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Watch out! Wharton is 3-0!

With perhaps less talent than in the past, the Wildcats have won three games for the first time in school history.

By FRANK PASTOR

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 21, 2001

TAMPA -- Wharton coach Richard Wood stood at a gate outside the Wildcats' practice field Thursday when one of his players approached.

The player was puzzled by the Wildcats' 3-0 start.

"Coach, we don't have great talent," the player said. "But we have a good team."

"Son," Wood responded, "that's the key."

Wharton has had good individual players in the past but never won more than two games in a season.

This year's team might lack the talent of its predecessors, but after Monday's 35-7 win against Alonso, the Wildcats have more wins than at any time in their five-year history.

The difference? This year's team works together and plays with a sense of urgency that was missing in the past.

The team's togetherness will be tested tonight, when Wharton (3-0, 1-0) plays at Chamberlain (1-2, 1-0) in an important Class 5A, District 6 game.

"It's a challenge," Wood said. "It's a challenge for us to go out and play them in their stadium."

In previous seasons, it was a challenge for Wood simply to keep his players from getting down on themselves.

Wood, a former NFL linebacker who played for coaches such as John McKay, Sam Wyche and Lindy Infante, keeps a book of quotations. One of his favorites is from McKay: "There's nothing you can learn from losing, except that your team is not playing well."

One of the lessons Wharton learned from its three victories is not to rely on any one player.

In the 16-13 season-opening win, Chris Wilson had two interceptions and Michael Coonce caught a key fourth-down pass.

The following week, Joe Hall tackled Brandon's Kris Derr in the end zone for a safety and Nicholas Calvin added an interception in a 9-3 win.

Against Alonso, Chris Ellick rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, and Paul Poleon returned a fumble 20 yards to set up another score.

The game followed a week in which terrorists attacked New York City and Washington, D.C., and Tropical Storm Gabrielle knocked down trees and caused flooding at home. Wood, who was drafted during the Vietnam War but received a student deferment and whose brothers, Melvin and Walter, were career military men, answered questions from his players about the attacks for half an hour Friday.

"That was just a complete shock and I'm really not over it," Wood said.

Neither was his team, which committed 173 yards in penalties, including 135 in the first half Monday against Alonso.

Wood, who also lost his golden retriever, Max, last week, was glad just to put the game behind him.

"I don't think they were ready to play," he said. "There was just too much emphasis on other things at the moment, and I can understand that."

Things improved this week.

Since all of his players got in, Wood treated Monday's game as a practice. He didn't change his team's schedule the past three days and the players responded with enthusiastic practices.

Wharton got more good news when it learned running back Larry Edwards, who scored two touchdowns against Robinson, will return from a one-game suspension. The Florida High School Activities Association suspended Edwards after he was ejected for punching a Brandon player the previous week. Wharton will need to be at full strength against Chamberlain, which comes off a 38-17 win against Gaither.

"Chamberlain's got two good running backs (Eddie Ivery and Donnie Davis) and a great wide receiver (Brian Clark)," Wood said. "Not only are they physical because they're physically big, but I'm sure I expect them to (play) physical. (Coach) Billy (Turner)'s been around a long time, and I know he's going to have his team prepared, too."

For the first time in its history, Wharton finds itself in playoff contention. But with upcoming games against Gaither, Hillsborough, King and Leto, it will be difficult to stay there.

"Each game to me, as I tell them, is a big game, is a championship game," Wood said. "And that's the way you have to play, like you're playing in a championship."

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