Timber Creek (5-0), the No. 3 team in The Inquirer Top 10, got great work from senior quarterback Calvin Lowe and junior running back Khalil Pierce. The Chargers' offensive line was solid. They played good special teams.
But their defense was the story.
The guys on the other side of the football seized the spotlight, turning a showdown between unbeaten teams into a showcase for spectacular defense.
"I'm asking the coaches all the time, 'Are we really that good?' " Timber Creek coach Ron Hinson said. "I think, potentially, we could have a lights-out defense. These guys could be pretty special."
Lowe, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior, ran 18 times for 136 yards and touchdown. He also was 5-for-8 passing for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Pierce, a 5-9, 180-pound junior, ran 16 times for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wingback Kevin Potter also scored two touchdowns, one on a run and the other on a pass reception.
But even the Chargers' offensive guys got caught up in the work of the Chargers defense.
"Those guys are great," Lowe said. "Our defense sets the tone for our team."
What makes the Chargers defense so imposing is its athletic ability. This is a defense with three future high-Division 1 players in senior linebacker Quanzell Lambert and junior defensive linemen Greg Webb and Dajaun Drennon.
The 6-2, 240-pound Lambert has offers from schools such as Alabama and Oklahoma. His jarring tackle of Woodrow Wilson quarterback Aaron Spencer was the hit of the game.
The 6-2, 295-pound Webb, a defensive tackle who plays like a young Warren Sapp, has offers from 10 schools, including Tennessee and Penn State. The 6-4, 225-pound Drennon has offers from five schools, including Penn State and Iowa.
