PARKERSBURG SOUTH TOPS NITRO 35-27

Publication: THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE
Published: 09/29/2001
Page: 2B
Headline: PARKERSBURG SOUTH TOPS NITRO 35-27
Byline: NOT AVAILABLE

Parkersburg South jumped out to a big first-half lead and held off a furious charge by Nitro to defeat the homestanding Wildcats 35-27 at Underwood Field Friday night in prep football.

After falling behind 28-12 at the half, Nitro stormed back and pulled within eight points late in the fourth quarter as Derek Midkiff found Ryan Meadows for a 23-yard TD strike. The Wildcats recovered the onside kick and drove to the Patriot 20-yard line, but the drive - and the comeback - stalled.

Despite the Wildcats' struggles in the first half, Midkiff was spectacular, throwing for 295 yards on 17-of-25 completions and a touchdown - a 40-yarder to Robbie Ripley. Midkiff finished the game 25-of-48 for 373 yards with two TDs and three interceptions. Jon Lowe caught six passes for 148 yards.

Matt Shamblin tallied all five TDs for Parkersburg South (4-1), No. 13 in the current Class AAA playoff ratings. The junior scored three rushing touchdowns, returned a fumble 40 yards for a TD and an interception 20 yards for a TD. He finished with 105 yards on 19 carries.

Shamblin's two defensive touchdowns helped put the game away for South.

Clinging to a 14-12 lead, Shamblin picked up an errant lateral pass intended for tailback Chris McGhee and sprinted 40 yards to the end zone to put the Patriots ahead 21-12 with the point-after kick. On Nitro's ensuing possession, Shamblin stepped in front of a Midkiff pass and returned it 20 yards for a score and a 28-12 advantage.

"All of a sudden, we snapped our fingers and the score went from 14-12 to 28-12," said Nitro coach Robert "Little" Burdette. "We had the ball both times and they scored, so that was a big swing, but it wasn't an insurmountable lead."

Midkiff proved that with his second-half rally.

"Our numbers are going to be real good on offense," Burdette said, "but we basically wasted the entire third quarter. It just killed us."

Nitro (1-4) finished with seven turnovers - four lost fumbles and three interceptions.

"I think it's the same thing [as past weeks]," Burdette said. "I think it's having younger players. I don't think we played with a lot of spunk and emotion in the first, but I think we did in the second half - at least in the fourth quarter, anyhow."