NITRO'S ENCORE? HIGH SCHOOLS BEGIN FOOTBALL PRACTICE
MONDAY
Publication: THE
Published: 07/31/1999
Page: P1B
Headline: NITRO'S ENCORE? HIGH SCHOOLS BEGIN FOOTBALL PRACTICE MONDAY
Byline: RICK RYAN
The dawn of another football season will peek over the horizon Monday
when practice starts for state high schools.
But anyone who hoped to
catch Nitro napping might be disappointed. The
Wildcats might not look a whole lot different than the outfit that
went 14-0 and won the school's first Class AAA championship last fall.
Certainly, the Wildcats
will be hard-pressed to fill the losses of
all-staters and national record-setters like
quarterback J.R. House
and receiver Chris Martin, but they won't be greenhorns, either.
- First off, the top of the
coaching staff remains intact. Robert
"Little' Burdette is back for his fourth season at Nitro and will
again be joined by offensive coordinator Scott Tinsley, a hot
commodity who was rumored to be headed in several directions in the
off season.
- Secondly, the team's new
quarterback could be an old quarterback.
Jason Ward, who backed up House as a freshman in 1997, transferred to
Capital last year, where he became the starter for a team that reached
the Class AAA playoff semifinals. But with House gone and transfer
rules eased, Ward will be back with the Wildcats.
- Lastly, several key
performers from last year's Nitro team will also
return - players such as receivers Jeff Clark and Clarence Joyner and
two starters along both the offensive and defensive lines.
"We've got a lot of
guys who got a lot of experience last year and
some regulars coming back,' Burdette said. "We've
got some skill
people back who can play. Joyner and Clark are about as good as anyone
out there, if we can get them the ball.'
while Joyner grabbed 57 receptions for 733 yards and eight scores.
When practice opens, Ward
will be locked in a duel at quarterback with
another transfer, Derek Midkiff from
operate Tinsley's no-huddle attack that House used to pile up 5,526
yards and 65 TD passes a year ago.
"Offensively, we run
what we run,' Burdette said. "We're not going to
ask these guys to do what we asked J.R. House to do. A lot of times we
could improvise with him. We're going to want to be in the
no-huddle and try to exploit defensive weaknesses.'
As a freshman, Ward started
Nitro's first four games before House's
family moved back from
passes for 469 yards and three touchdowns and the Wildcats went 3-1.
The missing link at the
outset could be running back, where versatile
Zack Collins rushed for 1,122 yards, caught 121 passes and scored 27
touchdowns last year.
Burdette realizes that
there will be growing pains after losing 10
talented seniors from last season.
"Anyone who knows high
school sports knows it's not like college,
where you've got redshirts and [junior college
players],' Burdette
said. "You've got what you've got.
"We're probably back to the drawing board, so to speak. We lost 10
guys. Every high school goes through it. Let's face it. We were a
losing program a few years ago, then we won a state
championship. Now
it's our turn to find new people to play.'
Burdette also knows that
many people around the state will be watching
to see if the Wildcats get their comeuppance after a high-scoring,
record-breaking march to the title.
"Everywhere we go,
they're going to be after us,' Burdette said. "And
not just because we won, but because we went for the records. We were
straight up about that. We said what we were trying to do.
"But if anyone beats
us, they're going to enjoy it. We might take some
lumps, but we're going to strap it up and see what happens.'