Good things came in threes for Templeton High School junior defensive back Daniel Wheeler, who hauled in three interceptions for the Eagles on the way to his team’s 50-14 rout over the King City Mustangs on Friday night.

All three of Wheeler’s interceptions came in the first quarter. His first interception came just two minutes into the game and resulted in a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“I just dropped back in my coverage, just like coach has been telling me to do,” Wheeler said.

With a little help from teammates Justin Lowe throwing a block and Nico Schechter, who jarred the King City quarterback just enough to upset the throw, Wheeler said the ball just “floated up and went right to me.”

“I said, ‘Bingo,’ and everyone turned around and saw that I had [the ball] and they started blocking and let me get into the end zone,” Wheeler said.

The second interception came with just under two minutes left in the first quarter. That pick set the ball up on a first and 10 at the 29-yard line, which led to running back Kris Dearie’s 29-yard touchdown run.

Wheeler’s third interception came with just 12 seconds left in the first quarter. That interception gave Wheeler’s second cousin, Garrett Baldwin, his second touchdown of the night, a 1-yard run that put the Eagles up 26-0 over the Mustangs.

Like Wheeler, Baldwin had good things happen in threes as well, scoring three touchdowns in the game. His third touchdown immediately followed his second. This time he scored off a five-yard run. Baldwin’s first touchdown of the night, a four-yard run, came on the Eagles’ first possession following Wheeler’s interception return for a touchdown.

Baldwin said he felt a sense of family pride watching his younger cousin come up big in the game.

“He did good, he was all over it tonight,” he said.

By the end of the first half, the Eagles had shut the Mustangs out, 36-0, scoring five touchdowns, three extra point kicks and one 33-yard field goal by Chase Schmidt.

Templeton coach Don Crow said he felt the Eagles played a much cleaner game than they had in their previous two performances for the season.

“We needed to eliminate mistakes and we certainly did that,” he said.

In all, the Eagles had four interceptions. The first three by Wheeler and the fourth was picked off by line backer Derek Scoville at the start of the third quarter. The Eagles’ Chad McGill recovered a fumble at the end of the second half as well.

While the Mustangs committed five turnovers, the Eagles committed just one, a fumble in the second quarter.

The Mustangs avoided the shutout with a 90-yard touchdown kick off return by Jovani Renteria at the end of the third quarter, cutting the lead to 43-7. Mustang quarterback Darrell Sinclair added another score on a 16-yard run at the end of the fourth.

Ricky Horn and Jake Simpson added two final touchdowns for the Eagles, along with Schmidt’s extra points.

As a team, the Eagles rushed and passed for 502 yards, as compared with the Mustangs’ 186 yards.

Eagles quarterback Sawdey was 13-for-16 for 199 yards.

“We threw the ball really well, and the kids played hard,” Crow said. “It was a good game for us tonight, and it worked out well.”

The Eagles are now 1-2 for the season. The Eagles and the St. Joseph Knights (2-1) both play their first Los Padres League game against each this Friday night in Santa Maria.





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