Dr. Phillips beats Tampa Wharton 28-15 in GOTW

Dr. Phillips stays undefeated and moves on in playoffs with victory Friday

ORLANDO, Florida – This week's ClickOrlando.com game of the week was between Dr. Phillips and Tampa Wharton.

Dr. Phillips hosted the game at Bill Spoone Stadium.

It was a regional quarterfinal game in class 8A of the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Dr. Phillips came into Friday night's game at an impressive 10-0 while Wharton were 8-2. Both teams sport strong, fast defenses and aerial assault type offenses. These two teams are not unknown to each other, having met last year in the playoffs.

The first half of this contest was a "what could of been" kind of half for both teams.

Wharton had the ball three times within Dr. Phillips' 10 yard line and could only muster three points.

Dr. Phillips forced two turnovers in the first half, which halted all the momentum for Wharton on those drives in the first half and put Wharton in a hole for most of the game.

Dr. Phillips running back Eric Harrell was a lightning bolt on the field.

Harrell scored in the first quarter and kept his team alive on third downs all game long. His stats may not be out of fantasy football, but his performance and true team leadership will be remembered as gutsy.

Dr. Phillips defensive standouts Matt Milano and Damarrion Ginlack made plays all night from hard hits to interceptions. It was quite the night for the Panthers defense to say the least. Wharton was averaging 35 points a game on offense coming into Friday's game.

Dr. Phillips would lead 14-3 going into the 4th quarter and would end up winning this contest 28-15.

Wharton's season now comes to an end but that is not the case for the Panthers as they will turn their focus towards Plant High out of the Tampa area. Both of these teams met last year in the playoffs with Plant crushing the Panthers 49-13.


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