NITRO TAKES AIR OUT OF GW'S STREAK
HOPES
Publication:
Published: 09/09/1995
Page: 04B
Headline: NITRO TAKES AIR OUT OF GW'S STREAK HOPES
Byline: TONY O'LEARY FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Throughout the summer,
Nitro football coach Greg Cyrus worried that he
and his Wildcats were going to be a trivia question going into Friday's
contest against George Washington.
Specifically, which was the
last team the Patriots beat before their
infamous 24-game losing streak - and which squad could GW defeat to end
the streak? In the former case, Nitro is the answer. For the latter,
Nitro might have been the answer had GW not whipped
weeks ago in its season-opener.
Even without the intriguing
angle, the Wildcats didn't give the inspired
Patriots a chance to make it two straight. Nitro posted a convincing
27-15 victory at Underwood Field in a Mountain State Conference clash.
"We were able to take
the air out of them. The defense played really
well,' remarked Cyrus as Nitro's defense had been a bit porous in its
first two games.
The Wildcats were
also opportunistic, turning George Washington mistakes
into scores. And to Moe Townson's wonder, the
Wildcats' offense was
fueled by their ground game as highly touted freshman quarterback J.R.
House did more handing off than passing.
"It was a complete
surprise. The thing we feared most was them throwing
the football,' said Townson, GW's
coach.
Nitro tailback Ryan Blake
amassed 134 yards on 29 carries and scored a
pair of touchdowns as the Wildcats improved to 2-1 while GW is 1-1.
Cyrus and company did an
about-face with the offensive strategy after
throwing 41 times in last week's loss to Hurricane.
"We felt we could run
on them. Ideally, we'd like to be 50-50 in our
play selection. But if you can run the football that much, you're
probably going to win the game,' Cyrus said.
But it wasn't like House
was nonexistent. The ninth-grader, who plays
"like a senior' according to Townson, was
10-for-19 for 135 yards with
a 46-yard touchdown.
The strike came one play
after Nitro lineman Scott Hayes intercepted a
Truman Griffith pass that was batted straight up in the air. House then
hit receiver Brian Clark at the 20-yard line. He shook off a defender
and ran untouched to make it 14-0.
"Any time we get a
turnover, we try to take advantage of it,' said
House of the quick strike. "I noticed they were
shifting their defense
toward (Jason) Redman and that left
touchdown were negated by a penalty during the runback.
Two other Patriot misfires
contributed to Nitro's final score. On the
kickoff after Barry Dickerson's second field goal, which made it 20-7,
Robbie Ligman recovered a GW fumble at the 30-yard
line. It was GW's
fifth turnover of the evening.
Though House's
third-and-goal pass from the 5 fell incomplete, GW was
called for pass interference. One play later, Blake had his second
touchdown.
"I'm not sure if the
week off hurt us,' analyzed Townson as GW was two
weeks removed from its highly emotional, streak-snapping victory. "I
know most coaches don't like a week off unless you're really banged up.
Nitro did a good job but we did a lot to help them.'