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Wharton’s Devin Etienne not only set a single-game record Sept. 4 with four interceptions against Freedom, but he is now already tied for Wharton’s single-season record after only three games.
Etienne’s four picks, which included what is believed to be a school record 101-yard return for a touchdown, now gives him five on the year. That ties the single-season mark set by Vernon Hargreaves in 2012 and tied by Jairon Dorsey in 2020.
Dorsey also returned two of those interceptions in 2020 for scores, a mark Etienne has also tied with his pick sixes against the Patriots and Brandon.
Several Wildcats have picked off four passes in a season — Ja’Maree Thomas (2023), Rickeem Parks and Cameron Campbell (2021) and Jairus Jones (2008).
Hargreaves, who went on to play for the Florida Gators and was a first-round NFL draft choice, holds the career record with nine interceptions.
Tourney time
Wharton and Freedom’s volleyball teams will compete this weekend in the Florida GEM High School Tournament at the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus right up the road in Wesley Chapel.
The tournament features 128 teams and is billed by organizers as the country’s largest high school volleyball tournament.
For Wharton, it will be a chance to continue its hot start against some top competition. The Wildcats will play in the Varsity American Division, in a pool with Wesley Chapel, Lakeland and traditional Class 3A power North Bay Haven. If the Wildcats find success in pool play, it could set them up with matches against undefeated Cypress Creek, Lecanto, Shorecrest or Winter Springs, to name a few of the other top teams in the other pools.
Wharton takes on Wesley Chapel Friday at 4:30 to open its tourney run.
Freedom will compete in the Varsity Patriot Division, in a pool it should do well in. The Patriots open play Friday at 4:30 against St. Petersburg Catholic.
Bravo
According to the Freedom High Facebook page, the Freedom boys and girls golf teams knocked off rival Wharton, a feat it hasn’t accomplished in at least 10 years. Senior Abby Glass led the girls, shooting a 39 over 9 holes, while senior Wesley Cunningham fired a 35, tops for the boys.