Preps

Football: Wharton D dominates

Wesley Chapel finds the going tough against its Class 5A, District 5 opponent.

By DOUG KATES
Published October 7, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare was impressed with Wharton's defense while Wharton coach David Mitchell said his defense has a lot of work to do.

On the field Mitchell may have seen things many fans didn't, but on the scoreboard his Wildcats (4-2, 10 5A-5) were 31-7 victors.

"We played okay," Mitchell said. "But we have to play better. We're still missing tackles, but we're getting there."

Wesley Chapel (3-3, 0-1) entered Saturday evening's contest averaging 27 points a game, but the Wharton defense held the home team to just a first-half touchdown.

"(Wharton) is a very good football team," Castelamare said. "When they got on defense they were very active. They moved quickly and gave our guys a little rough time. Tonight they were better."

Wharton led 14-7 at the half. Ladre Watkins had a 51-yard touchdown run and Xavier Fareed had a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown. The lone Wesley Chapel score came on a Hunter Joyer 5-yard run.

In the second half, the Wildcats added a pair of touchdown runs by Jairus Jones and a 38-yard field goal by Joshua Powell. Jones went on to gain 88 yards on the ground.

Wesley Chapel, behind backup quarterback Chris West, never mounted a threat in the second half. Starting quarterback Greg Jenkins missed the game with a separated shoulder.

"I thought in the beginning we were doing pretty good," Castelamare said. "We wanted to keep the ball in our hands, but they did a better job of running the ball than we did.

"I'm not unhappy with our guys. I thought there were places we could have done better."

Wharton entered the game having scored only 71 (14.2) points all season. Mitchell said the first-half fumble return for a touchdown was a huge boost.

"Each time you get a defensive touchdown, it gives the team a lift," he said. "It puts a little air in our sails. It motivates us."

[Last modified October 6, 2007, 22:58:18]