PASSING ISN'T THE ONLY KEY TO
NITRO'S SUCCESS
Publication: THE
Published: 10/25/1996
Page: P4B
Headline: PASSING ISN'T THE ONLY KEY TO NITRO'S SUCCESS
Byline: RICK RYAN
It's been a season full of
excitement and near-records for Nitro thus
far this fall. It's also been a season full of close shaves.
The Wildcats (6-1)
have used their one-of-a-kind passing game with
quarterback J.R. House to outscore several opponents and rise
to No. 6
in the Class AAA playoff ratings. But without a few breaks going their
way, the Wildcats might resemble DuPont, their opponent tonight at
Underwood Field.
Nitro has played three
games decided by a touchdown or less - and won
all of them, against George Washington (28-26), Ripley (20-18) and
Scott (38-35) just last week. DuPont, meanwhile, has lost three of
four such close contests, including a two-point setback to Ripley,
three to Herbert Hoover and six to G.W.
Scott had success shutting
down Nitro's top receiver, Chris Martin, by
having Josh Pearson shadow Martin man-to-man all over the field.
Martin, with 48 catches coming into the game, was held to one.
"Pearson's a good
athlete,' said Nitro coach Robert Burdette. "They
did a great job with their game plan. It worked perfectly; I told Doug
Cox [Scott's coach] that after the game.'
DuPont has its share of
athletes to run with Nitro's receivers. The
Panthers also have some breakaway threats on offense to test a Wildcat
defense that has given up 20 touchdowns in its last five games.
"We emphasize tackling
so much in practice,' Burdette sighed, "but
I'm afraid [missed tackles] are going to catch up with us sometime.
Maybe we need to use reverse psychology.'
House, meanwhile, edges
closer to a pair of state passing records. He
has thrown for 2,343 yards through seven games, just 609 yards short
of Aaron Cisar's 2,952-yard total for Magnolia in
1992. And House's 21
touchdown passes are seven shy of matching the state mark.