Special to The Laker/Lutz News

By Kyle LoJacono

The Gaither football team took another step toward consecutive playoff appearances by winning 16-7 at Class 7A-District 7 rival Freedom Oct. 18.

The win keeps the Cowboys (6-1, 3-0) perfect in district play, but the matchup with the Patriots (2-6, 1-2) was a bit closer than Gaither wanted.

“They were a very physical team,” said senior running back Vu Le. “They came to play, but we came out on top.”

The Cowboys were essentially playing their third game in 11 days after bad weather moved the majority of the contest at Steinbrenner to Oct. 8, followed by matchups against East Bay Oct. 12 and Freedom Oct. 18, but second-year Gaither coach Jason Stokes wouldn’t use that as a reason.

“I thought we were fresh; I thought we were ready,” Stokes said. “Our defense played lights out. They played awesome again, gave up just seven points to a very athletic team. We’re just not playing well right now as a whole. Us coaches just have to figure out what buttons to push with these kids to get them to perform.”

The Cowboys defense again rose to the challenge, forcing three turnovers and recording four sacks.

Gaither’s first points, and the only ones of the first half, came when a snap went over Patriots junior quarterback Taylor King’s head while in the shotgun formation on the home team’s second possession. Senior linebacker Jamari Cord fell on the loose ball in the end zone to go ahead 6-0.

The Cowboys defense set up their second score when junior corner back Amani Oruwariye picked off his first of two passes in the contest with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Le caught a screen pass two plays later and scampered 38 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0.

“I knew this game was going to be tough,” said Le, who finished with 72 yards of total offense. “I tried to just make a play for my team.”

The Patriots responded on their next possession with a six-play, 80-yard drive capped with King hitting junior Tyruence Creary for a 14-yard touchdown.

Freedom threatened again in the fourth quarter, but Oruwariye recorded his second interception with 5:21 remaining in the game to stop the drive deep in Gaither territory.

“On both plays I was man up with the guy,” Oruwariye said. “When I saw the ball in the air I just had to go up and take it. … Every time I see the ball in the air I know it’s mine.”

Senior defensive lineman Ernest Suttles, a University of Iowa commit, had three sacks in the contest, including one with 1:31 left in the contest to essentially seal the win.

“I just thought I have to do this for my team, man,” said Suttles, who finished with 10 tackles, four for a loss, and forced a fumble. “It’s all about the team. Nothing is for me personally. It’s for that Gaither pride. We still got a lot to do this year, and we have pride as a brotherhood. We had to finish this game strong.”

The Patriots were able to move the ball after halftime, racking up 123 of their 178 yards of total offense, but the Cowboys defense had a knack for making the critical play when needed.

Gaither junior quarterback Alex McGough continued his efficient play, completing 14 of 22 passes for 199 yards. His favorite target was senior Marcus Brown, who caught eight passes for 100 yards. The offense did not commit any turnovers.

Next up for the Cowboys is a home game against 7A-7 rival Chamberlain Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m., while Freedom travels to district opponent Tampa Bay Tech. A Gaither win clinches a playoff berth for the squad.

“Our first goal is to get in the playoffs; our second goal is to win the district championship,” Stokes said. “They’ll know how big this next game is because they’ll hear it all week.”

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

By Kyle LoJacono

The Sunlake football team kept its playoff hopes alive by winning 18-6 at Class 6A-District 6 opponent Land O’ Lakes Oct. 19.

The win also gives the Seahawks (5-2, 3-2) bragging rights over the cross-town rival Gators (1-6, 0-5) for the second straight year.

“This is the best thing because we’re walking around town and in all the stores everybody is like yep, they took it to Land O’ again this year,” said senior linebacker Ben Wood.

Sunlake lost their first four meetings with Land O’ Lakes before winning the last two. After last year’s victory, coach Bill Browning told his squad there was a new sheriff in town. He had a similar message after the W this season.

“The sheriff got re-elected,” Browning said to his squad, which erupted in cheers.

The Seahawks marched their opening drive 78 yards capped off by a 10-yard run by senior running back Eddie Burgos.

The offense slowed from there in large part because of mistakes. Sunlake committed 14 penalties for 105 yards.

The Gators scored on a 27-yard field goal by Andrew Dowler before halftime and added a 33-yarder on their first drive of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 8-6.

Browning opted to go for a fake punt with 9:29 left in the game on fourth-and-three. Connor Gilboy took the snap and sprinted to the right side to pick up the first down by inches.

“Oh my gosh, I was thinking if there’s a time to be great in this football game, the time is right now,” Gilboy said. “I have to use some athleticism to get this ball three yards down the field. Once it was snapped I didn’t think of anything. I just ran my heart out and hoped I had it.”

Browning said he went for the fake because of how well his defense was playing.

“We came here to win, and it was a thing where you hope you can pull a rabbit out of your hat,” Browning said. He added, “If our defense was playing lousy, then you have to punt because of the field position. The defense has come up big all year for us.”

Gilboy hit a 21-yard field goal with 2:31 left to stretch the lead to 11-6. The senior came up with another big play on the ensuing kickoff after his squad jumped offside.

