ELKVIEW, W.Va. — Herbert Hoover came up with a pivotal fumble recovery with just inside 4 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, then proceeded to march 54 yards to setup a game-winning 29-yard field goal from Voss Duernberger with 1:06 remaining that lifted the home standing to a 15-14 victory against Nitro on Friday night.
For the Huskies, it was their second close call in three contests, having rallied from a 23-point deficit only to fall short against Independence in Week 1, 37-34.
“We found a way to win this one,” Huskies’ head coach Joey Fields said. “Earlier, we go down 30-7, go up 34-30 and then fall short. Do we win this game without that happening to us? This team has learned a lot. We’ve put them through a lot because we think we have a lot of talent. We can be really good and a hard out for anybody, but these guys will choose that in the response.”
The Wildcats (2-1) looked primed to pull off a marquee road win when they regained possession with 8:02 remaining and a two-point lead and wound up gaining four first downs, including Eian Duffy’s 11-yard pass to Ja Lei Burnette on third-and-8 and consecutive runs of 9 and 19 yards from Chris Radcliffe to move the chains on back-to-back plays. On what proved to be his 16th and final carry of the contest, however, Radcliffe lost a fumble on a 1-yard run that the Huskies’ Sam Kee recovered, allowing the home team to take over at its 34-yard line with 3:51 remaining.
“The right kid in the right spot. Everything matters,” Fields said. “Good kids get rewarded and make plays. I always say my best players are my best people and somehow they seem to be in the right place at the right time.”
On the third play of that possession, Peyton Grigsby found wideout KnoSean Hampton for a 37-yard gain. That proved to be the second and final Herbert Hoover (2-1) first down of the series, and after forcing the Wildcats to call their final timeout, Duernberger knocked in the field goal with his time in the red zone. His only other previous kick of the night was a point-after attempt that was blocked following the game’s first touchdown.
“I’ve practiced every day for years and it’s consistency,” Duernberger said. “I’ve done the same thing over and over again.”
Herbert Hoover 15, Nitro 14, 1:06 4th qtr
Voss Duernberger 29-yard field goal gives Huskies late lead.
Wildcats are out of timeouts.#wvprepfb pic.twitter.com/ap3fqCt4rj
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) September 13, 2025
Nitro still had a chance and took over at its 30 with 1 minute remaining. The Wildcats approached midfield before being flagged for delay of game and offensive pass interference on consecutive plays. Nitro got back to midfield with consecutive completions of 15 and 13 yards to Burnette, before Duffy’s pass fell incomplete on the final play.
“We had some penalties again. We didn’t get a stop when we needed to,” Nitro head coach James “Boom” McKinney said. “We gave up big yardage and they got in field position at the end to put one through. We gave up too many yards there at the end.
“We have to clean it up a little bit and quit making mistakes. We beat ourselves.”
Nitro trailed 12-7 at halftime and through three quarters, while Duffy was intercepted by MyKell Taylor 35 seconds into the fourth, allowing the Huskies to start at the NHS 34.
But just as it was for much of the matchup, the Wildcat defense was up to the task and created a penalty-aided three-and-out that forced a punt — one Takye Porter returned 88 yards for a touchdown.
Leading by one with 10:08 remaining, NHS elected to go for the point-after kick, and though Connor Strickland made his second one in as many attempts, it left the visitors in position to be defeated by a field goal.
“We didn’t expect to give up a big one at the end. We figured our defense could hold them,” McKinney said.
Blake Fisher’s 5-yard touchdown run 3:56 into the matchup allowed HHHS to lead 6-0, but the Wildcats broke through on their third series for their first lead. An 85-yard drive that featured a 30-yard pass from Duffy to West Virginia commit Malachi Thompson was capped by Porter’s 11-yard touchdown run at the 1:11 mark of the opening quarter.
Nitro’s 7-6 lead stood until late in the first half. After the Wildcats turned it over on downs from the Huskies’ 30, Fisher brought in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Grigsby. The Wildcats were flagged for offside on what was to be a point-after try, leading to the Huskies going for a two-point conversion, though their run play was stopped well short of the goal line.
As a result, Hoover settled for a five-point halftime lead.
“We’re not as good as we want to be, and a lot of people saw that tonight, but we can be a good football team,” Fields said. “We have to take it one day and one practice at a time.”
Nitro finished with a 299-284 edge in total yardage. Radcliffe rushed for 101 yards and Duffy completed 16-of-31 passes for 163 yards. Burnette brought in seven passes for 101 yards and Thompson made six receptions for 54 yards.
Fisher keyed the Huskies’ attack with 90 rushing yards on 16 carries and 59 receiving yards on four catches.
Hampton added three catches for a team-high 64 receiving yards, while Grigsby completed 8-of-17 passes for 126 yards in the win.