RED DRAGONS' STREAK AT 5

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 11/05/1994
Page: P 1B
Headline: RED DRAGONS' STREAK AT 5
Byline: WILBUR JENKINS

Call St. Albans the Dow Jones team of the 1994 high school
football season.
The Red Dragons, in the first half of the season, went up and
down more than Oprah Winfrey's weight.
They lost to South Charleston, beat Parkersburg South, lost to
Herbert Hoover, beat Huntington and lost to Capital.
A 3-0 victory over Cabell Midland, though, started a stretch of
five consecutive victories that culminated Friday with a 28-7 triumph
over Nitro in the "Battle of the Bridge' at Underwood Field.
Not only did the victory cap a 7-3 regular season for the
10th-rated Red Dragons, it also probably assured Stan Smith's team of
a first-round, Class AAA playoff game next week at Crawford Field.
"We beat Parkersburg and Cabell Midland and nobody gave us a
chance,' said Smith, who's taking his third team in 12 years to the
playoffs. "Our kids just rose to the occasion.'
SA's offense confused Nitro with misdirection plays and sweeps
. The Red Dragons outgained the Wildcats 274-183 thanks in part to
the running of Brian Whittington. He scored two touchdowns on runs
of 9- and 1-yards.
"They are just too physical and big up front,' said Nitro head
coach Greg Cyrus, following the Wildcats' 10th straight loss to St
.Albans. Nitro's last win in the series came in 1984.
Nitro sophomore center Jay Johnson, playing for injured starter
Eric Raines, had possibly the toughest assignment of the night _
containing St. Albans' 6-8, 305-pound tackle Jason Harvey.
"Jay did a pretty good job up against that 6-8 kid,' said
Cyrus.
Nitro's only score of the game came on quarterback Dan Taylor's
1-yard run with 7:27 left in the third quarter, cutting St. Albans'
lead to 21-7.
But after a successful onside kick, Nitro's chances of getting
back in the game backfired on a crucial fourth-and-one from the SA 29
"I thought if we could have scored after the onside kick, we
were still in the ballgame,' said Cyrus.
The Red Dragons were led by Chris Moss, who picked up 86 yards
on 13 carries, including the game's first score from 28 yards out.
Teddy King added 72 yards on eight carries and one TD.
Taylor finished the night with 49 yards on 14 carries including
some dazzling scrambling performances that would have made Fran
Tarkenton proud.