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Chargers stun Bucs for title

 
Published Nov. 1, 2003|Updated Sept. 2, 2005

What do a horse and the Shorecrest Chargers have in common? If you're talking about Seabiscuit, then they both fought to the finish.

Shorecrest (7-1, 4-1) didn't win the Triple Crown, but the Class A, District 8 crown is just as nice after suffering an upset last week to Northside Christian. The Chargers handed Berkley Prep its first loss of the season Friday night, 42-21.

"We saw the movie Seabiscuit and in Seabiscuit the guy said he was looking for a horse to fight for the finish, and that's what we've talked about," Shorecrest coach Phil Hayford said.

The game was much like a horse race as the Buccaneers (7-1, 4-1) got out of the gate quickly to take a 7-0 lead with an 84-yard drive on their opening possession behind the running of Johnson Clark and Derek Hatcher. The Chargers answered, and the teams traded another pair of touchdowns in the second and third quarters before Shorecrest pulled away in the fourth.

The momentum swung for the Chargers before halftime as Ryan Iacovacci intercepted a Hatcher pass to stop a Berkley drive and set up one. With the Bucs marching, Iacovacci returned the interception 58 yards to give the hosts the ball at the 17 with 9 seconds left in the half. After a 15-yard pass to Andrew Nunnelly, Iacovacci scored as time expired to tie it at the break.

The teams traded possessions to start the second half before another Berkeley turnover led to another Shorecrest TD. Rhett Newton recovered a Clark fumble at the 20 to give the Chargers the ball. But the key play in the drive was a fake field goal that Iacovacci turned into a 4-yard run for a first down. Three plays later, he scored to give Shorecrest its first lead. No sooner had it taken the lead Hatcher scampered 93 yards to tie the game at 21. "They would score and we'd say we're not gonna let that happen," Hayford said. "Then they'd score again."