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Gators Look To Bounce Back

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 7, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - As much as coaches harp on the fact teams change from one season to the next, it seems Land O' Lakes is following a similar pattern to its 2006 predecessor.

The squad dropped its opening game to Pasco 15-10 last week in Dade City. Last season, the Gators dropped their opener 14-7 to Zephyrhills.

The team bounced back from the initial loss to beat Ridgewood 13-7, sparking a nine-game winning streak to end the regular season.

At this point, Land O' Lakes coach John Benedetto is hoping his team is comprised of history buffs.

'Last year, we lost to Zephyrhills 14-7 and then the second game of the season we played Ridgewood and only beat them 13-7,' Benedetto said, 'and that was a pretty good team we had last year, one of the very best teams we ever had and they didn't start the year off so great either.'

Left guard Raleigh Bamberg was there last season, as was defensive end Keith Hoffman, and they have been willing to play the role of tutor, passing on last season's lessons.

'After Zephyrhills last year, we didn't put our heads down,' Bamberg, a senior, said. 'We got our heads back up, came up and had a really good season. This year, our seniors are trying to step up now and do that this year.'

That means changing your demeanor as well, which Hoffman, also a senior, has had to do.

'I feel there's more stuff I could do. I'm usually a quiet kid, especially during the game,' Hoffman said. 'I'm quiet, I'm focused on the game, I don't say a whole lot. I think senior leadership is a big part. Me and quarterback Ely Payne need to step up, everybody needs to step up. That's definitely a big issue.'

Stepping up will entail stopping a Wesley Chapel team led by quarterback Greg Jenkins.

Jenkins must take the reigns of a team with youth all over the place - offense, defense and in special teams positions. According to Wildcats coach John Castelamare, he may start four freshmen.
Wesley Chapel will not only have to look past its youth, but also shore up after competing with a young and relentless Wiregrass Ranch squad.

'You put freshman up against, especially Land O' Lakes, it's going to be tough. A pretty rude awakening,' Castelamare said with a matter-of-fact tone. 'They have to play better. Wiregrass played hard enough, and they made us work hard. We made some mistakes, and that's probably first-game jitters, but people making mistakes are young and we're trying to make them mature faster, but some of them are ninth-graders and they're playing varsity and it's a little tough.'

There's no doubt Castelamare noticed the fact Land O' Lakes penetrated the Pasco 15-yard line three times, which netted a missed field goal, a fumble and a 30-yard field goal.

Likewise, Benedetto and his bunch noticed the four sacks and three fumble recoveries registered by Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel's 28-12 victory.

Regardless of the miscues made last week, both teams are confident they can be victorious tonight.

'We don't need to forget it, that's for sure,' Hoffman said of the season-opening loss. 'I think we need to keep in the back of our minds that we need to work that much harder and not wait for other people to make plays. We have to make plays.'

That's just what Castelamare expects.

'Land O' Lakes is always a pretty good football team,' Castelamare said. 'and they're going to give us a rough time.'

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