UNIVERSITY TO TEST NITRO ATTACK

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 11/25/2005
Page: 1B
Headline: UNIVERSITY TO TEST NITRO ATTACK
Byline: RICK RYAN

AAA semifinal matchups by the numbers

No. 10 University (9-3) vs. No. 3 Nitro (11-1)

Rushing - University: Cory Jackson 208 carries, 1,209 yards, 16 touchdowns; Dominique Dixon 44-266-5; Nitro: Josh Culbertson 296-3,100-40, Chris Kirkpatrick 34-180-2

Passing - University: Justin Hostetler 118-208, 10 interceptions, 1,778 yards, 13 TDs; Nitro: Michael Scott 115-169-6-2,036, 22 TDs

Receiving - University: L.C. Jefferson 44-725-5, Cory Hess 37-632-4, Jason Bacaj 11-142-3; Nitro: Chris Fulmer 75-1396-15, Gideon Casto 13-286-3, Jon Culbertson 15-208-2

No. 13 Cabell Midland (8-4) at No. 1 Morgantown (12-0)

Rushing - Midland: Wade Midkiff 162-1,107-14, Christian Edwards 153-835-15, Josh Turley 60-540-3; Morgantown: Maxwell Anderson 140-1,015-15, Justin Blankenship 98-923-10, Derek Long 52-580-5

Passing - Midland: Josh Ferguson 29-54-2-334, 3 TDs; Morgantown: Charlie Russell 76-148-7-1,514, 16 TDs

Receiving - Midland: Jordan Cole 15-184-0, Jordan Marcum 10-107-1; Morgantown: Long 15-380-5, Junius Lewis 10-299-3, Andrew Saab 12-240-2

rickryan@wvgazette.com

Games within the game will percolate tonight when Nitro squares off with University at 7:30 in the Class AAA playoff semifinals at Laidley Field. The winner advances to the state finals on Dec. 3 in Wheeling.

Nitro coach Scott Tinsley has been watching game tapes of the University secondary with great interest all week, while Hawks coach John Kelley has kept his eye on the Wildcats' offensive and defensive fronts.

Tinsley took notice of University's five interceptions during a 27-19 victory at previously unbeaten Jefferson in the quarterfinals. Tinsley's own quarterback, sophomore Michael Scott, has thrown just six picks all season.

"Every film we watch, it seems like they intercept a lot of passes," Tinsley said. "I think they have really smart kids in the secondary in the right place. Even when people complete a pass, it's a tight fit to get the ball in there."

Tinsley hopes his balanced attack, which features the running of Kennedy Award favorite Josh Culbertson and the pass connection of Scott to wideout Chris Fulmer, will force the Hawks defense into showing its hand early.

"They like to play with four deep in the secondary. Basically, it's a cover-two, but they have four secondary guys out there. If they do that, with basically seven committed to the run, we've got to try to establish Josh Culbertson - if that's the scheme they've chosen to play."

Kelley, meanwhile, worries about being able to disrupt any facet of Nitro's offense, which averages 39 points and 441 yards.

"The first thing I noticed [about Nitro's passing game] is that no one gets to Scott when they rush the passer," Kelley said. "[Tinsley] has such a good offensive mind that they have someone to dump the ball to right away, and the other thing is that they don't send a lot of people into the pattern for [maximum protection of the quarterback]. I guess you don't have to send out many people when you have the premier receiver in the state.

"This is the most difficult team I've ever prepared for. They're similar to us in that they have multiple sets, but they throw everything in the book at you. No matter what, you've got to find Culbertson and you've got to find Fulmer. It's not like they don't have other people to hurt you, but you've got to [deal with] those two."

On the other side of the ball, Nitro's 3-5 defensive front has also caused Kelley consternation.

"It's a bizarre scheme," Kelley said. "It's difficult for your kids to see kids standing on defense. It really takes away a lot of the blocking schemes you've done all year. It's hard to explain to an offensive lineman that somebody is going to be standing up and moving at them instead of lining up. That's probably the biggest headache - they're not where they're supposed to be."

University would like to control the ball, as Hurricane did in becoming the only team to beat Nitro so far this season. With 241-pound senior Cory Jackson lugging the ball, and third-year starting quarterback Justin Hostetler executing play-action passes, the Hawks hope to move the ball slowly and effectively.

"That's when we play our best football," Kelley said, "when we're a balanced team. We'll need to have a 2-to-1 run-to-pass ratio, or 60-40 run-to-pass. We're far more effective when we do that. That's been our recipe all year and it's worked sometimes. That way their stars can't beat you.

"With my running back, it's a little bit different than theirs. Jackson takes eight, 10, 12 plays to pound it in there and score, where Culbertson probably only needs one time because he can break it right away. You hold your breath every time he touches it."

Culbertson has 16 touchdown runs of 35 yards or longer.

Kelley last led University to the finals in 1994, when the Hawks fell to South Charleston 27-7. University has won its last two meetings with Nitro, 41-0 in 2001 and 27-7 in 2002.

Midland vs. Morgantown

Morgantown coach John Bowers doesn't want his defense to fall asleep on the rare occasions when Cabell Midland figures to throw in tonight's other AAA semifinal.

The Knights have run for 39 touchdowns this season and passed for just four, but two of those scoring tosses came in last week's quarterfinal victory at Hurricane.

"Whenever they choose to throw it," Bowers said, "they get big plays. They don't throw much, but they always seem to make plays."

Midland hasn't thrown for more than 88 yards in any game this season, but that discrepancy doesn't bother coach Chip McMillian.

"Everybody asks me about that," McMillian said, "but we'll pass if we need to. We work on it all the time, believe me. Josh Ferguson does a good job reading defenses and throwing the ball. We're capable of throwing the ball if we have to. I just hope we don't have to.

"If you're gaining big yards on the ground, I don't see any reason to put the ball in the air. That's my philosophy. If you're doing that, it either means you've got a long distance to go or you're behind, and we don't like either one of those situations."

McMillian likes the way Midland's defense has improved over the course of the season. Five of the Knights' first six opponents scored 20 or more points, but that's only happened twice over the last six games.

"We're young on the defensive side of the ball," McMillian said. "We're still not a great team defensively, but we've been able to play well enough to win. We only had two returning starters on defense coming into the year, and we're starting to jell now."

After last week's 14-7 win over South Charleston in the quarterfinals, Bowers fretted about his Mohigans squad having played three poor games in a row. He doesn't want that number to reach four.

"After watching films [of those games] all week, it's really solidified that [opinion] even more," he said.

"We just think it takes a lot out of our kids going into the Mohawk Bowl [against University], then we have a bye week, then we didn't know what to expect out of [playoff opponents] St. Albans and South Charleston. This time of year is the wrong time to have any kind of swoon, but the kids have had a good week of practice. They're very focused and very attentive and willing to learn."

Class A: St. Marys vs. Williamstown

Tonight's only other semifinal pits fifth-seeded St. Marys (11-1) at No. 1 Williamstown (12-0) in Class A.

The teams met on Sept. 30 at St. Marys, with the Yellow Jackets eking out a 25-22 victory.

Williamstown is led by the running of Tyler Lowers (1,566 yards, 20 TDs), while the Blue Devils rely on quarterback Gavan Renner (1,356 yards, 19 TDs).