Wildcats have to stay hungry

Derek Taylor, Daily Mail Sportswriter

Monday October 22, 2007

Nitro Coach Scott Tinsley knew that having his team's back to the wall against a formidable opponent was going to call for a little extra moxie out of his Wildcats last Friday.

"Coach (Jack) Erwin is such a good defensive coordinator that if you give him a steady diet of what you do all the time he's going to defend you," said Tinsley after Nitro handed the Redskins a 48-13 loss, dropping Hurricane to 6-2. "So we had to give him some things he wasn't ready for, or we'd have been in for a long night."

The Wildcats got five touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown from quarterback Michael Scott, but it was the way Nitro (5-3) mixed things up early that put the hosts on their heels and grasping for straws.

Already up 7-0 and having stopped the Redskins on fourth down at their own 23, the Wildcats put a stranglehold on the game with a three-play drive. Scott started off with a 6-yard draw and then junior running back Tyler Kennedy took a handoff and dashed 33 yards to the Redskins' 38. Scott hit Brett McClanahan with a 38-yard pass on the next play to make it 13-0.

The Kennedy run was just the 10th carry of the year for the junior.

Both senior running back Mark Massey and receiver Marcos Valentine spent good portions of the first half as decoys while Kennedy, Scott and McClanahan took care of the hosts to build a 27-0 halftime lead. McClanahan had three catches for 82 yards in the first half, while Kennedy had three carries for 44 yards. Valentine iced the first-half scoring with a 28-yard touchdown catch.

Nitro ran the ball for 224 yards in the win, led by Massey's 104 yards on 12 carries.

"We couldn't run it against Cabell Midland last week, but I don't think we'll face a front as big and strong as them at any time the rest of the year," said Tinsley, whose team amassed 512 yards of total offense to Hurricane's 194.

The Redskins had 128 yards before Nitro pulled its starting defense.

"It was more reminiscent of the effort they gave us against St. Albans," said Tinsley, comparing his team's 58-14 win against the Red Dragons to its 56-49 loss to Midland. "We have to be able to maintain that for several weeks in a row if we want to make any noise in the playoffs, or get in the playoffs."