Charleston Daily Mail

Nitro's lights expected to be ready for Friday night's Battle of the Bridge

Derek Taylor, Daily Mail Sportswriter

Thursday October 04, 2007

Nitro, you have a night game. Well ... probably.

Wildcats football Coach Scott Tinsley said Wednesday night that his team's game against rival St. Albans has been tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Underwood Field.

The game's start date and time had until Wednesday afternoon been undetermined due to continued construction on the field; specifically the installation of new lights.

"They (the Kanawha County Board of Education) let us know today that it looks like the lights will be ready for us to go on Friday night," said Tinsley, whose team has yet to play an on-campus home game this season. "From the way it looks, we'll be able to get out on the field Thursday night and practice under the lights, then be able to play on Friday."

Tinsley hedged on making the date a sure thing based on his observations of the previous construction done around the county this fall.

New lights had to be installed at Underwood Field after the school had new bleachers put in. The football field was one of five in Kanawha County -- along with St. Albans, Sissonville, Herbert Hoover and George Washington -- scheduled to receive new football stands this summer. The projects were delayed several times for various reasons, and Sissonville, Herbert Hoover and GW have yet to receive new bleachers.

Nitro is 3-2 entering the annual Battle of The Bridge, and is ranked 17th in the latest Class AAA playoff ratings by the SSAC. St. Albans (6-0) is unbeaten and ranked No. 2.

Aside from the natural attraction to a rivalry game and the fact that both teams are well in the hunt for playoff spots, Tinsley said he expects an overflow crowd on Friday. The game was set to be moved to an early afternoon start on Saturday if the lights weren't ready, and will still be moved if for some reason the lights aren't completed.

"It's going to be packed," said Tinsley, whose team is coming off a 42-35 loss to Capital at University of Charleston Stadium last week. "I'd much rather play on Friday night. With WVU playing (at Syracuse) on Saturday and everything, I think we'll have a lot more people at our place on Friday."

Tinsley said the Wildcats had been fortunate to not lose more home dates as construction lagged into autumn. Only one game -- the team's Sept. 7 loss to George Washington -- had to be moved. That game was also played at UC Stadium.

"The way it worked out we had a lot of our away games at the beginning of our schedule this year," said Tinsley. "That way we didn't really lose a lot, just the one game. That was fortunate for us."