LANE RUNS AROUND, THROUGH NITRO
DEFENSE
Publication:
Published: 08/25/2001
Page: P1B
Headline: LANE RUNS AROUND, THROUGH NITRO DEFENSE
Byline: ANDY SPRADLING
DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER
Herbert Hoover running back
but he made Nitro tacklers look as slow as dough boys.
In a game that was knotted 34-34 after three quarters, Lane and his
backfield partner Seth Moales put the finishing
touches on the
oft-untouching Wildcats.
touchdown run by Moales, 70- and 33-yard TD runs by
Lane and a 22-yard
field goal by Alex Amick.
The Huskies defeated the host Wildcats 58-34 Friday before about 1,500
fans at Underwood Field.
The 5-foot-7, 160-pound Lane amassed 253 yards and five touchdowns in
his senior debut.
"I always say he's tougher than a pine knot," Hoover Coach Steve
Stoffel Sr. said. "This is his fourth year in
the program. He's just a
great kid to be around. He's a great person. He gives us all he's got.
"If he were 6-foot, 190 pounds he'd be dangerous. But he plays like
he's a bigger kid."
Lane was dangerous. At 6-foot, 190 pounds he'd be a lethal
weapon.
Lane, who rushed for over 600 yards last season, surprised even
himself Friday.
"I expected us to win, but I never expected anything like that," he
said. "I've never had a game like that in high school. This feels
great.
"But our line did a heck of a job. Without them I wouldn't have got
anything. We had a line meeting and we talked about blocking on every
play and they did it.'
"You've got to give credit to our front," Stoffel
said. "They were
taking our veer (option) away, so we had to do something else. We were
running dives and isolations and scoring. They gave a good effort. I
never dreamed we'd score 58 points."
Neither did Nitro Coach Little Burdette, who watched Lane and Moales
slither through his defense all night.
"I knew
anybody," Burdette said. "When we watch the film I think we'll find
that we had people in the right places, but that we were bumping
instead of tackling.
"But I have to give
well. They scored 58 points on us in three quarters."
The last time Nitro gave up more than 58 points was in 1962, when the
Wildcats fell to
Despite fumbling away its opening drive, Nitro jumped out to a 14-0
lead on a 6-yard run by Chris McGhee - who would go on to rush for 180
yards on 22 carries - and a 33-yard pass from QB Derek Midkiff
to
Marshall Casto.
But fumbling became a reoccurring nightmare, as the Wildcats coughed
up a total of four on the evening, including one that Huskie
Zack
Beatty returned 55 yards for a score.
occurred with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Huskies up
41-34. Wildcat fullback Greg Eads was stripped on the Huskies' 10-yard
line. Andy White recovered.
"We all just kept picking each other up," White said, who also made
two key pass breakups in the fourth quarter. "We knew they were going
to pass a lot. Our coaches had us ready. The win feels really good."
Three plays after White's recovery, Lane broke his 70-yard run to give
Hoover a good cushion, 48-34, if not the game.
"I can't fault Eads," Burdette said. "He was trying to get in
the end
zone. He gave us energy all night. He blocked real well.
"Tackling is our problem. It looks like we can score points. You've
got to tackle to win football games.'
Nitro's Midkiff finished the game with 250 yards
passing on 18-of-29
attempts. Robbie Ripley caught four for 101 yards including touchdowns
of 46 and 78 yards. Jon Lowe hauled in eight for 81 yards.
"Midkiff did a nice job. We just had too many
turnovers," Nitro
Offensive Coordinator Scott Tinsley said. "Poor execution on shotgun
snaps led to two TDs. We put some points up and we
did some good
things, but you can't beat anybody with that many turnovers.
"Our protection was not as good as we'd have liked it to be in the
second half."