Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail

September 16, 2007

Nitro offense too much for Spring Valley

By Rick Ryan
Assistant Sports Editor

First, the lightning flashed. Then the thunder rumbled.

No, it wasn’t a late-summer cloudburst hitting Laidley Field Saturday night. Just Nitro’s offense storming off to a 49-21 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory over Spring Valley.

Senior quarterback Michael Scott threw for 301 yards and five touchdowns and senior running back Mark Massey scored three times, two on receptions from Scott.

Nitro (2-1), which entered the game ranked 19th in Class AAA, got things off to a flying start as Scott heaved a 58-yard TD pass to Marcos Valentine on the Wildcats’ first offensive snap.

In building a 22-7 halftime lead, Scott also hit Brett McClanahan with a 23-yard scoring toss and Valentine again on a 19-yarder. Scott accounted for 210 of his passing yards in the first half.

With the lead safely tucked away, the Wildcats started to work on their running game, and were able to chew up some clock. Nitro gained 159 of its 233 rushing yards following halftime.

“That was great,’’ said Nitro coach Scott Tinsley of the offensive balance. “Until tonight, we haven’t established any kind of running game. I was really pleased we were able to eat up some clock and run the ball in the second half.’’

Scott, who completed 15-of-18 passes, connected with Massey in the second half on nearly identical screen passes that went for touchdowns of 14 and 46 yards.

Valentine finished with 136 yards on seven snags and McClanahan added 72 yards on three catches.

“We were fortunate enough that we got a coverage we liked on the first play,’’ Tinsley said, “and to score quick kind of set the tempo for us and took Spring Valley out of their comfort zone a little bit. They do such a great job of grinding the clock, grinding it out. When we got ahead of them quick, we felt like that was to our advantage, obviously.’’

Massey wound up with 75 yards on nine carries, helped by a 43-yard TD burst. Tyler Kennedy added 63 yards on six totes and scored from 6 yards out.

In racking up 534 net yards, Nitro converted 7-of-8 third downs, including third-and-17 and third-and-20. The Wildcats had no turnovers and weren’t forced to punt. They pieced together three drives of at least 10 plays.

Spring Valley (1-2), ranked 17th, was led by Nicco Niday’s 59 yards on 11 carries, including a 15-yard TD run. Quarterbacks Kevin Lawrence and Evan Ferguson each scored on 1-yard runs for the Timberwolves and combined to hit 5-of-10 passes for 36 yards.

To contact staff writer Rick Ryan, use e-mail or call 348-5175.