VIKINGS SNEAK OUT OF NITRO WITH 7-0 WIN
Publication:
Published: 09/24/1994
Page: P 3B
Headline: VIKINGS SNEAK OUT OF NITRO WITH 7-0 WIN
Byline: ANDY SPRADLING
After watching Friday night's Mountain State Athletic Conference
Gold Division football contest between Ripley and Nitro, you might
say the visiting Vikings sneaked out of Underwood Field in Nitro with
a victory.
Known for its ground game, Ripley controlled the football for
most of the contest Friday night, rarely giving Nitro a chance to get
a drive going. The surprise of the game was the success of Ripley's
quarterback sneak play.
Six times tiny quarterback Tom Wolfe attempted to burst up the
middle. Two of his gains were for 9 and 10 yards, each for first
downs. But the big one was a 1-yard, fourth quarter blast into the
end zone, which was all Ripley needed to defeat the Wildcats, 7-0.
The 150-pound senior didn't seem at all surprised at his running
success. "That play has worked well in earlier games,' Wolfe said
. "Our line was stacking them up well, I would just choose a side
and go. I don't think they could pick me up over our guys.'
Wolfe praised center Richard Holley and the rest of his linemen
for their performance.
Nitro defensive coordinator Brian Eddy was as surprised as
anybody about the Vikings' sneak.
"I was shocked,' Eddy said. "We had two of our best senior
defensive linemen over the ball. We were worried about their
off-tackle plays, but we never thought the quarterback sneak would
hurt us.'
Ripley's ground game was enhanced by the balanced rotation of
backs Will Hosaflook, Matt Parsons, and Jeremy
Buffington. The trio
gained 67, 59, and 50 yards, respectively, as fourteen of the
Vikings' sixteen first downs were gained by the rush.
Ripley head coach Frank Marino was elated over the victory and
the play of his team. After suffering close losses at the hands of
Herbert Hoover and Sissonville, Ripley seems to be back on the right
track.
"We've had to make quite a few adjustments because of injuries,
and the kids are young, but they really played hard together
tonight,' Marino said. "They get uptight if we give up more than
100 yards on the ground.'
Apparently the Viking defensive unit hasn't had to get too wound
up, because other than Herbert Hoover, each opponent has been held to
less than 100 yards rushing. Nitro managed only 53 yards on the
ground and 72 yards of total offense. Marino credited defensive
coordinator Mike Reed with much of that success.
Nitro also made a big adjustment for the game.
Three-year starting quarterback Dan Taylor was moved to running
back, as sophomore Ryan Blake took over the QB duties.
"You put the ball in
making something happen,' explained Nitro head coach Greg Cyrus.
"We really don't lose any speed at quarterback with Blake in there
.'
When it came down to crunch time,
center. On fourth-and-10 from Nitro's own 32 with only 1;14
remaining,
completed an 18-yard pass to Dan Hughes to keep the Wildcats' hopes
alive. Two plays later he scrambled for 13 more yards. These were
Nitro's only two first downs, other than two by penalties. The drive
ended one play later as Blake fumbled after a big hit.
"We have to learn to dig down and play harder,' Cyrus said.
"They played a lot harder than we did. They played at full speed and
we didn't.
Nitro entered the game with a 3-1 record and tied for 13th in
the rankings, which hasn't happened there since 1985. Ripley raised
its record to 3-2.
Said Cyrus, "We went from being ranked to just
being rank.'