“Conner Gilboy still kicked it into the end zone,” Browning said. “Otherwise they might have had some decent field position. Field positionwise, that was huge.”

The lack of time and good field position forced Land O’ Lakes to abandon its run-heavy offense on its next drive in favor of four straight pass attempts. The first three fell incomplete. The last resulted in Wood sacking sophomore quarterback James Pensyl to turn the ball over on downs with 2:11 remaining.

“It was just pure bliss,” Wood said. “You can’t get a better feeling than that. You come out here and play four quarters as hard as you can. To get a clear shot at the end, you’re just thanking God.”

Burgos gutted through the contest to rack up 87 rushing yards on 14 carries despite being visibly shaken by a right leg injury.

“That was huge,” Browning said. “Senior out there against a neighborhood rival. Just his presence on the field helps us. Let’s face it, he’s one of our main offensive weapons, and he’s been that way all year.”

Sunlake quarterback Josh Zifer went 8-of-10 passing for 72 yards and an interception while adding 100 rushing yards on 23 attempts.

Land O’ Lakes senior running back Harrison Wood carried the ball 19 times for 133 yards.

The Seahawks must win their remaining 6A-6 games against River Ridge and Central the next two weeks and have Nature Coast beat Hernando next week to have a chance at a tiebreaker for the district runner-up spot.

“I told the players after the game we’ll worry about our scoreboard,” Browning said. “It doesn’t really matter. We just want to finish the season strong; finish 8-2 and let the chips fall where they may.”

Sunlake hosts River Ridge Oct. 26, while the Gators travel to Central. Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

By Andy Warrener

The Laker/Lutz News Correspondent

The Carrollwood Day School (CDS) football team had to make sure not to look ahead to their matchup with Class 2A-District 5 leader Indian Rocks Christian in its home game against Cambridge.

The Patriots (7-1, 5-1) were up to the task, smashing the Lancers 45-24 Oct. 19.

Robert Davis showed he is healed from the knee injury that slowed him the last two weeks. The senior tail back had 15 carries for 296 yards and five scores, including touchdown runs of 64, 65 and 64.

“I never want to let just one defender tackle me,” Davis said. “I just refuse to go down.”

Elias Earley and Max Frankel chipped in carrying the ball, especially in the second half.

Quarterback Vidal Woodruff hooked up with Andy Embody on a 10-yard scoring pass. Receivers Nate Lewis and Dominiq Sicardo had almost 100 yards receiving between the two.

Defensively, Frankel had an interception and a tackle for a loss. The Patriots also limited the Lancers (4-4, 3-4) to 85 yards on the ground.

If not for the effort of Cambridge’s Robbie Robertson (184 total yards) the score would have been even more lopsided. Robertson also ran back an interception for a touchdown and handled punting duties.

CDS still has work to do. The Patriots had to call a few timeouts to get the right personnel or play on the field and had a few mental mistakes lead to penalties.

“We’re going to work our butts off this next week and get ready for Indian Rocks,” said CDS coach Lane McLaughlin. “We’ve got a chance to go to the playoffs.”

The Patriots host Indian Rocks Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m.

Land O’ Lakes takes boys title

By Kyle LoJacono

The Wiregrass Ranch girls cross country team smashed the competition to take its fifth straight Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) championship Oct. 20 at Wesley Chapel.

The Bulls claimed four of the top-10 places and seven of the top 14 to total 26 points, besting second-place Gulf by 40. Land O’ Lakes took fourth, Wesley Chapel finished fifth and Sunlake was ninth at the 13-team event.

“The goal was to place most of our runners in the top 10,” said Wiregrass Ranch senior Nikita Shah. “We had a good mindset coming in. I’m really proud of what we did.”

Shah, who won by 38 seconds, captured her first individual conference title by completing the 5-kilometer course in 18 minutes 5.6 seconds. She ran a minute slower at last season’s meet.

“Last year I had a pretty bad day,” Shah said. “Today was just like a regular day for me. I think my training is better, so I felt comfortable running a decent time. Last year I had to run my all to put up the kinds of times I’m putting up this year.”

Don Howard, who has coached the Bulls since the program started in 2005, said Shah has done well managing her five Advanced Placement (AP) classes and being recruited by several schools while training this year.

“She’s used to the AP classes, but she’s made three official visits this season,” Howard said. “She’s missed a meet. She’s been to Columbia, to Harvard to Florida during the season, and that’s obviously a distraction. Actually, she was sick today, so for her to run sick and just coming back from Harvard last weekend, I thought she had a great race today.”

Senior Berlin Waters (19:32) and freshman Madison Conway (20:00.4) ran personal records (PRs) to take third and sixth, respectively. Waters sliced 25 seconds off her PR.

“I’m just so excited because I didn’t think I’d do this good this year,” Waters said. “I’m thrilled to get second place on the team and third place in the county. I feel really accomplished.”

Conway said she was nervous running in her first conference meet, but told herself to treat it like any other race.

“I was hoping to get a PR, and I did,” said Conway, who cut 16.6 seconds from her PR. “I was happy with the place I got, and couldn’t have gotten any better. … When I started the year I never expected I’d be able to go this fast.”

