CABELL-NITRO WOULD BE A CONTEST OF
CONTRASTS
Publication: THE
Published: 11/07/1997
Page: P4B
Headline: CABELL-NITRO WOULD BE A CONTEST OF CONTRASTS
Byline: RICK RYAN
How about this for a second-round playoff matchup:
Cabell Midland vs.
Nitro.
You couldn't draw up a game
between more complete opposites - the
Knights with their workmanlike, grind-it-out personality and the
Wildcats with their flashy, high-flying passing attack.
But if form holds true the
next two weeks, that might be the most
intriguing playoff contest during the weekend of Nov. 21-22.
Nitro (8-1), which has
completed its regular season, is presently tied
with Cabell Midland (8-1) for the No. 4 spot in the Class AAA ratings.
The Knights trek to
Highlanders (6-3).
A Cabell victory would
break that deadlock and give the Knights the
No. 4 spot. A loss by the Knights would drop them anywhere from fifth
through eighth in the final ratings.
A first-round playoff
victory by the teams that finish fourth and
fifth in the ratings would earn them a quarterfinal matchup
with each
other.
Nitro will finish fifth if
the three teams ranked ahead of the
Wildcats -
And you can't help pulling
for a tortoise-versus-the hare matchup like
Cabell and Nitro.
The Knights of coach Jim Thornburg have run the ball 393 times for
3,172 yards and 38 touchdowns. Passing is definitely an afterthought:
Cabell has called just 18 pass plays all season, hitting on eight for
171 yards and one TD with one interception.
That
means the Knights average 44 runs per game for 352 yards and try
just two passes per game - with one completion - for an average of 19
yards.
Nitro, meanwhile, has
passed the ball 306 times and run it 203 times.
But 136 of those carries went to junior Zack Collins, who has missed
the Wildcats' last 7 1/2 quarters with an ankle injury.
The Wildcats have thrown
for 2,515 yards and 25 touchdowns, while
running for an additional 968 yards and 12 TDs.
And that pass-to-run ratio
has flip-flopped since Kennedy
Award-winning quarterback J.R. House returned to the team for its last
five games.
In their first four
contests, the Wildcats ran 115 times and passed 89
(56 percent running). Over the last five games, Nitro has passed 217
times and run 86 times (72 percent passing).
If the two teams do meet in
the postseason, it would either be at
Cabell Midland's home site in Ona or at the field of
Nitro's choice -
most likely Laidley Field or Crawford Field in
Underwood Field is not an approved playoff site.
No mud in your eye