NITRO-DUPONT CLASH EXPECTED TO OFFER
PLENTY OF OFFENSE
Publication: THE
Published: 11/22/1997
Page: P4B
Headline: NITRO-DUPONT CLASH EXPECTED TO OFFER PLENTY OF OFFENSE
Byline: RICK RYAN
On one sideline, you have the most prolific quarterback in
Virginia
passing records.
On the other sideline
stands a certified gamebreaker, a player who's
rushed for 22 touchdowns - one of them a 93-yard sprint that set the
tone for last week's playoff victory.
No one knows for sure what
to expect, but there should be a lot of
offense to go around today when Nitro and DuPont lock up in the
quarterfinals of the Class AAA playoffs at 1:30 p.m. at Laidley
Field.
The third-seeded Wildcats
(9-1) are averaging 31.5 points per game,
but that figure climbs to 40.2 since the return of Kennedy
Award-winning quarterback J.R. House from
Tremain Straughter, the
sixth-seeded Panthers (9-2) average 30.6 ppg.
"It boils down to big
players making big plays,' said Nitro coach
Robert "Little' Burdette. "I'm anxious to
see if it's us or them.'
Both teams will likely
light up the scoreboard and keep dust from
settling on the first-down marker. In their game last year, Nitro won
41-38; earlier this season, the Wildcats pulled out a 36-23 victory.
"Our defense has to
play well,' said DuPont coach Dick Whitman. "We
don't expect a shutout by any means, but at the same time, we have to
play good, sound defense.'
House frustrated the
Panthers defense last month by throwing
underneath the coverage time and again for short, but effective gains.
Twenty of House's state-record 38 completions gained less than 10
yards, but the Wildcats piled up 511 yards of total offense and 25
first downs.
"It's that pro-style,
West Coast offense or whatever you want to call
it,' Whitman said.
"They let the
quarterback operate off his reads and that makes it
extremely difficult to defense. It's not difficult to defense if you
don't have good players executing it [on offense], but for their
talent, it's a perfect match.'
By hogging the ball with a
possession passing game, Nitro kept Stra
ughter and the DuPont offense off the field much of
the night. And
when the Panthers did get the ball late in the game, they were forced
to pass on virtually every down, which took them out of character.
Quarterback Matt Hill threw four interceptions.
"Any time you see us
throwing 15, 20 times in a game, we're going to
be way behind,' Whitman said. "We want to pass
enough to keep the
defense honest and mix it up and keep some balance in there and take
advantage of our strengths.'
Besides Straughter,
who's churned out 1,612 yards this season, the
Panthers weapons include Hill directing a slick option package. He's
run for 294 yards and five TDs and has thrown for 820
yards and 10
TDs. Other DuPont runners include fullback Lewis Tose (539 yards, four
TDs) and tailback Melvin Smith (528 yards, three TDs).
Burdette thinks the
artificial playing surface at Laidley suits the
Panthers' offense more than some slick grass field.
"The footing is a
whole lot better and it takes away the chances of
slipping and sliding,' Burdette said.
"Their quarterback
looked sure-footed running the option there against
Brooke [last week].'
On the other side, House
has thrown for 2,304 yards and 27 TDs in just
six starts. Junior Chris Martin (62 catches, 1,210 yards, 15 TDs) is
the chief deep threat.
But Whitman said his
defense can't afford to look for the pass 100
percent of the time.
"We've got to try and
play the run better than we did the last time,'
Whitman said. "I know that sounds crazy, but they hurt us quite a bit
with the run. Eastwood did a great job.'
Senior Isaac Eastwood (10
carries, 55 yards) filled in for Zack
Collins, who injured his ankle in the opening series the last time the
teams met.
Collins has since returned
to the lineup, bringing his 1,241 yards of
offense (796 rushing, 445 receiving) and 10 touchdowns.
DuPont may have some injury
problems of its own. Safety Mike Hill,
brother of Matt, has a bruised knee and is questionable.
He leads the team in
interceptions with four and is second in tackles
with 129.
"It's tough to take
your free safety off the field with a passing
team,' Whitman said. Hill would be replaced by his brother or junior
James Armes.
Also for the Panthers, Tose missed two days of practice with the flu.
The winner of today's game
meets