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Wildcats' Win Harkens To Days Past

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 18, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - There was a turn of the tables Thursday night inside Wildcat Stadium.

Following Wesley Chapel's 35-13 victory against Sunlake, Wildcats coach John Castelamare began to interview the reporters.

Question 1: "How many yards did we have [rushing]?"

Reporters: "Keenan Reynolds had 152 yards and Hunter Joyer had 127 yards."

That sparked a pop quiz from the high school physical education teacher: "When was the last time you heard 'Mr. Inside' and 'Mr. Outside'? Come on. It was only two times. Once in the pros and once in college."

The struggles to answer the question was obvious, so he threw in the names of the college squad – Army.

"Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis," he said.

Felix "Doc" Blanchard was known as Mr. Inside, while Davis, the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner, who led the Army squad to the 1944, 1945 and 1946 national championships, was Mr. Outside.

The questions continued: "Now pros?"

He gave the name of the NFL team – the Miami Dolphins.

Only one name came from the reporters that was correct: "Larry Csonka."

Castelamare offered the final puzzle piece: "Jim Kiick."

Csonka and Kiick, along with Eugene "Mercury" Morris, set the NFL record for rushing yards in a season during the Dolphins' undefeated 1972 season. The record has since been eclipsed three times.

Now Reynolds and Joyer can throw their names in the mix. The Seahawks (1-5) defense could find no answer to the two, as Reynolds shifted his way around blockers on the outside of the offensive formation, while Joyer bowled over those who attempted to stop him from plowing through the middle of the defense.

The Wildcats (3-4) churned up 314 rushing yards and each of its five offensive scores came via the ground game. Reynolds and Joyer each had two rushing touchdowns, while quarterback C.J. West added one.

"The blocking was good, the linemen took their steps and the linemen were fast off the ball tonight," Reynolds said. "They were just faster than [Sunlake's] defensive linemen. They did a good job. So without the linemen, the holes wouldn't have been there."

Wesley Chapel opened the game with an eight-play drive, which was run exclusive. The three-minute, 36-second possession was capped when Joyer ripped through the middle of the defense, then cut to his right for a 13-yard score. On the ensuing Wesley Chapel possession, Joyer scored again, this time from 14 yards out.

Sunlake answered on the next drive when quarterback Tommy Valez found Joe Connolly in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard score. That cut the Wesley Chapel lead to 14-6 with 5:43 remaining in the first half.

In four plays, Wesley Chapel found itself back in scoring position. This time Reynolds went in from 3 yards out, stretching the advantage to 21-6 just before halftime.

Reynolds later added a 52-yard scoring burst up the visiting sideline.

"I think we're pretty complex," Castelamare said. "We put a little Wing-T in, we got the spread and we're getting better at it. We have to because [of] the teams we play. Next week we play Gaither. I think we did a pretty good job against Wharton. Didn't win it, but this team here, Sunlake, gave us a rough time."

That rough time came in the form of Mike Shaver, who collected 95 yards on pounding runs and second efforts. His rushing, along with Darren Kanhai's and Eli Escobar's work, opened up the Sunlake passing game.

Valez finished 10-for-23 for 105 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Six of those completions were for 7 yards or better.

"Offensively and special teams-wise, we played pretty well," Sunlake coach Bill Browning said. "Defensively, we didn't play very well. That's kind of been where we're at. Two of the three phases play well and one lets us down. And actually our defense had been playing well the last couple of weeks. It had been our offense where we had trouble generating."

Thursday night's victory was something Wesley Chapel sorely needed. The squad was flat in a 28-0 shutout loss to Zephyrhills two weeks ago and faltered, 28-21, last week in a district game to Wharton.
This simply was a win of necessity.

"We just came off a tough loss that we should have won, so this win, I think it boosts our momentum," Reynolds said. "Get our heads right going into the next game."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214.

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