On the surface, Tampa Bay Tech’s matchup tonight with Wharton looks like somewhat of a trap game. The Wildcats are just 2-6 on the season, and a huge matchup with Hillsborough looms the following week.

The game against the Terriers is especially intriguing because Tampa Bay Tech kept Hillsborough out of the playoffs last year (by defeating the Terriers in a late-season district matchup), and a win this year – coupled with a win over Plant earlier this season – would vault the Titans program into a level of respectability never before achieved.

In reality, however, tonight’s matchup is the biggest of the season for the Titans. A win over the Wildcats not only would give Tampa Bay Tech a second consecutive playoff berth, it also would give the Titans just their second district title in program history (the other was in 2000).

And Titans coach C.C. Culpepper said he’s stressed that point to his team all this week.

“It’s been Wharton, Wharton, Wharton,” Culpepper said, adding he’s not only expressed the point verbally, but also with visual reminders in the locker room. “It’s very visible that Wharton is the most important game of the season.”

Tampa Bay Tech’s turnaround under Culpepper, now in his third season, has been nothing short of astounding. He took over a program in 2007 that had lost 20 consecutive games and has posted three consecutive winning seasons. Culpepper views the chance to claim a district crown as the next step for his rising program.

“We definitely have goals set for this team, this program and this school. There is a lot of weight on us as players and coaches,” Culpepper said. “We know what we have to do. We just have to play football.”