Durant coach Mike Gottman can’t even fathom being in Billy Turner’s current position.

A chance at reaching 250 career wins?

“That would be something,” Gottman said. “I don’t know if I’m as tough as Billy to get that many wins because that’s a long time. I’d have to go 22 more years of winning 10 ball games a year. It’s unheard of. It’s hard to think about that. The guy is unbelievable.

“It’s unbelievable because it’s [coaching] such a grind. It’s tough on your family, and it’s a lot of work. I’ve got the utmost respect for him, because not only is that a lot of wins, that’s a lot of time and effort he’s put in. He’s just a classy guy that loves the game of football.”

Gottman has crossed paths a few times in his coaching career with Chamberlain’s longtime coach, and Gottman remembers fondly two classic games he coached in which he and Turner were on opposite sidelines.

The first was when Gottman was an assistant at East Bay during the 2001 season, the year Chamberlain would make a run to the Class 5A state title game. In the season-opener that year, the Indians blocked two punts in the fourth quarter, each of which led to a touchdown, to upset the Chiefs at John Adcock Stadium, 14-9.

“I’ll never forget walking past his office, and Billy sitting in his chair,” Gottman said. “He had his head in his hands like, ‘What the hell just happened.’ They kicked our butts up and down the field that night, but we got those two blocked kicks and somehow came out with a win.”

Then there was the 2003 regional playoff matchup between Gottman’s Durant Cougars and Turner’s Chiefs, the year the Cougars made a run to the Class 5A state semifinals.

Chamberlain scored its first touchdown with about three minutes remaining to take a 7-3 lead, but Durant responded with a touchdown drive of its own in the final minute to re-take the lead 10-7. But, the Chiefs weren’t quite dead.

“After the kickoff, they hit a pass that takes them to about midfield. Then, on the next play, they throw it out in the flat, and all of the sudden the receiver stops,” Gottman said. “He launches one down the field and the guy catches it and takes it down to about the 6 with 12 seconds left, and I’m thinking, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

“But they had two men in motion on the play, so it came back and we ended up winning. It was a hell of a game.”