NITRO DEALT TOUGH OPENER
Publication:
Published: 11/14/1996
Page: P1C
Headline: NITRO DEALT TOUGH OPENER
Byline: TOM ALUISE
long-lost friend Nitro.
The only problem is
somebody covered it with hot coals.
Some welcome this is: Nitro
makes its first postseason appearance in
36 years and powerful Capital is waiting as the official greeter.
"They're just so
talented,' Nitro Coach Robert "Little' Burdette
said. "This team on film is really scary.'
Burdette and his Wildcats
will see the defending Class AAA champs up
close at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when the teams meet at Laidley
Field in a
first-round matchup.
Capital (9-1) is seeded No.
2 in AAA, while Nitro (7-3) is 15th. The
Wildcats' last playoff appearance came in 1960 when they lost to Weir,
40-0, in the AAA championship game. Only two teams qualified for the
postseason back then.
The 1996 version of the Wildcats,
no doubt, employs a different style
than the club that played in the '60s.
These days, Nitro scorns
the run. The Wildcats would rather be poked
with needles than put the football on the ground.
Whether that philosophy
works against Capital remains to be seen. The
Cougars, though, have surrendered some ground to the pass.
South quarterback Tim Wigal bombed Capital for 295
yards through the
air.
Nitro's sophomore QB, J.R.
House, has thrown for over 3,000 yards this
season - the first prep QB in state history to do so - with 28
touchdowns.
He'll be working against a
Capital secondary of Rick Sherrod, Tim
Andrews, Adam Withrow and Michael Cunningham.
"He (House) does a
good job,' Capital Coach Roger Jefferson said.
"We've had trouble defending the pass all year. It might be very
interesting.'
assault.
"There's no way we can
get an accurate picture of what they're
doing,' he said. "We can try, but it's very
difficult. It's something
you don't see. It takes some time getting prepared for.
"We're used to
smacking people in the mouth. We won't get to do that
too much this time.'
Even if Nitro is able to
move the football and score some points, the
question is can the Wildcats stop the Cougar offense?
Not many people think so.
Nitro is giving up 26 points per game. In
the season's second half, the Wildcats are allowing 35 a contest.
"They're going to
score a lot of points if we don't keep it away from
them,' House said.
"To win the game we're
going to have to play defense like we've never
played before,' Burdette said. "Defense is the
key. We have to tackle
them. It would be nice if we could make them punt a little bit.
"Defense has not been
our strong point. I think everybody knows
that.'
House is looking forward to
the challenge.
"We just want to go
out and prove we're up to the level of some of
these bigger teams,' he said. "Capital is a great
team. It's going to
be a heck of a battle.
"We have to play
perfect football. No mental mistakes and no physical
mistakes. And they have to have a down night.'
Capital and Nitro played a
two quarter scrimmage during the preseason.
The Cougars scored three times and kept the Wildcats out of the end
zone.
"We felt like we could
move the ball on them,' Burdette said. "But
they moved it on us too.'
"You can't judge
anything by that,' House said. "They've gotten a
lot
better.'
teams have accomplished this season. Nitro lines up in the shotgun on
virtually every play with House deep in the backfield.
"We've got to try and
get some pressure on him up front and still
cover people,'
patterns, that's difficult.'
"That's going to be
the big thing,' House said. "If we can protect, I
feel like we can do a pretty decent job."