HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
: WEEK 1 ROUGH START FOR CHAMPS GW TOPS NITRO 20-7 IN SEASON OPENER
Publication: THE
Published: 08/27/1999
Page: P1B
Headline: HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : WEEK 1 ROUGH START
FOR CHAMPS GW TOPS NITRO 20-7 IN SEASON OPENER
Byline: RICK RYAN
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
A new season brought a
whole new experience for Nitro - a loss.
Senior running back Mike
Sykes rushed for 117 yards and one touchdown
Thursday night as George Washington opened the season in a big way
with a 20-7 victory over the Wildcats, the defending Class AAA state
champions. An estimated crowd of 3,000 was on hand at Laidley
Field.
The victory was especially
sweet for the Patriots, who lost their
final nine games last year and had been trying to revitalize their
program.
"I'm so happy for
these kids,' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr.,
"because they worked so hard. They didn't forget how it felt last year
when things weren't going well. They proved that hard work pays off.'
The Patriots took a 12-0
halftime lead by flashing equal doses of
offense and defense.
Senior quarterback Pete
Ambrose hit a diving John Pennington in the
end zone from 27 yards out to start the scoring in the first quarter.
The catch came behind a pair of defenders on a third-and-13 play.
Then, with just 23 seconds
left before halftime, Ambrose pitched the
ball to fullback Shane Woodard, who tricked the Nitro defense by
throwing a 15-yard TD pass to Shawn Monroe.
The Wildcats,
meanwhile, were having all sorts of troubles - managing
only 46 net yards and two first downs in the first half.
Nitro was coming off a 14-0
season in which players like quarterback
J.R. House and receiver Chris Martin set state and national records
operating out of the Wildcats' high-flying offense. But the Cats'
aerial show never got off the ground on Thursday.
Junior Jason Ward completed
only 3-of-23 attempts for 21 yards and was
picked off four times. The Wildcats managed only 122 yards of offense,
well off their averages of 495 yards and 44.2 points a year ago.
"I think we had some
balls thrown behind people,' said Nitro coach
Robert "Little' Burdette. "And that makes it
tough. But that's
something we can work on.'
The Wildcats' only score
came on a 13-yard run by
Chris Creamer (20 carries, 67 yards) late in the third quarter. That
came one play after GW's Sykes lost a fumble.
The Patriots, in fact, lost
four of six fumbles and threw an
interception. Sykes dropped the ball four times himself, losing two,
and was benched for a spell.
"I have to give GW a
lot of credit with the way they've improved,'
Burdette said. "They just beat us - even with the
turnovers.'
Sykes wasn't the only
player to shine for the Patriots:
- The left-handed Ambrose
was sharp, completing 10-of-18 passes for
113 yards with one TD and one interception. He also ran for a first
down inside the Nitro 10.
- Junior linebacker David
Morris intercepted a pair of passes and
broke up three other sure completions. One of his many tackles was for
a 5-yard loss on Creamer.
- But the star of stars had
to be Pennington, GW's smallish senior
receiver-defensive back. He caught six passes for 85 yards,
intercepted a pass, broke up another and saved two touchdowns with
open-field tackles. He also brought back a Nitro punt 16 yards and
downed a GW punt inside the Wildcats' 1 with a sliding stop.
"He's a big-time
player,' Edwards said. "I've been saying that for
two years. The only thing he doesn't have is height.'
Burdette said the Wildcats
were intent on not letting the 5-foot-10
Pennington beat them.
"We practiced all week
to have two guys on him,' Burdette said, "one
underneath and one over the top. It's frustrating, because the things
we prepared for, we didn't do. But that's not making excuses for us,
because those were good plays by them.'
Burdette didn't get to
watch the final six minutes, as he was given an
automatic ejection after Nitro received two penalties for improper
equipment.
Pennington, however, was
savoring the moment, since he's never
experienced success in his GW career, playing on teams with a combined
5-15 record. The Patriots, in fact, haven't had a winning season since
1990 or a playoff berth since 1988.
"I'm trying hard to
keep in the tears of happiness,' Pennington said
afterward. "We were ready to play this game -
more than they were.'
Pennington said more mental
toughness was required to beat Nitro than
physical toughness.
"We had a lot to think
about,' he said. "Last year, teams would come
back on us and beat us. We had trouble winning last year and we knew
we had to work on that. We still do. I think we'd have killed 'em
tonight if we hadn't fumbled. But this is the hardest-working team
we've ever had.'
GW's next game marks another milestone -
its first-ever home game on
The Hill against Parkersburg South on Sept. 4.