WATCH LIVE: High School Football - Nitro vs. Herbert Hoover.
The Wildcats travel from Nitro to Elkview to take on the Huskies.
Voss Duernberger’s 28-yard field goal with 1:06 to play gave Herbert Hoover a 15-14 win over visiting Nitro on Friday in a Cardinal Conference football game in Elkview.
Duernberger’s kick was redemption after the Wildcats blocked an extra point in the first quarter, and it rallied the Huskies from a fourth-quarter deficit.
The game-winning kick became possible after Sam Kee recovered a fumble by Nitro while the Wildcats were driving to try to put the game away.
Nitro’s Chris Radcliffe (6) runs with the ball while being tackled by Herbert Hoover’s Blake Fisher (1) during the game between Herbert Hoover and Nitro at Herbert Hoover High School in Elkview, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
- LAURA BILSON | Gazette-Mail
Scott’s Cayden Sharps (11), Scott’s Tanner Simmons (0), and Scott’s Tucker Breedlove (14) wait for the ball to stop moving before picking it up during the game at Sissonville High School in Sissonville , Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
- LAURA BILSON | Gazette-Mail
Sissonville senior Wes Lane runs with a Sissonville Majorette’s flag along the track during the game at Sissonville High School in Sissonville, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. Lane ran back and forth several times, receiving cheers and applause from Sissonville fans.
- LAURA BILSON | Gazette-Mail
Huntington's Andreas Reece (2) takes the ball upfield as Spring Valley's Dominick Hanshaw (19) dives to tackle as Huntington High takes on Spring Valley during a high school football game on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Huntington.
- RYAN FISCHER | HD Media
Huntington High School’s student section cheers during a high school football game against Spring Valley on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Huntington. The game ended too late for this edition. Visit herald-dispatch.com for coverage of Spring Valley-Huntington, Hurricane-Parkersburg, Wayne-Mingo Central and Fairland-Rock Hill. The Cabell Midland-George Washington game was postponed due to a power outage.
- RYAN FISCHER | HD Media
Huntington's Travon Okonkwo (9), left, outpaces Spring Valley's Dae Dae Page (1) on a touchdown-scoring run as Huntington High takes on Spring Valley during a high school football game on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Huntington.
- RYAN FISCHER | HD Media
Wayne's Kaiden Hayton picks up yardage while being tracked down by a host of Mingo Central defenders including Aidan Burke (24), Davion Joplin (2), and Keziah Joplin during the Miners game at the Pioneers on Friday, Sept. 12 at Pioneer Field.Â
- JARRID McCORMICK | HD Media
Mingo Central's Jamere Knuckes heaves a pass while being hit by Wayne's Draven Egnor during the Miners game at the Pioneers on Friday, Sept. 12 at Pioneer Field. Also shown is Mingo's Griffin Beckett (71) blocking Wayne's Cobie Jackson (66).Â
- JARRID McCORMICK | HD Media
Sherman football's Dawson Green (40) tries to break a Pocahontas County tackle as the Warriors' Jonathan Whitworth (25) defends during the matchup between the Tide and Warriors on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, at Zontini Field in Seth.
- CAMERON MAYNARD | HD Media
"I saw 10 other guys doing their job, trusting each other, and I was going to be able to do mine," Kee said of the fumble recovery. "It was either Kell [Taylor] or Ty [Mullins] came in and punched the ball out. I scooped it up."
Nitro had driven to the Huskies 18 when the ball squirted out of a pile and Kee returned it 16 yards. A Peyton Grigsby to Kno’sean Hampton pass for 37 yards put Hoover deep in Nitro territory, where Duernberger eventually put Hoover ahead for good.
"Our kids are tough, and they found a way to respond and win," Herbert Hoover coach Joey Fields said. "We'll probably see [Nitro] again. We don't want to, but that's just the likelihood of it."
The Huskies (2-1) took a 6-0 lead after their first possession of the game on Blake Fisher's 4-yard run, but Nitro blocked Duernberger's point-after.Â
Nitro (2-1) finally got a drive going late in the first period and Takye Porter capped it with an 11-yard run that gave the Wildcats a 7-6 lead at the 1:11 mark of the opening quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, Hoover got the ball back and it took the Huskies six plays to regain the lead. Grigsby avoided Nitro's defensive pressure long enough to find Fisher along the sideline, and he turned upfield for a 41-yard TD that gave the Huskies the lead back with 3:25 to go in the first half.
Hoover would take that 12-7 lead into halftime.
The two teams were scoreless in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, Porter seemed to make the play that would give Nitro its third victory in as many games.
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Porter fielded a Duernberger punt at about the Wildcats' 10 and returned it for a touchdown with 10:08 to play. Connor Strickland's second extra point in as many tries made it 14-12 for Nitro.
Kee's recovery with under 3:30 to play set up Hoover at their own 34. Hampton was all alone when he pulled in Grigsby's pass along the Hoover sideline and he sped his way to the Nitro 23 when he was knocked out of bounds with 2:47 left.
The Huskies had it fourth-and-4 when Duernberger made his kick.
The clock ran out on Nitro on a final drive to try for the win.
"We just got to clean some things up," Nitro coach James "Boom" McKinney said. "We can't beat ourselves."
NITRO 7 0 0 7 -- 14
HERBERT HOOVER 6 6 0 3 -- 15
H – Fisher 4 run (kick blocked).
N – Porter 11 run (Strickland kick).
H – Fisher 41 pass from Grigsby (run failed).
N – Porter 90 punt return (Strickland kick).
H – Duernberger 28 FG.
