Preps

Eagles feel like winning

Fresh off an upset of Chamberlain, Brandon's young team learns what it feels like to win for a change.

By EMILY NIPPS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 12, 2003

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BRANDON - Before Monday's game against Chamberlain, Brandon coach Jim Wilt had a feeling about his Eagles, and it wasn't good.

"You know how kids are, they're hard to read," Wilt said. "I don't know if it was the daylight or the heat, or if it was just the look in their eyes. They seemed really flat ... I was concerned."

In addition, Brandon hadn't had much success against the Chiefs in recent years and reasoning led many to believe the young team had a lot of growing up to do, so Wilt's concerns were certainly legit.

So imagine his surprise - imagine everyone's surprise - when Brandon defeated Chamberlain 20-13 at the Chiefs' own John Adcock Stadium.

Not bad for a team that returned four varsity players this season and has a first-year coach leading the way. The Eagles were excited, if not a tad bit flabbergasted, and undoubtedly share similar feelings about the rest of the season: What's next?

"I'm interested to see how they react," Wilt said.

Playing Wharton tonight should be a more-than-adequate test. The 2002 Class 5A state finalists narrowly defeated East Bay on Monday and are considered among the top teams in the county.

Yet, Chamberlain is considered one of the top teams as well, perhaps even better than Wharton. On Monday, the Eagles and Chiefs were tied 13-13 with less than three minutes to play when Brandon sophomore quarterback Tyson Gordon led a 76-yard, nine-play drive toward the end zone. It ended with a 1-yard touchdown by senior running back Demetrius Jones.

"The defense really kept us in the game in the beginning," Wilt said. "I guess it was like one of those old cliches: The longer we stayed around the more the confidence was building."

Jones has been one of the bright spots for the Eagles this season. He had a strong performance during the preseason and finished Monday with 30 carries for 139 yards (90 in the second half).

The Eagles' biggest challenge now might not be their tough schedule, though that could certainly throw them off track since they play Wharton tonight then state finalist Jefferson, perennially dominant Lakeland and Wilt's former team, Durant.

No, the biggest obstacle, as Wilt sees it, is teaching his relatively inexperienced Eagles how to win, or how to maintain the feeling of being winners.

"I think that's been something they've lacked for a while," Wilt said. "It's trying to get them thinking it's us against everybody else."

The Eagles went 5-5 last season, 3-7 in 2001, 5-5 in 2000 and 3-7 in 1999. With this season's group of mostly first-year starters, it's not hard for Wilt to start from scratch.

What's hard is bringing back the feeling of victory to the locker room and shedding Brandon's five-year tradition of below .500 football.

"We've talked about it all week," Wilt said. "I've told them, "You just keep thinking about your feelings after that game (against Chamberlain).'

"I want them to think about how hard they worked to get that feeling."

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