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FOOTBALL: Pasco County Week 6

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By EDDIE DANIELS, CRISTINA LEDRA AND BART O'CONNELL, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

Academy at the Lakes (0-3) at Bishop McLaughlin (0-4)

WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m./Bishop McLaughlin Stadium, 1361 Hays Road, Spring Hill
COACHES: Mark Arbet (AATL); Marty Williams (Bishop McLaughlin)
LAST MEETING: First meeting
LAST WEEK: Winter Haven All Saints' 62, AATL 0; Sarasota Out-of-Door 48, Bishop McLaughlin 0
NEED TO KNOW: One of Pasco County's four remaining winless teams is guaranteed to come off that list in this matchup. Both head coaches also are looking for their first career win at the varsity level. … This game may come down to a battle of the fullbacks — AATL's Shane Arbet and Bishop's Trae Williams — who are the coaches' sons. … Mark Arbet said AATL has been working on protecting QB Eric Staples, so he can open up a passing game that has struggled. Marty Williams has gone back to the basics — blocking and tackling — to solve the problems that have plagued Bishop's wishbone offense. … Wildcats TE Daniel Kwitko (shin) and C Matt Walters (back) missed some practice this week but are expected to play.

Gulf (2-3, 1-0) at Sunlake (0-4, 0-1)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./ Seahawk Stadium, 3023 Sunlake Boulevard, Land O' Lakes
DISTRICT: 3A-8
COACHES: Jay Fulmer (Gulf), Bill Browning (Sunlake)
LAST WEEK: Gulf 34, Ridgewood 49; Sunlake 0, Land O' Lakes 26
LAST MEETING: First meeting
NEED TO KNOW: Gulf got a big boost last week from hanging with Ridgewood until the fourth quarter when RB Byronell Arline finally wore down the defense. But Gulf isn't likely to face another back of his caliber so as long as the Bucs defense can build off of the Ridgewood game, Gulf should be in good shape for district play. RB David Williams should have another big game against first-year Sunlake. … In Week 4 it was Chris Henry, now it's Williams, likely the best RB Sunlake will face this season. … Last week against a sloppy Land O' Lakes squad, the Seahawks managed to stay in the game, collecting an interception, although the defense did give up 217 rushing yards. … Gulf will be predictable – a steady dosage of Williams until Sunlake stops him.

Hudson (2-2, 0-1) at Wiregrass Ranch (0-5, 0-1)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./ Wiregrass Ranch Stadium, 2909 Mansfield Blvd., Wesley Chapel
DISTRICT: 3A-8
COACHES: Mark Nash (Hudson), Ricky Thomas (Wiregrass Ranch)
LAST WEEK: Hudson 36, Mitchell 27; Wiregrass Ranch 7, Lake Weir 28
LAST MEETING: First meeting
NEED TO KNOW: Tonight's game is critical if either team wants to be considered a contender in the district. … Nash believes his leading rusher, Sean Scott (635 yards, eight touchdowns), is being overlooked as one of the county's top backs. He should have a chance to showcase him against the Bulls, which have averaged almost 275 yards rushing allowed a game. … Cobras LB Paul James has emerged as one of the area's top tacklers, at a rate of 14 per game. … The Bulls are beginning to feel the difference between a varsity schedule and a JV schedule. The bumps and bruises are mounting after LB/RB Dario Likes was injured this week in practice. He may have been lost to the season after he suffered a tendon injury to the right middle finger. … Last week Wiregrass left a ton of points on the field after dropping four TD passes. Last week the team was tied with lake Weir, 7-7, at halftime. … For any chance at a victory, the Bulls must make the most of their chances against a team that scores a bunch, but has also given up 24.5 points per game.

Tarpon Springs (3-1, 1-0) at Land O' Lakes (4-1, 1-0)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Gator Stadium, 20325 Gator Lane, Land O' Lakes
DISTRICT: 4A-8
COACHES: George Kotis (Tarpon Springs), John Benedetto (Land O' Lakes)
LAST WEEK: Tarpon Springs 14, Countryside 21; Land O' Lakes 26, Sunlake 0
LAST MEETING: n/a
NEED TO KNOW: Land O' Lakes cannot play the way it did against Sunlake if the team expects to move to 2-0 in Class 4A-District 8 play. … The story of the dual quarterback continues as does the running back-by-committee philosophy for the Gators. … Benedetto isn't overly impressed with Tarpon Springs, but said they look big and have a good quarterback in Danny Reyes. … The Gators will also have to be careful of the Spongers' leading rusher Marcelle Lewis as well as Donnel Engram and Steve Miccio. … The Spongers defense in its first three games gave up 19 points, while that was eclipsed last week by Countryside. … The Land O' Lakes defense has given up nine points in its last three contests, including two shutouts. … "A victory for us, it will go a long way for us getting into the playoffs," Bennedetto said. "A loss for us isn't going to put us out of the playoffs, but it certainly isn't going to help. It's going to put us in a hole.

