NITRO,
Publication: THE
Published: 09/05/1997
Page: P1B
Headline: NITRO,
Byline: RICK RYAN
When J.R. House was in the house, Nitro opponents fretted
over their
pregame preparations, knowing that the Wildcats
would throw the ball
all over the field in an attempt to stretch the defense.
In two seasons with the
Kennedy Award winner at quarterback, Nitro
called for a pass about 74 percent of the time.
House has since relocated
to another neighborhood, but the Wildcats
are still posing problems for opposing defenses. This time, it's
because of their new-found balance.
Nitro (1-0) will be looking
to move the ball both on the ground and in
the air when Hurricane (1-0) comes calling tonight. Kickoff is set for
7:30 at Underwood Field.
In last week's 24-14
victory at Winfield, the Wildcats ran for 142
yards and two touchdowns and passed for 261 yards and a third score.
Junior Zack Collins complemented the passing of freshman quarterback
Jason Ward by rushing for 130 yards on 15 carries, including a 94-yard
TD burst with four minutes left to ice the game.
Ward, meanwhile, hit on 19
of 39 pass attempts for 261 yards in his
first varsity start. Nitro coach Robert Burdette was pleased with the
success of his team's balanced attack.
"[Opponents] might
have to honor the run enough to where it can help
our passing game,' Burdette said. "In the past,
some teams liked to
line up and blitz or rush the passer real hard upfield
every play. But
it's not like that this year.'
Hurricane coach Gary Eggleton admits his squad has a tough task ahead
of it tonight in defending the Wildcats.
"They don't have
House, but they still have a lot of talent from a
team that went to the playoffs,' Eggleton said. "They have three of
the better athletes around in Collins, [Isaac] Eastwood and [Chris]
Martin.
"With all the kids
they have to throw to and hand off to, it makes it
tough [to defend]. They have two, three kids who can outrun anyone
we've got. If you've got speed, you've got big-play potential. And
their freshman quarterback - it's like a pitcher. If he's throwing
strikes, they're awfully tough.'
Collins also caught 14
passes for 130 yards in Nitro's opener and
Eastwood hauled in a 43-yard scoring toss. Ward's rapid development
under center has allowed Martin to move from quarterback back to
wideout, his natural position.
"If there's a better
receiver in the state, we haven't seen him,'
Burdette said of Martin, who caught 74 passes for 1,328 yards and
seven TDs last season.
Martin might well continue
to take some snaps at QB throughout the
season, if only to give defenses a different look. His quickness makes
him more of a running threat than Ward.
"We're preparing for
two quarterbacks,' Eggleton said.
"Scott
Tinsley's running their offense and I know how he thinks. He'll say:
'Well, Coach Eggleton thinks we're going to do this,
so we're going to
do that.'
"I know we're going to
see a couple things we haven't seen before.
We'll have to be fundamentally sound when we see those things and hope
we react correctly. If not, we'll try to do it the second time we see
it.'
Of course, there's nothing
to stop the Redskins from trying to gum up
the works and slow down Nitro's high-octane offense.
"Coach Eggleton's defense gives you different looks on every down
and
every situation,' Burdette said. "He's probably
going to try and
confuse our quarterback. He [Ward] is coming along real well, but he's
a long, long way away.'
Hurricane also features
some proven offensive talent in quarterback
Matt Tidd, an 1,100-yard
passer a year ago, as well as experienced
receivers in Leif Walroth and Sam Baldasano.
Baldasano caught a TD pass from Tidd and returned an interception 35
yards for a score in the Redskins' opening 33-6 win at Herbert Hoover.
Walroth also scored on a 2-yard run.
Despite a 24-9 loss to
Nitro last year, Eggleton said his team has an
air of confidence heading into tonight's game - due in part to its
success last week.
"We're a team that has
to get after people,' Eggleton said.
"We're
not so talented that we just roll out onto the field. Our kids always
believe we're going to win, but it worries me that maybe we're too
confident. After looking at Nitro, it might be 33-6 the other way
around if we're not totally ready to play.'
Chad Lovejoy, a
receiver-defensive back for Nitro, might be held out
of the game with an Achilles injury.