NITRO TOPS ST. ALBANS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1984

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 09/20/1997
Page: P4B
Headline: NITRO TOPS ST. ALBANS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1984
Byline: NOT AVAIALBLE

The waiting is over in Nitro.

Junior Zack Collins rushed for 114 yards and one touchdown at Crawford
Field on Friday night as the visiting Wildcats ended a 12-year curse
against their neighboring rivals and posted a 23-9 victory over St.
Albans.

Nitro (3-1) hadn't beaten St. Albans (1-3) since the 1984 season.
During that span, the Wildcats had come within two touchdowns only
three times.

The Wildcats, surprisingly, ditched their passing game in favor of the
run to pick up the majority of their yardage. Behind Collins, they ran
for 177 yards and passed for just 91, throwing only 10 times and
completing four. It was their fewest number of passes tried in any
game over the past three seasons.

Chris Martin scored on a 12-yard run in the first half and Barry
Dickerson booted a 40-yard field goal to give Nitro a 10-3 halftime
lead.

The Wildcats' ploys didn't catch S.A. coach Greg Cyrus by surprise,
though.

"No, we felt they'd line up and run at us,' Cyrus said, "because we
hadn't been playing the run well. Although they got a lot of yardage
with the run, they really hurt us with the pass.'

A 41-yard pass from Jason Ward to Martin set up one Nitro TD and
Collins completed a halfback option pass for 35 yards. Ward also hit
Collins for a 15-yard gain with a screen pass on third-and-10.

Isaac Eastwood bumped Nitro's lead to 23-3 in the fourth quarter on a
65-yard interception return - one of four picks by the Nitro defense.

St. Albans threw for 237 yards, with Matt Young hitting on 14 of 30
passes for 200 yards. But the Red Dragons had five turnovers in all,
three more than Nitro. Jason Rader caught five passes for 107 yards
for S.A.

The Dragons scored on a 22-yard Jeremy Nelson field goal and a 32-yard
pass from backup QB Jay Leftwich to Chris Dacus.