Gaither (3-2, 0-0) at Mitchell (2-2, 0-0)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Mitchell Stadium, 2323 Little Road, New Port Richey
DISTRICT: 5A-5
COACHES: Mark Kantor (Gaither), Scott Schmitz (Mitchell)
LAST WEEK: Gaither 35, Jesuit 14; Mitchell 27, Hudson 36
LAST MEETING: Gaither 41, Mitchell 0 (2006)
NEED TO KNOW: Tate Humphrey will return to the lineup this week after missing last week's contest with a high ankle sprain. WR Tyrone Hendrix will also play after he was injured late in the game last week. Back up QB and starting slot receiver Yaz Grabowski may not play after he injured the Achilles tendon while playing basketball in P.E. … Schmitz says he's tired of harping on how his defense must step up to the challenge and if they don't do it against Gaither and RB Jarvis Giles, "they're going to name the score," he said. … If defensive players are ineffective this week, Schmitz promised changes. … Gaither's a team that isn't hiding what it plans to do, make you stop Giles. Period. Against Jefferson, the Cowboys passed the ball just once, while running 51 times for 295 yards. … Giles, a junior, has racked up 783 rushing yards and 12 TDs in five games.

Pasco (2-3, 1-0) at Zephyrhills (3-1, 1-0)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Bulldog Stadium, 6335 12th St., Zephyrhills
DISTRICT: 3A-8
COACHES: Tom McHugh (Pasco), Tom Fisher (Zephyrhills)
LAST WEEK: Pasco 10, Nature Coast 13; Zephyrhills 24, Wesley Chapel 17
LAST MEETING: Zephyrhills 23, Pasco 14
NEED TO KNOW: The Pirates lost on a final-drive touchdown aided by a 15-yard penalty versus Nature Coast last week but McHugh wasn't terribly disappointed saying the Pirates are doing the big things right and just need to work on the little things. Pasco's defense is going to see a similar challenge in Zephyrhills RB Chris Henry as it did with Nature Coast's Tevin Drake, who ran for 101 yards on six carries just in the second quarter. Pasco allowed six sacks last week and will have to improve on that in order to have a chance against Zephyrhills. …Zephyrhills' Tyler Guy and Pasco's D.J. Clower are starting at quarterback in this rivalry for the first time. Clower played for Zephyrhills through spring practices before transferring. … Fisher is 1-2 against Pasco coaches in their first season, beating Perry Brown in 1989 (Fisher's first career game and victory), but losing to Ricky Thomas in 1996 and Dale Caparaso in 2003. … The Bulldogs' defense has been perhaps more key in Zephyrhills' big wins than its offense, with a fumble return TD against Mitchell and an interception return TD against Wesley Chapel that were the difference in both games. Junior DE Alex Sampson forced the fumble against Mitchell, and had the INT return against Wesley Chapel. Fisher said game-planning for the Pirates this year is much different because of their new coaching staff. One of Fisher's main concerns is containing the Pasco receiving corps of Demetrious Larry, Chase Dunn, and Josh Johnson, the latter of which also plays RB and QB. ... Fisher said Clower "has progressed", but as has been his stance since the preseason, didn't want to comment about the sophomore's decision to leave Zephyrhills in the summer. ... RB Donterrell Parker (elbow) is out, RB Michael Peterman (ankle) is questionable for the game.

Ridgewood (4-0, 1-0) at River Ridge (1-3, 0-1)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Jim Valentine Athletic Complex, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey
DISTRICT: 4A-8
COACHES: Chris Taylor (Ridgewood), Tim Stevens (River Ridge)
LAST WEEK: Ridgewood 49, Gulf 34; River Ridge 0, Tarpon Springs 37
LAST MEETING: Ridgewood 41, River Ridge 6
NEED TO KNOW: The Knights' hot offensive start to the year came to an abrupt end two weeks ago, when Tarpon Springs shut them out for the third time in as many years. They've been plagued by turnovers since winning their season opener, and also have struggled to move the ball on the ground, with minus-4 rushing yards on 28 carries in their last two games. … There isn't much to say about Ridgewood that isn't already known. The Rams have basically steamrolled all of their opponents so far, though the defense had a tough time containing Gulf RB David Williams last week but so has everyone else. RB Byronell Arline took the county lead in touchdowns last week with seven against Gulf bringing his total to 15. He has 956 yards rushing in four games. LB Ben Perry leads the county in tackles with 71.

Wharton (3-2, 0-0) at Wesley Chapel (3-2, 0-0)

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Wildcat Stadium, 30651 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel
DISTRICT: 5A-5
COACHES: David Mitchell (Wharton); John Castelamare (Wesley Chapel)
LAST WEEK: Wharton 15, Plant City 14; Wesley Chapel 17, Zephyrhills 24
LAST MEETING: Wharton 25, Wesley Chapel 6
NEED TO KNOW: Wesley Chapel must rely on its running game this week due to the injury of quarterback Greg Jenkins (shoulder). The good news for the Wildcats is that they have several talented running backs to choose from. Keenen Reynolds and Hunter Joyer each have 300-plus yards on the season. Reynolds has one touchdown and Joyer has six. Ray Rouch has 162 yards and Josh Browne has 91 yards and a touchdown. … Wharton is led by QB Andrew Clifford, who was last year's backup to Josh Powell. Powell was moved to linebacker this season and is fourth on the team in tackles. Matthew Koehler leads the team in tackles with 63. Marquis Thomas leads Wharton in rushing with 415 yards and three touchdowns. Jairus Jones is Wharton's every down guy playing at running back, wide receiver and on special teams returning punts.

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