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Two Sides Of The Coin For Land O' Lakes

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 13, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL Last week was the ugly, dirty, scuffed up side of the coin for Land O' Lakes.
Nothing went right. Nothing.
The team scored on just one of its nine possessions in that 26-6 defeat to Pasco. They gave up four sacks that night and failed to sniff the Pirates half of the 50-yard line for all, but one drive in the second half of that game.
Fast forward one week later and the Gators got their chance to shine, knocking off Wesley Chapel, 45-27.
"We really didn't get on them too bad," Land O' Lakes coach John Benedetto said of this week's practice following the loss to Pasco. "We just felt as though as a coaching staff we needed to just worry about ourselves and try to improve our team and that's what we were able to do.
"We're happy. We took our starters out after the third quarter. We were able to play everybody tonight. That's a coach's dream when you can do that."
What led to Land O' Lakes' starters resting on the sidelines for the final portion of the second half were the five fumbles the Gators (1-1) recovered.
The first two came on the Wildcats first two possessions, which Land O' Lakes turned into 14 points in the first two minutes, 16 seconds of the game.
"They're a pretty good football team," Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare said. "They kept the ball on the ground a little bit and hurt us there and we thought that it would be in the air, which they did.
"They hurt us on both sides. Forty five points is a pretty good hurtin'. … Those two first ones kind of buried us a little bit."
Wesley Chapel appeared to steal back a tad of that momentum with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half.
After Land O' Lakes went ahead 28-14, Wesley Chapel (1-1) appeared to have a four-and-out series, but on fourth-and-8 from the Wildcats 48, quarterback/punter C.J. West faked the punt, tossing the ball to an open Arron Duncan, who sped past defenders for the touchdown. The score cut into the Land O' Lakes lead, 28-21 with 2:07 left in the second quarter.
Both teams traded possessions and then Land O' Lakes got the ball back with 33 seconds left in the half.
In five plays, the Gators got to the Wildcats 1 and on second-and-goal with three seconds remaining, Land O' Lakes began to setup for a potential 17-yard Alex Spock field goal when Wesley Chapel called timeout.
The Gators took that opportunity to allow Spock to grab the kicking tee from the field and send it offense back to the field. Collin Robinson scored his second rushing touchdown of the night. The extra point re-established the Land O' Lakes advantage, 35-21 at the half.
When Land O' Lakes went ahead 45-21 near the end of the third, the Gators starters went to the sidelines for good.
Benedetto is a major proponent of offensive balance and he got that Friday night against Wesley Chapel. The Gators ran the ball 33 times for 233 yards and four scores, while passing 27 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore signal caller Stephen Weatherford completed 14 of 23 passes for 201 yards and two scores, while Tyler Peak lead all rushers with 89 yards on eight carries and a touchdown.
The task of venturing from one end of the performance spectrum to the other in just one week's time seems daunting. Maybe the group has learned to throw the switch?
"Maybe," Benedetto said. "That's a good question. I can't answer that question because we certainly were a different football team tonight than we were last week."
It's that shiny, new look they want on display for the balance of the season.

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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