HOUSE FUELS NITRO WIN QB THROWS FOR
409 AS 'CATS DOWN DUPONT
Publication: THE
Published: 10/25/1997
Page: P1B
Headline: HOUSE FUELS NITRO WIN QB THROWS FOR 409 AS 'CATS DOWN DUPONT
Byline: RICK RYAN
Throughout its rise to prominence in the state ratings, several
questions have dogged Nitro.
Could the Wildcats
beat another ranked team? How about on the road? In
bad weather? With a key injury?
At the risk of sounding
like one of those cheesy loan sharks on TV,
the answers are in:
Yes, yes, yes and yes.
J.R. House orchestrated a
patient, efficient offensive masterpiece at
Douglas Field in Belle Friday night, leading Nitro to a 36-23 victory
over host DuPont in a battle of state-ranked powers.
The contest,
played in cool weather and intermittent rain showers,
attracted an estimated crowd of 1,500.
House thwarted a DuPont
defense designed to take away his deep passing
game by constantly pecking away underneath the coverage. The junior
quarterback hit on 38-of-56 attempts for 409 yards and three
touchdowns with two interceptions. He also ran for two more TDs
and
was not sacked.
His completion total broke
the state record of 35 set by
Todd Neff in 1992.
Chris Martin caught 11
passes for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns,
raising his season total to 11. Chad Lovejoy snagged 10 for 116.
Despite losing star running
back Zack Martin on its first series with
a badly sprained ankle, Nitro (7-1) rolled up 511 yards against a
DuPont defense that had been giving up about 208 yards per game. And
they did it under adverse weather conditions with their pass-oriented
atatck.
"I can't say enough
about our players,' said Nitro coach Robert
Burdette. "We brought every football we've got.
We said there's not
going to be any wet footballs. We told them we can't worry about the
weather; we've just got to worry about DuPont.'
House was able to play
ball-control with the short passing game, as 20
of his 38 completions were for less than 10 yards.
The Wildcats ran 81
plays compared to DuPont's 54.
"As much confidence as
I have in our kids, it was surprising we didn't
have many drops,' Burdette said. "It goes back to
having a great
quarterback and great receivers. And none of that is possible without
great protection.
"We took a lot of
underneath things. I thought [DuPont] had a good
scheme. Our kids just executed. And if there's a better offensive
coordinator than Scott Tinsley, I want to find him.'
DuPont (7-2), the No. 4
team in Class AAA, led 23-14 late in the third
quarter before the fifth-ranked Wildcats responded.
House ended a drive of 63
yards with his own 1-yard scoring run and
then marched the Wildcats 97 yards in seven plays, hitting Martin with
a 24-yard TD toss, giving Nitro a 29-23 lead.
The 97-yard drive began
when sophomore Jeff Clark intercepted a Matt
Hill pass at his own 3.
The clinching TD came with
7:36 left when House tossed a short pass
into the left flat and fleet freshman Clarence Joyner turned it into a
40-yard scoring play.
Isaac Eastwood, one of
Nitro's captains, logged double duty after
Collins went down. He caught nine passes for 91 yards and ran 10 times
for 54 yards.
Tremain Straughter,
DuPont's junior tailback, carried 25 times for 146
yards and two TDs on runs of 25 and 39 yards to help
put his team into
an early lead.
DuPont ran for 228 yards
and Hill completed 6-of-13 passes for 94
yards and one TD. Kenny Wright caught four passes for 81 yards.