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Discipline Shows In Pirates Win

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By CRISTINA LEDRA, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 2, 2007

DADE CITY - Pasco won its opener 15-10 over Land O' Lakes. It wasn't glamorous, but rather pretty sloppy.

To win was great for the Pirates. How they did it was the greater feat.

A year ago, Pasco probably would not have won the game against Land O' Lakes or against most other teams, especially when the Gators went ahead in the fourth quarter of a low-scoring game.

Old attitudes are tough to break, and when Eli Payne connected with Nick Castellano for a 27-yard score to put the Gators ahead, the Pirates strolled back to the sideline, chin straps unbuckling all the way.

A year ago, this game would have been over with six minutes left.

'It's different this year,' senior lineman Chris Burgos said. 'Last year, we would have put our heads down. I'm proud of the team. We didn't put our heads down and kept fighting and came back.'

Really, this win has been five months in the making since Tom McHugh first got the job as Pasco's head coach.

The changes he has made have been drastic and well thought out. Discipline is practiced and not just strived for, and that's what the Pirates needed the most.

'I told them in the huddle this is what we've been talking about since May,' McHugh said. 'What I wanted to do was instill a new attitude. I tell the kids all the time it's not how hard you hit a guy, it's what you do when you're hit hard. You go up against these teams and they're big and they're strong they push you down and our kids they're not big but they're fast and they're strong and they work hard. I'm just really proud.

'We did a couple of stupid things that harkened back to the old days but I think they're learning.'

Of course, the jubilation wouldn't have been overflowing like it was in Dade City on Friday night without a win but to start the season this way when last year a win didn't come until six games in, meant so much to the Pirates and their fans.

It helped what McHugh has been preaching to have it pay off so soon.

Talent is rarely a question in Dade City and this year's team appears to be no exception.

Clower, a sophomore, was a late addition to Pasco in the summer when he transferred from Zephyrhills and he looked surprisingly comfortable as the Pirates' offensive anchor, sharing snaps with Josh Johnson.

Clower's performance was modest until the 77-yard bomb to Demetrious Larry but he was as composed as the Pirates needed him to be.

Johnson rushed for 24 yards and completed the pass to Larry for the two-point conversion after a fumbled snap.

Even that play was an indication that the players are more in tune with each other and not getting panicked when things go wrong.

Pasco running back Jamall Haynes had 86 yards rushing and had a 37-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the game.

The Pirates did sustain one injury when linemen Cody Ross went to the hospital in the third quarter with an eye injury.

Land O' Lakes on the other hand, looked like it had a lot of work to do. Coach John Benedetto said he thought the Gators played well but it came down to the mistakes they made.

'The kids played hard, we just weren't ready,' Benedetto said. 'We knew nothing about Pasco. They were at Land O' Lakes last week scouting us. They didn't play a Kickoff Classic game. We knew nothing. We had to make adjustments and the kids played very well, I thought. We just couldn't quite get over the hump.

'Next week we're playing a team that didn't play in a jamboree either Wesley Chapel and I just don't think that's fair.'

Payne was 13 of 33 and lobbed a lot of balls high into the air for his receivers, who at times let catchable balls slip through their hands.

Benedetto said he's sticking with Payne at quarterback and thinks the Gators need some time to develop a lot of new starters.

'Things have been rough for us,' Benedetto said. 'We've had a rash of injuries. We're starting to get people back. We lost a lot of outstanding football players last year. We had five, six, eight kids that were two-way starters for us for three years that are gone and we're trying to replace those kids. That's not easy to do. ... We have a long way to go.'

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