Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette, August 24, 2008

New quarterbacks in the spotlight at Nitro, Riverside

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Quarterback is the one position that can make or break a high school football team's season. It's always good to get an idea of what you have before the bullets start flying.

Nitro and Riverside each got a sneak-peek Saturday at its new signal-callers in a real-game environment at the Mountain State Athletic Conference Grid-o-rama at Laidley Field.

Riverside defeated Nitro 14-0 in the final dress rehearsal before the regular season kicks off Friday. A full compliment of referees was used in the two-quarter scrimmage with several hundred fans dotting the stands.

Kenny Kemp

Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008

Nitro receiver Josh Daff pulls in a pass as Riverside's Alex Buckley defends during the MSAC Grid-o-rama at Laidley Field.

Nitro is in effect replacing two quarterbacks this season as Michael Scott graduated and C.J. Crawford, who briefly joined the program this summer, returned to Huntington after learning he likely wouldn't be eligible at Nitro.

Wildcats sophomore Bodie Johnson was thrust into the starting job the third day of summer practice without the benefit of getting many repetitions during the three-week practice period in June.

Johnson had his moments Saturday against Riverside. He drove the Wildcats to the Warriors 16-yard line on their first possession before turning it over on downs. He threw an interception on Nitro's second drive, overthrowing a wide receiver.

Johnson tossed a short touchdown on the Wildcats' third drive, but a penalty canceled out the score. The drive eventually ended with a turnover after Johnson was sacked and fumbled. Johnson sat out Nitro's fourth and final drive.

"He's going to be OK,'' said first-year Nitro coach John Sowards, who is taking over for offensive guru Scott Tinsley. "Right now, he's not ready. Had I had him all summer, he'd be ready.

"It's just not enough time for anybody to be ready. I think he did some good things [Saturday]. Mark Chandler must have had 150 yards receiving. [Bodie is] locking onto receivers and not going through his reads. He'll get there eventually.''

Sowards admitted that Nitro still has a few kinks to iron out before its opener at home Friday against Poca. The Wildcats went 7-5 last season and lost in overtime of the Class AAA quarterfinals to St. Albans.

"Not too bad,'' Sowards said of Saturday's play. "We're doing a lot of good things [and] we're doing a lot of small, mental mistakes that's killing us. A lot of that stuff is me.''

Riverside is also breaking in a new quarterback after graduating Chuckie Erby, who accounted for nearly 1,900 total yards. Tyler Long, a senior who waited behind Erby, has been handed the reigns after attempting only one pass and rushing nine times in limited playing time last year.

Long led the Warriors on an 84-yard scoring march on their first drive Saturday to take a 7-0 lead over Nitro and broke off a 35-yard scramble on the second. On the third drive, he was sacked and fumbled, but then came back on his fourth and final drive to throw a short TD pass.

"He threw some nice passes [Saturday] then threw some passes we had dropped,'' said veteran Riverside coach Ralph Hensley. "He's starting to come along.

"He's doing some good things. He's getting better. We know it's a learning situation. As long as he keeps on being Tyler and don't try and do too much too fast we should be OK.''

Riverside finished 7-4 last season and returned to the AAA playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Warriors play host to South Charleston on Friday.

"The guys are working so hard,'' said Hensley, who lost 22 seniors. "That's why I feel so good.''

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at 348-4811 or tatkin...@wvgazette.com.