Phillips helps Wolves rush past Coronado

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 | 1:30 a.m.

Charles Phillips remembers his first carry for Basic’s football team. It’s a play he’s been trying to make amends for the past three years.

Phillips, called up to the varsity team as a freshman for the playoffs, was tackled for a loss of 2 yards in the fourth quarter of the Wolves' blowout loss to Valley in the Sunrise Regional quarterfinals.

A dislocated shoulder forced him to miss his sophomore season and he played most of his junior campaign on the JV team getting back into shape.

Now, he has a new memory — his first touchdown.

Phillips raced 78 yards for a score Friday night, the first of two touchdown runs. He was joined by quarterback Robby Faiman, who passed for two touchdowns, to lead the Wolves past host Coronado 46-8 in the Southeast Division opener.

Phillips’ effort against Coronado — he rushed for 101 yards on eight carries and returned a kickoff 43 yards — could be a preview of the rest of his senior year.

“I’ve worked hard for this. If you put in the work, you will see the reward,” Phillips said.

Phillips’ first touchdown gave the Wolves a 14-0 lead with 10 minutes, 39 seconds to play in the second quarter. The Wolves (3-1, 1-0 Southeast) would score 12 seconds later when they recovered a fumble and Anthony Lessier rushed in from 17 yards on the next play.

Basic forced five Coronado turnovers, including three on four plays in the second quarter. The Wolves blocked a punt, had an interception and recovered three of Coronado’s nine fumbles.

It's the opposite of Basic’s performance Sept. 12 against Chaparral. The Wolves committed 12 penalties and didn’t score in the fourth quarter, losing a second-half lead.

“It was the intensity,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said of the difference between the two weeks. “We came out more focused. It was everyone, a total team effort.”

Faiman threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Justin Burdno in the second quarter and a 17-yard scoring strike to Jeff Pozdol in the third.

Phillips added an 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter — the cherry on top for his memorable evening.

“(Charles) does anything you ask of him,” Cahill said. “You couldn’t ask for a better kid.”

The key for Phillips, and the Wolves, will be continuing the solid performances the rest of the season. After all, his carry against Valley was in Basic’s last playoff appearance.

Basic plays Silverado, last year’s league champion, this coming Friday in what will be its toughest test thus far.

“We don’t have a Keenan Graham or Michael Wadsworth (Silverado’s top two players),” Cahill said. “So, it’s going to take all 11 players to beat them.”

Coronado scored with 1:59 to play on a 3-yard touchdown run from Marcus Garcia. Dane Cooper ran in the 2-point conversion.

Preventing the shutout was one of few bright spots for the Cougars.

“The one thing we need to work on is getting over our mental mistakes,” Coronado coach John Mannion said.

Sports Editor Ray Brewer can be reached at ray.brewer@hbcpub.com or 990-2662.