The Tampa Bay Tech Titans are still undefeated this season after their match against the Wharton Wildcats on Friday, but the Wharton Wildcats came as close as anyone has to beating them. Tampa Bay Tech narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Wharton 23-20. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Tampa Bay Tech also won the last time the pair played back in October of 2022.
Tampa Bay Tech got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Rod Gainey jr out in front who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown. Gainey jr is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last five games he's played. Rukeem Stroud made the highlight reel by snagging an interception and taking it all the way to the house.
Wharton's lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Jackson Jensen, who threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground.
Tampa Bay Tech's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 8-0. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-8 Freedom and 2-6 Bloomingdale (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 25% over those games). As for Wharton, their defeat ended a seven-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 3-4.
Tampa Bay Tech will take on Jesuit at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Jesuit is coming into the game hot, having won their last four games. As for Wharton, they will head out on the road to face off against Bloomingdale at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Bloomingdale will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 330th, while Wharton is ranked 108th).
