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October 06, 2007 |
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Nitro
hammers No. 2 St. Albans · Scott tosses for 5 TDs in 58-14
win |
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By Rick Ryan |
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Nitro was hoping to christen its
new digs at Underwood Field with an inspired performance, which could
possibly shoot the Wildcats back into the playoff picture. And did they ever deliver. Michael Scott threw for 382 yards
and five touchdowns Friday night and Nitro rode the wave of emotion all the
way to a 58-14 conquest of neighboring rival St. Albans, which entered the
game unbeaten and ranked No. 2 in Class AAA. It marked the first home game of
the season for the Wildcats (4-2) and the first game since the installation
of their new bleachers, lights and press box, all of which were completed
earlier in the week. Nitro lost one home game because of the delays. The Wildcats saved something
special for their home debut, as Scott hooked up four times with Marcos
Valentine for touchdowns on plays covering 38, 82, 29 and 3 yards. Valentine
hauled in 10 passes for 261 yards and also caught a pair of 2-point
conversions. Mark Massey also gave Nitro
welcome balance to its pass-happy attack by running 13 times for 136 yards and
two scores and catching a short TD pass from Scott. Massey also had a pair of
conversions. Nitro racked up touchdowns on its
first six possessions to grab a 44-7 halftime lead. The Wildcats appeared to
carry over the late momentum they gained in last Saturday’s 42-36 loss to
Capital when they scored TDs on five straight drives between the second and
third quarters. “I knew it sounds weird to say we
gained momentum from a loss,’’ said Nitro coach Scott Tinsley, “but after the
slow start we got at Capital and the way we fought back after falling behind
21-0 . . . the kids had a lot of confidence tonight, and we just kept on a
roll, the same way we ended the game against Capital.’’ The Red Dragons (6-1) were in it
for a while, but it all came crashing down on them midway into the second
quarter. Trailing 20-7, St. Albans had
driven from its 27-yard line to a fourth-and-goal at the Nitro 4. The Dragons
gave it to their workhorse, tailback Marcus Fox, who was stacked up at the 2,
giving possession to Nitro. Worse yet, Fox had his leg bent awkwardly in the
pileup and appeared to suffer an injury to his right knee. Fox did not return to the game,
finishing with 46 yards and one TD on 12 carries. He entered the game with
1,257 yards and 18 scores. “I don’t know 100 percent for
sure,’’ said SA coach Derek Christian, “but [Fox’s injury] didn’t look too
good. But I’m not going to make any call on that right now.’’ Fox’s injury seemed to sap some of
the fight right out of the Red Dragons, as two plays later, Scott heaved an
82-yard touchdown to Valentine, who wrested a deep pass out of the hands of
SA defensive back Marcus Guy and ran in for the score to make it 28-7. And it only got worse for St.
Albans from there. Quarterback T.J. Feazelle fumbled a snap at the Nitro 11 on the Dragons’
next drive, and the Wildcats wound up tacking on two more touchdowns in the
final minute of the first half, a 29-yard pass to Valentine and a 4-yarder to
Massey. “I thought our defense really set
the tone,’’ Tinsley said. “We came up with some stops early and they got us
the ball back. We forced a couple turnovers, too, and that really set the
tone.’’ Scott experienced his lowest
passing output against St. Albans last season, finishing with 131 yards in a
21-13 loss to the Dragons. But he had no such problems Friday, completing
22-of-30 throws and being picked off just once and sacked twice. St. Albans, which came into the
game averaging about 298 yards rushing, was limited to 181 on 39 carries by
Nitro. “I think maybe I jinxed us,’’
Christian said. “I said we needed to control the ball, but we didn’t get the
chance. We had to finish off drives and we didn’t do that. We had
opportunities, but we’d fumble and they stuffed us the one time on the play
where Marcus got hurt.’’ Gabe King ran 13 times for 70
yards and one TD for St. Albans and Guy added 60 yards on seven carries. Feazelle hit on 6-of-12 passes for 62 yards, with four
completions to Derek Bodie for 48 yards. To contact staff writer Rick Ryan,
use e-mail or call 348-5175. |