, despite a dwindling clock.
"I knew we had enough time and I knew we had the heart to get there,"
Fields said. "The passing game was there when we needed it. That's the
thing about our offense. We can do either. Tonight it was wet and we thought
we'd stick with the run game. It was working all night."
Nitro coach Scott Tinsley said his team put an extra defensive back into
the game during a timeout before the Redskins' winning play.
"We wanted to get another guy back at the goal line," Tinsley
said, "but what a throw and catch."
Hurricane (3-3), which just missed the playoffs last year with a 5-5 record,
closes out the regular season against Ripley,
Nitro, meanwhile, gets a week off before it resumes its quest for a high
postseason berth.
"I wish we didn't have an open date because it's a long time to sit around
and think about a loss," Tinsley said. "But I know our kids
will respond and we'll be ready to go against Ripley [on Oct. 21]."
Something to play for
Tommy Spurlock has played a lot of football games at
The Black Eagles (4-2) should rise from the No. 12 spot they held in last
week's AAA ratings following a 26-3 win Saturday against George Washington at Laidley Field. Spurlock, a senior tailback, ran 38 yards
for one touchdown and returned a kickoff 79 yards for another score.
"To me, that's all I want," Spurlock said about the possibility of
making the playoffs. "I don't care about stats. All I want is to win.
We've been through the downs my whole time I've been in high school. We went
1-9, 0-10, 4-6. But we just stuck with it and did everything we needed to do.
So hopefully, it pays off for us.
"We've just got to stay focused and take it one week at a time. Everybody
says that, but next week we have
Scout's honor
After Capital defeated Riverside 42-21 Friday night to jump back into the
playoff chase, Cougars coach Jack Woolwine gave
praise to a little-known group of players.
"Our red team has done an excellent job working our guys and picking it up
in practice," he said of the scout team players who imitate in practice
each week what offenses and defenses Capital's opponents will run.
"You get a good look in practice and those guys have done a good job at
that. I think that definitely helps you as the season progresses. They don't
get a lot of recognition and they're not getting a lot of playing time, but
they sure mean a lot to our football team."
Woolwine said the scout team has done an
above-average job simulating game conditions.
"They've done a good job preparing our kids 'cause they're excited about
coming out and trying to do a good job," he said. "That takes a
special kid if they're willing to come out there and bust their tail every week
to do that for you. We've been pleased with their effort, no doubt."
On the record
Nitro running back Josh Culbertson broke the state's career rushing record late
in the second quarter at Hurricane. He needed 167 to break Quincy Wilson's mark
and had 187 of his 264 yards by the break.
No mention was made of Culbertson's feat at Redskins Stadium until after the
third quarter, when it was announced over the public address system.
Culbertson's feat didn't soothe the loss for Nitro, but Tinsley said the
team still took pride in it.
"It's a heck of an accomplishment for this program and for Josh," Tinsley
said after the game. "We're going to have fun with it. We're going back to
[Underwood Field] and have some cake and some chicken wings and stuff and
celebrate the fact that he is the state rushing record holder."
Oddly enough, it didn't take
"You know someone was going to get it eventually,"
Quick kicks
s Steve Stoffel Sr., coach
of 6-1 Herbert Hoover, which started the weekend tied for third in the AA
playoff ratings: "I don't even look at that stuff until the 11th week.
Everybody else does, but I don't count the apples in the basket until after the
11th week."
s Four teams suffered their first losses on Friday -
Nitro, Liberty Raleigh,
To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175. Tommy R. Atkinson and Mike Whiteford contributed to this report.