RETURN OF HOUSE WELCOMED
Publication:
Published: 09/23/1997
Page: P1B
Headline: RETURN OF HOUSE WELCOMED
Byline: TOM ALUISE
to an old friend this week.
Valleau got word Monday evening that former
teammate J.R. House, last
year's Kennedy Award-winning quarterback, is returning to Nitro from
"I just really can't
wait to see if we can do the things we did last
year,' said Valleau, a senior, who also starts at
linebacker.
House, who helped the Wildcats
post a 7-4 record in 1996 and earn the
school's first playoff berth in close to 40 years, was expected back
at Nitro this morning.
House, a 6-foot-1,
190-pound junior, will be eligible to play
immediately as long as he moves into the Nitro school district, said
Nitro Principal Paul McClanahan.
Nitro Coach Robert
"Little' Burdette said House would start at QB
Friday when the Wildcats (3-1) visit Ripley.
"J.R. is a great guy
and a great athlete,' Valleau said.
"He can't do
anything but help.
"I'm kind of nervous
and excited. It will be hard getting through
school tomorrow (today).'
House moved to
following football season and enrolled at
House's father, Rodger
House, owns businesses in both the
McClanahan said it's his
understanding that the Houses are returning
to
The Secondary School
Activities Commission prohibits students from
transferring for athletic reasons, but it is an almost impossible rule
to enforce.
McClanahan, who chairs the SSAC's Rules Committee, said once a
transfer student establishes legal residence in a new school district,
that student is immediately eligible to participate in athletics.
"In my opinion,'
McClanahan said, "he's immediately eligible if he
moves into the Nitro area.'
McClanahan said House's
practice and playing time in
count toward a
earn eligibility.
McClanahan, who last year
helped spark a feud between neighbors Nitro
and Poca by questioning the eligibility of an
ex-Nitro basketball
player who transferred to Poca, said he is open to
any investigation
into Nitro transfers.
"No one has to ask for
an investigation of my kids,' McClanahan said.
"I investigate them myself. If there is a problem on the horizon, we
take care of it before it gets to
McClanahan is glad to see
House back.
"I don't have any
problem with it at all,' he said. "He's a heck of
a
kid. Rodger's business in
right to move. When they left, I hated like heck to see them leave.
"I told somebody when
he left that I not only lost the Kennedy Award
winner, I might have also lost my valedictorian.'
Burdette said his players
were excited about House's return.
"We had a meeting and
everybody seems to be all systems go,' Burdette
said. "Everybody seems happy. I think they'll
accept him as their
teammate.'
House's move, though,
surprised the coach at Seabreeze High, where
House had already thrown for 629 yards and five touchdowns out of the
school's run-and-shoot offense. Seabreeze, an AAAA
school, is 1-2.
"It was kind of a
shock to everybody but we're going to put it behind
us, coach the players who are here and try to get better,' Seabreeze
Coach Kerry Kramer told the News-Journal of
"It was a decision
made by his family,' Kramer said. "I think the
world of him and I would have loved for him to have stayed. But that's
out of my control. I wish him nothing but the best.'
House impressed Seabreeze's coaches with his poise and accuracy.
In his debut at the
for 256 yards and a TD against Deltona Pine Ridge.
House passed for a
state-record 3,641 yards last year but the Wildcats
have been successful this season using a more balanced attack.
Burdette doesn't plan to
abandon the run if House returns.
"I think you'll find
we'll be a little more balanced with him this
year compared to last year,' Burdette said. "I
think we're a little
better up front.'
Nitro's defense also has
improved.
"I think we've been
winning with defense and we'll keep doing that,'
said Burdette, who has used freshman Jason Ward and junior Chris
Martin at QB thus far.
Valleau said House's return can only help
the defense.
"When we get into
games like DuPont and John Marshall - teams that can
score a lot of points and have just as good a defense - with him back
on offense, now we've got the possibility to score a lot of points,'
Valleau said.
"That's not to say the
defense is going to let up. It just makes it a
whole lot easier to know we can get the ball and score.'