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Saturday,
October 26, 2002
BHS' Wade makes mom proud
Junior's 237 rushing yards,
two TDs power 9-0 Raiders
By Douglas Hamm
Pantagraph staff
BLOOMINGTON -- Bloomington High School junior running back
James Wade had a special fan in attendance Friday night at soggy Fred
Carlton Field, and he didn't disappoint.
"My motivation was my mom (Lisa Mhone) came to visit me from
Georgia, and I wanted to make her proud," Wade said. "It's the
first game she's seen all year, and I wanted to put on a big show for
her."
Wade rushed for 237 yards and two touchdowns in a dazzling display of
speed and power running. The combination of Wade and a stingy defense
helped the unbeaten Purple Raiders run their regular-season winning
streak to 34 games with a 24-3 triumph over Champaign Centennial in a
battle of state-ranked Class 6A teams.
BHS, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A, completed its third straight 9-0
regular season campaign. Centennial, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, dropped to
7-2. BHS won the Big 12 West Division title, while Centennial was the Big
12 East champion.
"Centennial has been talking all year how they have the best
defense in the league, so we tried to show them who's really the
best," said BHS senior defensive back Michael Harrison.
Wade broke three tackles en route to a 75-yard TD run midway through
the first quarter to put BHS on the board. After Centennial's Shane Scott
booted a 33-yard field goal, Wade's 47-yard burst set up a 3-yard TD run
by quarterback Andre Brown that gave the Raiders a 12-3 halftime lead.
Wade averaged 12.5 yards per carry and increased his season rushing total
to 1,250 yards.
"James is elusive, and he's really smart," Harrison said.
"If you're smaller than him he'll try to run you over. If you're
bigger than him he'll outrun you. It's hard going up against him in
practice, and we don't even tackle."
Damon Mehlberg had a 19-yard TD run for BHS in the third quarter, and
Wade scored from 2 yards out with 1 second remaining to complete the
scoring. Mehlberg rushed for 89 yards as the Raiders outgained Centennial
344-73 on the ground. BHS held a 362-152 edge in total yardage.
"The defense carried us today, and the offense just tried to do
the rest," Wade said. "We all were on one page, and we played
smart."
Harrison had two interceptions and a fumble recovery for the Raiders,
who shut down the high-powered Chargers. Centennial quarterback Jason
Fisher completed only 5 of 22 passes for 79 yards.
"Obviously it was a good win against a quality opponent,"
said BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer. "Our defense is playing well.
Centennial is not a team that is typically limited to three points. It
was an impressive outing."
The running of Wade and Mehlberg offset a subpar performance by Brown,
who completed 3 of 17 passes for 18 yards with two interceptions. Brown
entered the game with only one interception.
"We had a hard time with our passing, and some of it is to their
credit," Schmelzer said. "They gave us enough heat up the
middle that Andre never had time to set up. We made some mistakes I don't
think we should have made at this juncture of the season, so we have some
things to look at (for the playoffs)."
Bloomington junior quarterback/placekicker Jeremy Peden injured his
neck on his final extra point attempt after he was hit while attempting
to corral an errant snap. Peden walked off the field, but he was taken
away on a stretcher as a precautionary measure.
"I believe the neck is hyperextended," Schmelzer said.
"He has feeling in his legs, but there was a little bit of numbness.
With the neck you have to be very careful, and we mobilized him."
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