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PASCO: Week 3 football previews

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2007

Land O' Lakes (1-1) at Zephyrhills (1-1)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Bulldog Stadium, 6335 12th Street, Zephyrhills
COACHES: John Benedetto (Land O' Lakes), Tom Fisher (Zephyrhills)
LAST WEEK: Land O' Lakes 34, Wesley Chapel 31; Zephyrhills 35, Mitchell 33
LAST MEETING: Zephyrhills 20, Land O' Lakes 19 (2006)
NEED TO KNOW: Land O' Lakes coach John Benedetto is echoing what Mitchell coach Scott Schmitz said last week, the Bulldogs are a team that shouldn't be overlooked. … The Gators enter the game healthy and will likely give attack Zephyrhills with its dual quarterback offense. … The Gators secondary gave up 227 passing yards, while dropping at least three interceptions. They'll have to tighten up as the unit faces the speedy Chris Henry, who collected four TDs against Mitchell. … After watching Henry amass 255 yards of total offense against Mitchell, and the rest of the Bulldogs lose 16 yards, Coach Tom Fisher now is hoping someone can step up, lighten Henry's load and diversify the offense. He'd like to see it come in the passing game. … Fisher is taking nothing out of last year's victory against the Gators, as both rosters have changed greatly since. … Senior LB Lawrence Reno is back this week after sitting out the Mitchell game with an illness.

Wesley Chapel (1-1) at Pasco (1-1)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/W.F. Edwards Stadium, 36850 S.R. 52, Dade City
COACHES: John Castelamare (Wesley Chapel), Tom McHugh (Pasco)
LAST WEEK: Land O' Lakes 34, Wesley Chapel 31; Sebring 21, Pasco 7
LAST MEETING: Pasco 34, Wesley Chapel 28 (2006)
NEED TO KNOW: Both teams suffered heartbreaker losses last week which sets up an even more intense rivalry game than usual. Adding to the fire is McHugh facing his old team for the first time. McHugh isn't denying it will be weird to be on the opposite sideline from the team he was with for a decade but is confident in the Pirates. Pasco will have to keep its penalties in check. That killed the Pirates last week against Sebring. The defense was Pasco's strength last week and saved the score from being worse. The Pirates ran the ball well against Sebring. Pasco is still without lineman Cody Ross (eye). … Wesley Chapel proved last week against Land O' Lakes that it doesn't have a problem scoring points even without RB Keenen Reynolds (hip), but the defense allowed the Gators to creep back into the game from 10 points down. Look for Wildcats QB Greg Jenkins to have another big game. He passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns against the Gators.

River Ridge (1-1) at Mitchell (1-1)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Mitchell Stadium, 2323 Little Road, New Port Richey
COACHES: Tom Stevens (River Ridge), Scott Schmitz (Mitchell)
LAST WEEK: Gulf 42, River Ridge 26; Zephyrhills 35, Mitchell 33
LAST MEETING: Zephyrhills 20, River Ridge 6 (2006)
NEED TO KNOW: The Mustangs enter with a battered defense and bruised ego after surrendering four scores from Zephyrhills RB Chris Henry, including a 61-yard run and a 58-yard reception. … Scott Schmitz has refused to allow his team to talk down on River Ridge despite their recently ended 23-game losing streak. "We're not a better team than them until we beat them," Schmitz said. …The matchup pits the county's two highest scoring offenses thus far this year. … River Ridge is the only Pasco County team to have a 300-yard rushing game (vs. Sunlake) and a 175-yard passing game (vs. Gulf) this season. … The Royal Knights are focused on containing Mitchell QB Tate Humphrey. RB Shawn Ford said, "I think we can shut him down. We have a solid chance to." Said Stevens, "If he throws for 200 yards and runs for 150, we lose the game."

Wiregrass Ranch (0-2) at Berkeley Prep (2-0)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Newman Stadium, 4811 Kelly Road, Tampa
COACHES: Ricky Thomas (Wiregrass Ranch), Dominick Ciao (Berkeley Prep)
LAST WEEK: Ridgewood 48, Wiregrass 0; Berkeley 35, Orlando First Academy 34
LAST MEETING: First meeting
NEED TO KNOW: The Bulls will attempt to add a spark to its offense by adding freshman QB Jerry Tringali to the mix, although former starter Angel Rodriguez will play at some point. The 6-foot-3, 150-pounder is a "classic pocket passer" and has the smarts to run the offense, proven by his 4.0 GPA. … Ricky Thomas is convinced his team matches up well physically with the Bucs. …Wiregrass' offense gained only 41 yards in the loss. …Berkeley Prep has won more games than it did all of last season and also gave head coach Dominick Ciao his first home game victory last week with an overtime victory against Orlando First Academy. … The Bucs are led by QB Archie Barnes who rushed for 108 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns last week.

