NITRO ROLLS OVER ST. ALBANS

Publication: CHARLESTON DAILY MAIL
Published: 10/27/2001
Page: 5B
Headline: NITRO ROLLS OVER ST. ALBANS
Byline: CHRISTOPHER WADE

FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Jumping off a bridge might have been less painful for St. Albans High School compared to its loss to Nitro in the annual Battle of the Bridge between the western Kanawha County rivals at Nitro.

The Wildcats ran up and down Underwood Field all night Friday and played a simple game of pitch-and-catch in rolling up an amazing 718 yards of total offense in what eventually turned into a 56-28 romp past the Red Dragons.

Wildcat junior quarterback Derek Midkiff completed 33-of-50 passes for 433 yards and four touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jon Lowe caught 10 of those passes for 159 yards, including a TD, and threw a TD pass of his own.

And the highlights didn't stop there.

Wide receiver Robbie Ripley caught 14 passes for 199 yards and Chris McGhee added 144 yards on the ground on 21 carries.

"They did a good job of spreading us out and whatever coverage we went to was the wrong coverage," said Bart Hillenbrand, who ended his first season as St. Albans' coach with a 1-9 record. "We couldn't seem to find Lowe all night long and then they go to their other receiver (Ripley). Then they hit you with McGhee and Midkiff. We just got dominated in all phases."

"It all started with the film breakdown," Nitro Coach Little Burdette said. "They are real predictable on defense. We knew their signs and their blitzes. But we just had everything going tonight."

Indeed, things were easy for the Wildcats as McGhee started the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. After St. Albans' tailback Joe Mosley took the ensuing kickoff 84 yards for a game-tying TD, Nitro took complete control.

Two touchdown passes thrown by Midkiff and McGhee's second rushing touchdown put Nitro up 28-7.

St. Albans cut the lead to 14 with under a minute to play in the first half as Gavin Herscher caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Titlow.

Midkiff finished the first half with 289 yards through the air.

"What else can you say about Derek?" Burdette said. "He has done a tremendous job all year long running this offense. The offense has not been our problem."

"It all starts with our offensive line," Midkiff said. "They made the holes all night for Chris as they have all year long and protect me perfectly. I get all day to throw and my receivers work hard and get open. So all I have to do is find the right guy. I unfortunately get all the stats, but they do all the hard work."

The victory gave Nitro a 3-7 record to finish the season.

"They (St. Albans) had a lot to say leading up to the game about how they were going to win and all that stuff, so that was a big factor in this game," Lowe said. "We wanted to come out here and put it on them, and we did just that."

Nitro concluded its season with two consecutive victories and Burdette is excited about the future with Midkiff and McGhee coming back.

"We aren't used to losing, so we have two approaches we can take," Burdette said. "We can either accept mediocrity or get this program back on track."