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Land O' Lakes pushes toward challenge of Pasco

Staff photo by Andy Jones

Stephen Weatherford threw for five scores and rushed for another Thursday night against Wesley Chapel.

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By EDDIE DANIELS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Land O' Lakes assistant Rock Ridgeway had an epiphany Thursday night.

Just before the third quarter kicked off, he sat down on the visitor's bench inside Wesley Chapel's Wildcat Stadium and admitted: "Everything's going our way."

The understatement of the night.

At that point in the Gators' 56-6 blowout of Wesley Chapel (2-5, 1-3 Class 3A-District 7), Land O' Lakes held on to a 49-6 advantage. The team put up 35 of those points in the first quarter.

What's more amazing is the fact Land O' Lakes (6-0, 4-0) logged 29 points in the game's first seven minutes.

"They're good," Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare said. "My (sophomore quarterback Keegan Tanner) back there had a rough time and Stevie (Weatherford) is a heck of a quarterback. You give him a little time and he's going to burn you. Then you have those receivers out there who are sure catchers. It was tough to deal with."

Weatherford completed 12 of 15 passes for 287 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for a score. Weatherford completed 4 of his first 7 passes – four of which were for touchdowns. Three of those scoring passes went to Alex Robinson.

The junior was cognizant of the protection he received from his offensive line, which in turn allowed him to pick apart the Wildcats defense.

"Our line," Weatherford said when asked what was the most impressive thing about the victory. "I know (Wesley Chapel) was blitzing every play. I had plenty of time each play and they were blitzing a lot. I give it to the line. This whole year, our line has been pretty good."

Not a bad stat for a kid who missed the previous week due to a one-game suspension. In fact, that time away helped add fuel to a fire that already burns furiously.

"He's a special kid," Land O' Lakes coach Matt Kitchie said. "That's the thing, he really cares about what we do and cares about our system and wants to be a part of this system. He is very diligent in learning our game plan. He is a big part of it.

"We have great communication on the sideline. He comes to me and says this is open or this isn't open. We make adjustments together. It's very much a cooperative. For a kid that's a junior in high school, it's pretty special for a kid to pick up an offense like that, especially being the first year in the offense."

Last week against Anclote, Weatherford was practically attached to Kitchie's hip. He helped call plays, adding his input to an offense installed in June when Kitchie was hired.

"Not being able to play last week, I was frustrated, obviously. So I wanted to have a good game tonight," Weatherford said. "If I wouldn't have played this week and I would have had to go against Pasco after sitting out a game … I'm just glad I got a game in and our team got going. So I think we'll be ready."

Everything leads to Friday night's showdown against Pasco (5-1, 4-0). The Pirates have maintained a No. 1 billing in The Tampa Tribune's Pasco County football rankings for nearly the entire season. Only twice have the Pirates either shared that spot or had another squad above them.

And it was with Land O' Lakes.

In Week 4, the Gators took the top spot, pushing Pasco down to No. 2. Two weeks later, Land O' Lakes shared that No. 1 ranking with the Pirates.

In district play, Land O' Lakes, Mitchell and Pasco are enjoying a 4-0 start. Only problem is just two teams can qualify for the postseason.

"It's just exciting," Weatherford said. "All the hype, that's what we've been talking about since the beginning of the season. It was Pasco and Gulf and then Gulf kind of fell off. Then it's Pasco and Mitchell, too. They stepped up. We'll see what happens the rest of the season."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 259-7066.

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