HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS - FIRST ROUND NITRO ROLLS OVER CAPITAL SCOTT, CULBERTSON LEAD WILDCATS' POTENT OFFENSE
Publication: THE
Published: 11/12/2005
Page: 1D
Headline: HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS - FIRST ROUND NITRO ROLLS OVER CAPITAL SCOTT, CULBERTSON
LEAD WILDCATS' POTENT OFFENSE
Byline: LEE FRANCE
AAA
Nitro 37
Capital 0
For The Saturday Gazette-Mail
The change of venue didn't seem to bother No. 3 Nitro, as the Wildcats handled
14th-ranked Capital with ease, winning 37-0 Friday at Riverside High in the
opening round of the Class AAA playoffs.
The proposed site of the game had bounced around between Nitro's Underwood
Field and Ripley before it was decided that it would remain in
As it turned out, the conditions in
Mud caked the field between the 40-yard lines. For instance, Wildcats
quarterback Michael Scott slipped on several pass attempts, causing at least one
of his two interceptions.
"No one could have foreseen this," Nitro Coach Scott Tinsley
said. "But our field is in better shape than this field was."
Scott, however, threw for 215 yards on 8-of-15 passing with two touchdowns.
Josh Culbertson rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns - not bad considering
Culbertson didn't practice all week and came out early with an illness.
Nitro (10-1) tried passing the ball early on its first possession, but was
unsuccessful. No problem - the Wildcats gave the ball to Culbertson, who ripped
off five runs for 53 yards on a drive capped by a Scott 14-yard pass to Jon
Culbertson.
Scott threw his interceptions on the next two possessions, but hit Gideon Casto for a first down on third-and-23 in the second
quarter. After that led to a 33-yard field goal by Andrew
Rollins with 5:05 left in the half, Capital's defense really collapsed.
Josh Culbertson, who had left the game with an illness early in the first
quarter, returned to score touchdowns on runs of 22 and 1 yards to give Nitro a
24-0 lead.
The Wildcats outgained the Cougars (6-5) 140-32 in
that half, with Josh Culbertson running for 92 yards.
The Wildcats and Josh Culbertson tacked on two scores in the second half.
On the second possession of the half, Josh Culbertson reeled off a 64-yard run
on his first carry to give Nitro a 30-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Scott hit Casto in the slot for what turned into a 75-yard touchdown
pass and the final score.
Capital had one good shot to score in the third quarter.
After quarterback Malik Witten went out early in the
second half with an ankle injury, junior Mike Harris came in and led Capital on
a 51/2-minute drive that stalled at the Nitro 11-yard line.
The Wildcats defense gave up just 119 total yards, compared to its 446 on
offense.
"Up to this point, the only thing that people want to talk about is
Culbertson and Fulmer," Tinsley said. "But this is a
championship caliber team. We need to start talking about this defense. [Josh]
Page is what Nitro defense is all about."
"We are mean," Page said. "We stick to the game plan the best we
can, and everybody is just trying to do their job."
Nitro will play host to
Nitro and