Delta Charter School football coach Blake Wheeler doesn’t believe in luck — instead, commitment.

So when Storm senior Chandler Wiley picked off a pass late in the fourth quarter during Delta Charter’s victory over Sicily Island Friday night, 22-20, Wheeler wasn’t exactly shocked.

“I believe the harder you work, the more you study your opponent and the more you’re in position to be where you need to be, the more lucky you seem to be,” he said. “Chandler did exactly what I told him to do all week long — go up, fill the gap. It was beautiful.”

Wiley’s interception came at the mercy of a tipped ball in which DCS’ Jalen Williams got a full hand on the attempted pass. The pick stopped a driving Sicily Island team in the red zone, sealing the victory for the Storm after a back-and-forth contest.

Despite being thankful for the tip, Wiley said he thought there might have been a little magic to the interception.

“I was just right there — right place, right time,” he said. “It was a big moment. They kept pushing, and if they had scored we wouldn’t have a lot of time to readjust and score again. That was big.”

After a 14-14 tie at halftime, Freddie Mango scored what would be the winning touchdown for Delta Charter (3-2, 1-1) with 8:32 remaining in the game.

The Storm faced fourth down on the scoring drive, but Mango found a hole to the right side for a 27-yard gain to set up his touchdown from 4 yards out. He also ran in the 2-point conversion.

“Our kids are a scrappy bunch,” Wheeler said. “It amazes me to see kids with so much fight. Freddie got the edge, but it was also the kids that were standing there blocking for him. It doesn’t matter whose number I call, they are wanting to do the best for their teammates.”

The Tigers (2-3, 0-2) didn’t go down without a fight in the district matchup.

As time expired in the third quarter, Sicily Island set up a quick snap for Darren Richards to run in a 1-yard touchdown. However, the 2-point run failed giving the Storm a chance to respond.

“It was a real close tight game,” Sicily Island coach Donald Money said. “I knew this would be an emotional game for them. We live to fight another day.”

Money said while the late interception was a turning point, there was not much his team could do about it.

“When you throw the ball three things can happen, and two of them are bad,” he said. “We were moving the ball, but I knew I would hate to see us get intercepted.”

Richards ended with two touchdowns for the Tigers, also scoring on a 3-yard run. Landrae James added Sicily Island’s additional score, finding the end zone on a 23-yard run.

Mango ended the night with two touchdowns, also scoring the Storm’s first on a 5-yard run. Mike Smith added a rushing score from 2 yards out.

On defense, Williams and Ka’varius Whitehead also had interceptions for Delta Charter.

Sicily Island will be back in action next Friday when it hosts St. Frederick, while Delta Charter is set to travel to Dehli.