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Chamberlain hands Wharton first defeat

The Chiefs put themselves in the hunt for the district championship by routing the Wildcats 35-3.

By MIKE READLING

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 22, 2001

TAMPA -- This is how you know things are going well at Chamberlain: coach Billy Turner is unabashedly talking about the playoffs. Not hinting, not coyly mentioning, Turner is flat out saying how good that No. 1 spot in the district would feel at the end of the season.

And he's saying it because he believes it's a possibility.

After Friday night's 35-3 win over Wharton, propelling the Chiefs to 2-0 in district play, there are few who would argue with him.

Chamberlain ran up 412 total yards, did not commit a turnover for the third consecutive game -- after turning the ball over six times in the season opener -- and raised its offensive output to 113 points over the past three games. The Chiefs (2-2) kept Wharton (3-1) off-balance all night as Broderick Bunkley, Ollie Hoyte and Mike Torres dominated the Wildcats offensive line.

"Torres is really the unsung hero of that group," Turner said. "He's the guy who sits on the center's nose and gets it done. Broderick, he's like an animal. He plays so hard. He's going 100 mph every play."

Those three, along with Greg Lee, who moved over from corner to play safety this week and grabbed two interceptions and "jumped 18 feet in the air to bat a ball," according to Turner, held Wharton to 224 yards of offense, although much of it came late with the game already out of hand.

"We made too many mistakes tonight," Wharton coach Richard Wood said. "We just couldn't get anything going. You can't make mistakes when you're playing for a championship."

Hillsborough's loss to King on Friday night seems to turn the race for the district crown wide open. Chamberlain and King sit atop Class 5A, District 6 as the lone unbeatens with their matchup looming Oct. 18 at King.

"The deal is to win your district," Turner said. "That's what we want to do. If you're a district runner-up or wild card, you don't know who you're going to draw or where you're going to have to go. We want to be district champions so we can host a runner-up."

Despite the lopsided score, it wasn't straight sailing for Chamberlain.

The Chiefs held an uneasy 14-3 lead heading toward the half when Michael Ross intercepted a Ross Corcoran pass and returned it 97 yards with no time on the clock to put Chamberlain up 21-3 and virtually seal the game.

"That broke the game, I think," Turner said. "Having 21 points made the difference for 'em. Although I didn't feel comfortable even with 35 up there."

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