NITRO PASSES G.W. TEST, THANKS TO
AIR ATTACK
Publication: THE
Published: 09/14/1996
Page: P1B
Headline: NITRO PASSES G.W. TEST, THANKS TO AIR ATTACK
Byline: MIKE WHITEFORD
STAFF WRITER
Earlier in the season,
Nitro passed for more than 400 yards in a game.
Perhaps inspired by such
lofty numbers, the Wildcats entered Laidley
Field Friday night knowing that artificial surface lends itself nicely
to offense and that the George Washington defense supposedly was a bit
suspect.
Passing almost constantly,
the Wildcats again amassed some staggering
numbers but found G.W. to be a devilish foe, and they probably
considered themselves fortunate to sneak off with a
28-26 victory.
A crowd of about 1,200
attended. Nitro is 3-0; G.W. is 0-2.
Nitro sophomore J.R. House
completed 28 of 54 passes for 381 yards and
four touchdowns but was intercepted three times and was occasionally
flushed out of the pocket. Nitro, in fact, trailed 12-0 after the
first quarter.
"We probably sent more
guys on him than most people sent all year,'
said G.W. coach Steve Edwards. "We tried to
frustrate him, but I guess
we didn't frustrate him enough.'
Nitro normally maintains a
ratio of 60 percent passing and 40 percent
rushing, Wildcat coach Robert Burdette noted. But on
this night, they
executed only nine designed running plays, in addition to House's
scrambles and kneel-downs in the game's final minute.
"We expected to come
in here and sling it all over the place,' said
Burdette. "G.W. did a much better job than we
thought, to be honest.'
"We threw a lot more
than we normally do, probably because we were on
turf and we heard their secondary wasn't real good,' said Nitro
receiver-defensive back Isaac Eastwood.
The margin of victory, as
it turns out, came in the fourth quarter on
Eastwood's interception. He picked off a pass and returned it 33 yards
to the G.W. 13.
And after a penalty against
Nitro, House pitched to Zack Collins for
an 18-yard score, and Nitro added the critical two points on House's
pass to Chris Martin for a 28-20 lead with 8:21 left in the game.
G.W. then responded with a
touchdown on Ryan Blake's 15-yard run up
the middle with 5:14 left in the game, but the Patriots failed on a
two-point run attempt.
G.W. had one more
opportunity deep in their own territory but failed
to move.
"We've come so much
farther than where we were a week ago,' said
Edwards. "We've got to feel good about that. They
played their hearts
out and gave it a real effort.'
Much of Nitro's problems
were caused by G.W.'s Rob Wilson, who
intercepted two passes and recovered two Wildcat fumbles.
House's TD passes went to
Collins for 8 yards, Robbie Sigman for 28,
David Kessler for 2 and Collins again for 18.
"We thought we could
protect better than we did and that they would
have some coverage problems,' Burdette added. "We
came in here at
halftime, and I think we got it fixed.'
G.W. took an early lead on Aric Fulks' 10-yard run and
increased it to
12-0 on Blake's 1-yard plunge in the first quarter. The Patriots
scored again on Hollis Lewis' 31-yard pass to
15-yarder completed the scoring.
Blake finished with 104
yards on 20 carries, and Fulks had 99 on 18
attempts. Lewis completed 6 of 18 passes for 67 yards.