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Wharton Does The 'Unthinkable'

Photo By Scott Purks

Wharton hoists the Class 5A state soccer title trophy, which they won Saturday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas.

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By BILL WARD, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 17, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE - Moments after the final seconds ticked off the clock of Lockhart Stadium and the Wharton boys soccer team had lifted its school's first state championship trophy in a team sport, Wildcats forward Joe Layton kept posing the same question.

"State champions! How did we do it? How did we do it?" Layton asked, tears streaming down his face.

The answer goes much deeper than Wharton's 2-1 victory against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in Saturday's Class 5A championship game, where the Wildcats survived a flurry of shots in the final minute to earn the title. This was a Wildcats team that a month into the season was unranked, struggling to stay above .500 and looking like it would be a non-factor in postseason play.

In fact, Wharton (18-5-2) didn't bother entering a tournament during the holiday break because the Wildcats' lone goalkeeper, Scott Montgomery, and brother Matt, a midfielder, were going on a family ski vacation.

But just after the start of Wharton's district tournament - where the Wildcats were the No. 4 seed - things began to turn. Key players returned from injuries. Cohesion improved. And as the Wildcats won game after game, including the district title match against local rival Freedom, confidence soared.

"Once we won the district, things started building and building, and we began to think, 'Hey, we can actually do this, we can get here, boys,'" said second-year Wildcats coach Scott Ware.

With the district crown in their pocket, the Wildcats went on a tear, taking the regional crown with three more wins, including a convincing 3-1 victory against defending 5A state champion Auburndale.

Then came nationally ranked Jesuit here in Friday's state semifinals. Despite riding an eight-game win streak, Wharton was the underdog. And when Wharton pulled out a 1-0 victory against the Tigers, some argued the lone score was a fluke because the free kick that bounced in was intended to be a pass, not a shot.

With Wharton's impressive victory against St. Thomas Aquinas (22-6-4) on Saturday, there can be no doubt. The Wildcats are deserving champions, no matter what their record was a month ago. Just 13 minutes into the match, midfielder Robert Sklaver produced a spectacular goal with a 16-yard blast he slotted perfectly to the far post.

Five minutes before halftime, Layton earned his first goal of the tournament, and he did much of the work himself. After taking a pass on the right flank from Matt Montgomery, Layton blasted a shot at Aquinas goalie Kurt Levin. Levin made the save, but the rebound bounced straight back to Layton, who headed the ball back over the keeper to make it 2-0.

For that score and his relentless pace throughout the last two matches, Layton was named the Class 5A MVP.

The Raiders finally cracked Wharton's tight marking and pulled one back in the 73rd minute, a header by sophomore forward Kevin Alexander inside the 6-yard box. That energized the Raiders as they mounted attack after attack. The Wildcats and Scott Montgomery survived them all, including a header that floated just over the bar and, with less than 30 seconds to play, a low shot by defender Ryan Thiel that went across the goal mouth and inches wide.

After the final seconds ticked off, tears were a common sight in the Wharton celebration. They had come so far in such a short time. Little wonder Layton was left in disbelief when he and his teammates lifted the trophy.

"No one knew we even existed," Layton said. "We're the No. 1 team out of 111. It's crazy. We did the unthinkable."

Reporter Bill Ward can be reached at (813) 259-7456 or wward@tampatrib.com.

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