Tonight's Pasco County football matchups

Land O' Lakes at Ridgewood

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Rams Booster Stadium, 7650 Orchid Lake Road, New Port Richey

COACHES: Matt Kitchie (Land O' Lakes); Kent Reed (Ridgewood)

LAST MEETING: Land O' Lakes 52, Ridgewood 0 (2009)

NEED TO KNOW: The Gators showed a bit of an Achilles heel with their special teams during last week's Kickoff Classic against East Lake. The Eagles returned a kickoff 88 yards for a score and had several offensive possession start in favorable field position. Part of that issue was the injury to kicker Frahm Jacob, who will miss this game. Tara Marshall will punt for the Gators, and Dino Tsilionis will handle kickoff duties. ... The Rams played without their top two ground threats, Cameron Rodriguez and Ralphy Dawkins, in a 44-0 Kickoff Classic loss to Sunlake, but both are expected back tonight. Rodriguez rushed for 1,240 yards and eight touchdowns last year and is the go-to guy for the Rams. Center Andrew Exline will return to the lineup after missing last week's Kickoff Classic. Expect first-year coach Reed to run the majority of Ridgewood's offensive plays out of the shotgun.

Mitchell at River Ridge

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Jim Valentine Athletic Complex, 11646 Town Center Road, New Port Richey

COACHES: Brian Wachtel (Mitchell); Tim Stevens (River Ridge)

LAST MEETING: Mitchell 31, River Ridge 13 (2009)

NEED TO KNOW: It seems like Ricky Trinidad has been carrying the ball for the Mustangs for years. Trinidad, coming off a 1,389-yard, 16-touchdown junior year, will lead the offense this season. The Mustangs dominated Hudson in a 39-7 Kickoff Classic win, with Trinidad getting 172 yards on nine carries. Matt Michaels, who became the Mustangs' starting quarterback in the Kickoff Classic last year, will spend most of his time handing off to Trinidad, but if he does throw the ball, senior Dylan Buono is his favorite target. Michaels threw only three passes in this year's Classic but one was a 22-yard TD pass to Buono. ... This should be the classic contest of explosive offense (Mitchell) against methodical offense (River Ridge) and an entertaining battle on defense in between. The Royal Knights will turn their attention to stopping Trinidad in what should be an excellent tuneup to the kind of backs they will see a lot of in district play. The big unknown about River Ridge is how well it will be able to open holes for a new running back (Johnny Sannuto), and how well it will be able to stop the run.

Sunlake at Wiregrass Ranch

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Wiregrass Ranch Stadium, 2909 Mansfield Road, Wesley Chapel

COACHES: Jeremy Shobe (Wiregrass); Bill Browning (Sunlake)

LAST MEETING: Wiregrass Ranch 35, Sunlake 9 (2009)

NEED TO KNOW: Browning was already rallying his team about this game, which he definitely considers a rivalry, following Sunlake's 44-0 Kickoff Classic win against Ridgewood. The message was simple - it's the Seahawks' turn to get a win in what has been a lopsided series in favor of the Bulls. In Browning's opinion, Sunlake might have just now caught up in maturity with the Wiregrass Ranch program, which had a year of JV football to get ready for varsity play, as opposed to Sunlake, which opened with varsity games. ... The Bulls have had plenty of success against the Seahawks in their three previous matchups and have yet to lose to Sunlake. They'll need to build on that after taking a 42-17 shellacking at the hands of St. Petersburg High. ... The Bulls will have to correct some issues with their special teams as the Green Devils earned 15 points from their punt block and kickoff return teams. ... QB James Tringali will need the Bulls' run game to be effective. RBs Matt Terry and Jamel Nunez got the start in the backfield last week, while Jamie Barone and Nick Lomba were out. They could return tonight.

Hudson at Gulf

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./W.D. "Des" Little Stadium, 5355 School Road, New Port Richey

COACHES: Justin Fenton (Hudson); Ken Hollar and Brandon Rusche (Gulf)

LAST MEETING: Gulf 17, Hudson 14 (2009)

NEED TO KNOW: Fenton has instructed his players not to get too caught up in Gulf's highly publicized coaching situation, which might end with an announcement today. ... Hudson RB/CB Kyrie Rodriguez will have his snaps limited on defense so he can focus on being the team's featured offensive player. The Cobras have 30 players on their roster, but fortunately no one is injured heading into the opener. "We're not allowing anybody to get injured," Fenton said. ... It's going to be an emotional night for the Buccaneers. The team still doesn't know who their coach is going to be following the resignation of Jay Fulmer after alleged recruiting violations were reported. Sophomore QB Will Fulmer, the ex-coach's son, will lead the offense. Fulmer completed five of nine passes for 90 yards and threw one TD pass against Tarpon Springs in a Kickoff Classic game. It's possible the Bucs will have a new coach by game time. The interview process began Wednesday and an announcement is expected today.

Clearwater Central Catholic at Wesley Chapel

WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m./Wildcat Stadium, 30651 Wells Road, Wesley Chapel

COACHES: John Davis (CCC); Ben Alford (Wesley Chapel)

LAST MEETING: Clearwater Central Catholic 10, Wesley Chapel 6 (2009)

NEED TO KNOW: Although CCC lost Coach Mike Jalazo after eight seasons, the Marauders have a familiar face at the helm this year. Davis coached the program for eight seasons before leaving for Clearwater Countryside. His players had success last week against Palm Harbor University, winning 20-7 in a Kickoff Classic. They'll attempt to use a solid rushing game to keep Wesley Chapel on its heels. ... The Wildcats are coming off a confidence-building victory against Fivay in which they used a solid rotation of players from the third quarter on. ... They will play without lineman Quinton Sylvester (ankle). Alford appreciates the size CCC has, but isn't overly concerned: "It's not the size of the dog, it's the size of the fight in them." Alford also said notching a win in Week 1 after so much change is important.

Faith Baptist at Bishop McLaughlin

WHEN/WHERE: 7 p.m./Bishop McLaughlin Stadium, 13651 Hays Road, Spring Hill

COACHES: Gene Reynolds (Faith Baptist); Matt Nardo (Bishop McLaughlin)

LAST MEETING: First meeting

NEED TO KNOW: The Hurricanes ended the 2009 season on a good note: back-to-back wins while scoring 76 points. At only 3-7, Bishop seeks improvement, especially when returning 20 starters. Bishop was outscored 272-154, with most of those points coming from QB Mitch Ritter, the senior leader who was 28-for-71 for 380 yards, with two TDs and seven interceptions. He also had 93 carries for 672 yards and eight touchdowns. He'll partner with senior FB Gio Perone in the option package, as the two combined for 1,378 of the team's 2,051 rushing yards in 2009. First-year coach Nardo takes over after two years as an assistant and experience as a collegiate assistant in Ohio. ... Faith Baptist, from Brandon and in its fourth season, is 9-9 in the past two years but went 3-6 last season. The Eagles lost their two top running backs who combined for more than 1,200 of the team's 2,007 rushing yards, but return QB Taylor Masburn, who was 32-for-73 passing for 531 yards, with five touchdowns. ... Both teams had their Kickoff Classics rained out last week.

Eddie Daniels, Mike Camunas, Rick Harmon, Bart O'Connell