St. Albans, Nitro meet in playoffs for first time

Rich Stevens, Daily Mail sportswriter


Monday November 12, 2007

Who would think that a high school football rivalry, which features stadiums not two miles apart, is separated only by a river and dates back 69 meetings would not feature a postseason battle?

Look no further than St. Albans and Nitro, who meet in the playoffs for the first time on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Class AAA quarterfinals at Crawford Field.

Adding to the flavor of "Battle of the Bridge II" is Scott Tinsley, head coach of 13th-rated Nitro (7-4), who decided to protest the condition of Crawford Field's surface.

It's OK now, Tinsley said, but there is still a week of potentially inclement weather to consider.

"Right now I think it's fine," said Tinsley, a St. Albans High grad. "But there's mud in the middle of it and if we get two or three days of rain this week like they're calling for, it'll be a mess. I just don't think you'd want a playoff game to be played on a surface that's tore up. It'd hurt both teams."

The Secondary School Activities Commission will visit St. Albans today before making a decision on Crawford's ability to be played upon. Potential alternative sites for the game include Riverside High School and University of Charleston Stadium.

Tinsley also opted to play the game on Saturday night, going up against Saturday's televised 7:45 p.m. WVU-Cincinnati game, normally a no-no among state high schools.

"We're trying to heal up," said Tinsley, whose top runner Mark Massey has a pulled muscle in his back. "That's why we picked Saturday night. Mark Massey is one of the big reasons. We're really limited on offense without him."

While Tinsley understands the passion of WVU fans, he also said this is about taking care of the kids who "have worked so hard to get here.

"(St. Albans) Coach (Derek) Christian and I have to do what's best for our kids to give us the best opportunity to win," Tinsley said. "I'm sure there will be a lot of people there with radios. Besides, they can always tape it and then go home and have a football doubleheader."

Christian, who is 1-3 against Nitro in four seasons at St. Albans, said his team is happy to still be playing.

"It's what the playoffs are all about ... big games," said Christian after his team eliminated Brooke 37-20 on Friday night. "The rivalry adds a little flavor to it."

The Red Dragons' (10-1) only loss of the season came to the Wildcats, who dropped a 58-14 decision to the Wildcats on Oct. 5 at Nitro's Underwood Field.

Still, there isn't a hesitation in the voice of St. Albans senior Zach Hodges, who insists the Red Dragons are looking forward to it.

"We feel like if a couple of things could've went differently for us, the game might have gone a whole lot different," Hodges said. "It'll be a challenge for us.

"It's easy to get motivated for Nitro, being our rival and they just embarrassed us last time. We're looking forward to playing them."

St. Albans and Nitro have played 69 times with the Red Dragons winning 44 times and tying twice. They've played every year since 1981, but didn't play during the 1978, '79 and '80 seasons. Nitro has lost only twice in the rivalry since 1998, dropping the memorable 27-21 two-overtime game in 1999 and losing last year at Underwood Field 21-13. That victory helped propel the Red Dragons into the playoffs for the second consecutive year.