Publication: THE
Published: 11/15/1996
Page: P4C
Byline: RICK RYAN
AT THE HALF: Nitro coach
Robert Burdette has stopped at nothing to try
and stop his team's recent second-half collapses.
In their last two games,
the Wildcats led
only to lose 45-20, then saw a 10-7 halftime advantage
at Poca wiped
out in a 35-10 setback.
That's a margin of 66-0 to
the negative. And those numbers don't bode
well for Saturday afternoon's Class AAA playoff encounter against No.
2 Capital at Laidley Field.
"We're trying some
things,' Burdette said earlier in the week. "This
is kind of crazy, but we've even been practicing halftime.
"We took a 20-minute
break [at practice] and then warmed up and
practiced again. We'll do that all week. It drives some of the coaches
crazy, because they don't have the patience to sit and take a
20-minute break. But we've got to try something, because we've been
terrible in the second half.'
Burdette doesn't think it's
a case of his players tiring out. The
Wildcats' pass-happy offense, which spreads receivers all over the
field, must also battle November's unusual deep freeze.
"We're guilty of not
warming up enough entering the third quarter,'
Burdette said. "It's probably a simple matter of
being cold outside.
But I'm guessing.
"We've done the same
things all year. I don't think [we're tired], but
I'm not taking anything away from
straws.'
Quick kicks
- What price the fifth
down? Ripley's controversial 20-18 loss at
Nitro on Sept. 27, in which the Wildcats were inadvertently given a
fifth down on their game-winning drive, served to deprive the Vikings
of a home playoff game.
A win over Nitro would have
bumped Ripley's rating to 10.8 and the No.
7 spot in Class AAA. The Vikes then would have played
host to No. 10
Parkersburg. Nitro would have finished out of the playoffs.
Ripley's formal appeal to
the SSAC Board of Appeals was denied. The
officiating crew working that game was given a three-week suspension.