Gulf (1-1) at Hernando (0-2)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Tom Fisher Stadium, 700 Bell Rd., Brooksville
COACHES: Jay Fulmer (Gulf), Rodney Byrd (Hernando)
LAST WEEK: Gulf 42, River Ridge 26; Hudson 35, Hernando 6
LAST MEETING: Hernando 42, Gulf 26 (2002)
NEED TO KNOW: Hernando has not looked good in its first two games. The Leopards' strength is supposed to be its running game but they rushed for minus yards against Hudson last week. Hernando had two good linebackers in Nick Pauliot and Taylor Rotunda but has likely lost Pauliot for the season (knee). … Fulmer said the Buccaneers had a very good week of practice and their main objective is to develop their younger players. RB David Williams should have little trouble against Hernando's defense so expect huge numbers from him again this week. Williams has 514 yards rushing and five touchdowns in two games. The Bucs are preparing for Hernando's speed.

St. Cloud (0-2) at Sunlake (0-1)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/Seahawk Stadium, 3023 Sunlake Blvd., Land O'Lakes
COACHES: Mark Jackson (St. Cloud), Bill Browning (Sunlake)
LAST WEEK: Kissimmee Liberty 29, St. Cloud 16; Sunlake, Idle
LAST MEETING: First meeting
NEED TO KNOW: Sunlake will host its first official game on its home field tonight. The Seahawks warmed the stadium with a 20-0 Kickoff Classic win against Bishop McLaughlin Aug. 24. Seahawks QB Joey Collezo was dinged up in Week 1's loss to River Ridge, but will return. … Sunlake will be without junior running back Darren Kanhai, who tore his ACL in practice. … St. Cloud is on two-game skid and has been outscored 98-23 in those contests. Last week was much more respectable when considering its Week 1 loss to Osceola, 68-7.

Academy at the Lakes (0-1) at Northside Christian (2-0)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/7777 62nd Ave. North, St. Petersburg
COACHES: Mark Arbet (AATL), Bob Dare (Northside Christian)
LAST MEETING: First meeting
LAST WEEK: AATL did not play; Northside Christian 35, Bradenton St. Stephens Episcopal 0.
NEED TO KNOW: Arbet believes the Wildcats have improved in the two weeks they've had to prepare, but he's not sure how much. It will have to be a lot to beat the Mustangs, who reached the Class 1A playoffs last year and are 9-4 since 2006. … AATL is still experimenting in many areas, and the biggest change this week should be the use of a 5-2 defense (five linemen, two linebackers). Arbet had planned to use the 4-3 and 4-4 defense throughout training camp, but thinks the change should help the Wildcats defend the run better, which was a problem in AATL's loss to Ft. Myers Gateway Charter.

Bishop McLaughlin (0-1) at Admiral Farragut Academy (1-1)
WHEN/WHERE: 7:30/501 Park St. North, St. Petersburg
COACHES: Marty Williams (Bishop McLaughlin), Chris Miller (Admiral Farragut)
LAST MEETING: Admiral Farragut 27, Bishop McLaughlin 7 (2006)
LAST WEEK: Bishop McLaughlin 0, Lakeland Santa Fe Catholic 33; Admiral Farragut 26, Canterbury 20
NEED TO KNOW: The Hurricanes had some reasons to be encouraged after last week's loss, out-rushing Santa Fe and finally showing some continuity in their wishbone offense. Still, Williams is waiting for his squad to finish off a drive. Bishop McLaughlin has yet to score in a Kickoff Classic and one regular-season game this season. … The Hurricanes will face a team with a similar game plan in Admiral Farragut, which typically runs the ball far more than it passes. … Admiral Farragut leads the all-time series 2-0, holding Bishop McLaughlin to 7 points in each game.

Eddie Daniels, Cristina Ledra, Bart O'Connell

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