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Land O' Lakes Will Play At Home

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 4, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - At the end of Monday's practice, Land O' Lakes players hit the five-man sled with a fervor that probably hasn't engulfed the squad in some time.

During the grueling drill, with every thud of their pads to the contraption, players screamed, "Ridge-What?" followed by a sarcastic, "Ridge-Who?"

The chant echoed across the Land O' Lakes practice field, a sign a sleeping giant had been rudely awakened.

"I read in the newspaper that they're not really expecting a lot from us," Land O' Lakes defensive end Alex Zimmerman said at the end of that practice, referring to a Byronell Arline quote.

Although the Gators gave up 267 rushing yards to Ridgewood (8-1), including 158 to Arline, the squad maintained its focus and collected a 20-17 victory, securing the Class 4A-District 8 championship, its fifth title in six seasons. It also did what eight other opponents haven't, hanging the first loss on the Rams.

The win guaranteed Land O' Lakes (8-1) would remain home during the opening week of the FHSAA playoffs - its 11th consecutive trip and 16th overall.

"We've gone through a lot of adversity, like we talked about all year long. It was kind of a makeshift team for us," Land O' Lakes coach John Benedetto said. "We had to move people into different positions that they weren't accustomed to playing. But they've adjusted well to it and we've just gone out and worked hard everyday and as a result, we just started winning ball games...."

Following the season-opening loss to Pasco, Land O' Lakes has strung together eight consecutive victories, as it did in 2006.

The moment Alex Spock's kick sailed well over and through the uprights Friday night, ending the game, the only thing Ridgewood defenders could do was fall to the ground in distress.

"Everybody played hard, that's what it's supposed to be about," Ridgewood coach Chris Taylor said. "Too bad we came up on the short end of the stick."

What made the loss so gut-wrenching wasn't the fact Ridgewood will have to travel to play in the first round of the playoffs - Ridgewood's first appearance since 2002. It was more a multi-layered ball of frustration.

The first level of aggravation came in the fact a Rams victory would have given the program its first district title. Secondly, it was the first loss for the Rams.

The largest point of annoyance came on a first-and-10 run by fullback Barry Johnsonbaugh. At the end of the 23-yard run, officials ruled the senior fumbled the ball before touching the ground. The ball was recovered by Gators defensive back Willie Fields, giving Land O' Lakes the possession at the Ridgewood 44 with 4:35 left and the game knotted at 17.

"We put the ball on the ground twice in the first half, we did a good job in the second half of not creating problems," Taylor said. "We moved the football and we had it in our grasp and it's just a shame a judgment call like that came down and affected the outcome of a very good football game."

At the conclusion of Friday's game, following the customary hand shake and prayer in which both teams come together, Land O' Lakes went back to chanting.

This time, it was a chant about wrapping up back-to-back district championships.

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