THIS FOOTBALL OR BASEBALL?

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 09/26/1989
Page: P2B
Headline: THIS FOOTBALL OR BASEBALL?
Byline: TOM ALUISE

Nitro High School football coach Greg Cyrus is out of his
element these days.
He feels a little likewell, like a baseball coach.
Afterall, Cyrus' Wildcats _ like many other state high school
teams _ have to play two football games in five days. That's only
three days rest to work out the soreness and heal the wounds.
"This is kind of like coaching baseball,' Cyrus said.
Thanks a lot, Hurricane Hugo.
"We figure this will do one of two things,' Cyrus said Monday,
after Nitro won the first half of this week's twinbill, 7-6 over
South Charleston at Oakes Field. "It will either beat us up or.
we'll be like a baseball team in a doubleheader. We'll win the first
game and get on a roll.
"We'll find out Friday night.'
Nitro, now 2-3, hosts 0-4 but well-rested George Washington
Friday. The Patriots are coming off an open week.
"We'll go light tomorrow (in practice),' Cyrus said, "but end
up having to go heavy on Thursday, a day before the game, which I.
don't like to do. We usually play on Friday, take Saturday and Sunday
off, go light on Monday and don't hit until Tuesday.
"But this is what happens when a hurricane hits the Valley full
force,' added Cyrus with a double-dose of sarcasm.
The Nitro-South Charleston game originally was set for Friday
. It was postponed after school officials learned that heavy rains
a
b
and high winds from Hurricane Hugo could hit the area that evening
But Friday turned out no worse than last night, which presented
a steady drizzle and no breeze. The field, more than the weather,
was an obstacle for South Charleston and Nitro.
Oakes Field, because of overuse, has about as much grass as your.
average parking lot. The middle of the field looks like a dirt racing
track.
South Charleston head coach Bryce Casto asked the city of South
Charleston to dump 28 tons of sand on Oakes before last night's game
in an effort to improve playing conditions.
"I called the (school) board today and asked if they would move.
the game to Laidley Field,' said Cyrus. "But to South Charleston's
credit, they did an excellent job of getting the field ready.'
South Charleston, which dropped to 2-3, does not have a game
scheduled Friday.
The Black Eagles, who amassed only four first downs and 83 yards
of offense against Nitro (penalties cut into big SC gainers), have
lost two consecutive games by 7-6 scores. And both times, missed
extra points have led to disaster.
Trailing 7-0 in the third quarter against Nitro, South.
Charleston took advantage of a bad snap on a Wildcats' punt, pouncing
on punter Donnie Withrow at the Nitro 12 for a 25-yard loss.
Four plays later, the Black Eagles' Tim Robinson scored on a
1-yard run to make it 7-6 with 8:33 left in the quarter. Scott
Jamerson's extra point kick, however, was wide right.
But Nitro, which got a second-quarter score on Matt McNeel's
b
3-yard run, did everything it could to make things easy for a South
Charleston comeback.
After taking over on downs at its own 28 with 1:43 left to
play, Nitro had only to run out the clock. Quarterback Steve White,
however, ran out of bounds on one play and then, on a fourth-down
bootleg call, decided to throw a pass.
It was incomplete, the clock stopped and South Charleston had a
first down at Nitro's 34-yard line with enough time to run two
unsuccessful plays.
Cyrus, who missed last season after suffering a heart attack,
was in shock on the sidelines.
"That's the joy of coaching high school kids,' Cyrus said.
"You never know what's going to happen. We made a lot of mistakes,.
probably because it was Monday night and they thought it was a B-team
GAME.'