Howard said Conway isn’t running like a freshman.

“We knew she was good when she first came out,” Howard said. “She ran 5:36 as an eighth-grader for the mile. She just stepped right into our front pack and stayed there every step from Day 1.”

Junior Elise Cedre (19:52.7) was fifth to help the Bulls run away with the title.

Wesley Chapel was paced by Alyssa Turner (21:08.7), who finished 13th.

For the boys, the Gators snapped Wiregrass Ranch’s three-year reign by winning their first SAC title since 2008.

Land O’ Lakes took four of the top 11 and seven of the top-24 places to total 38 points, besting the Bulls by 14. Sunlake took sixth and Wesley Chapel was 10th.

Gators junior Travis Nichols claimed his first SAC crown by running a 15:48, while teammate Tyler Stahl (15:57.5) took second.

The Bulls were without No. 2 runner Ben Hall, who had surgery last week, and their No. 1 Ermias Bireda is not fully recovered from shin inflammation.

Bireda (16:08.5) still took third and said he is almost completely back.

“I was going for the win, but to be able to compete with the guys like I used to was good,” Bireda said. He added, “I just PRed with a month off, so it helped me know I’m close. … It’s my senior year. I want to go out big.”

The next challenge for Wiregrass Ranch, Land O’ Lakes and Sunlake comes at the Class 3A-District 6 meet at Crews Lake Park Nov. 2. Wesley Chapel will run at the 2A-9 event at Anclote Nov. 1.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

Wiregrass Ranch girls claim fifth straight crown

By Kyle LoJacono

The Land O’ Lakes boys cross country team had to watch Wiregrass Ranch win the Sunshine Athletic Conference (SAC) meet the last three seasons.

The roles were reversed Oct. 20 at Wesley Chapel.

The Gators won their first conference championship since 2008 by taking four of the top 11 and seven of the top-24 places to total 38 points, besting the Bulls by 14. Sunlake finished sixth and Wesley Chapel was 10th at the 13-team event.

Land O’ Lakes junior Tyler Stahl said the squad got a boost from winning Wiregrass Ranch’s invitational the week before.

“We were focused and we were confident that we were going to come in and win as a team,” Stahl said. “When you’re confident like that you have a better chance of doing well. We used that to get us through.”

Stahl took second by completing the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes 57.5 seconds. He was bested by teammate Travis Nichols, who claimed his first SAC crown by running a 15:48.

“Every practice we push each other,” Nichols said. “We’re both really competitive, but we stay best friends.”

Nichols also took first the week before at Wiregrass Ranch. He said the back-to-back individual titles shows him he is on the right track.

“It feels awesome to be able to have a good race this late in the season,” Nichols said. “I’ve been struggling the rest of the season, so it’s great to get this title.”

Gators coach Kris Keppel said his runners all set personal records (PRs) at the event. He was especially pleased with Dillon Oergel (17:12.9), who finished one spot behind teammate Jake Poore’s (17:10.5) 10th-place performance.

“(Oergel) brought it all out today,” Keppel said. “I knew he could do it.”

Nichols is excited about how much depth the squad has.

“We have big competition for who makes varsity the rest of the season,” Nichols said. “Last week at Wiregrass we had 10 guys under 18:30, which has never been done before at our school. There’s like five guys competing for that seventh spot. My brother (Trevor) is one of those guys competing for that spot.”

The Bulls were without No. 2 runner Ben Hall, who had surgery last week, and their No. 1 Ermias Bireda is not fully recovered from shin inflammation.

Bireda (16:08.5) still took third and said he is almost completely back.

“I was going for the win, but to be able to compete with the guys like I used to was good,” Bireda said. He added, “I just PRed with a month off, so it helped me know I’m close.”

The Wiregrass Ranch girls claimed their fifth straight SAC title, taking four of the top-10 places and seven of the top 14 to total 26 points, beating Gulf by 40. Land O’ Lakes finished fourth, Wesley Chapel claimed fifth and Sunlake was ninth.

Bulls senior Nikita Shah captured her first individual conference title by running 18:05.6. She was a minute slower at last season’s meet.

“Last year I had a pretty bad day,” said Shah, who won by 38 seconds. “Today was just like a regular day for me. I think my training is better, so I felt comfortable running a decent time. Last year I had to run my all to put up the kinds of times I’m putting up this year.”

Shah’s teammates Berlin Waters (19:32) and Madison Conway (20:00.4) ran PRs to take third and sixth, respectively, while Elise Cedre (19:52.7) finished fifth.

The Gators were paced by senior Katie Monds (20:45.5), who took ninth.

The next challenge for Wiregrass Ranch, Land O’ Lakes and Sunlake comes at the Class 3A-District 6 meet at Crews Lake Park Nov. 2. Wesley Chapel will run at the 2A-9 event at Anclote Nov. 1.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker

Freedom girls place third

By Jeff Odom

As the sun rose above Lake Park, a momentary pause of silence gave way to celebration as the Steinbrenner boys cross country team was announced winners of the Hillsborough County Championship Oct. 19.

The Warriors scored 56 points, edging out Plant by just three to win the 28-team event for the first time in the program’s four-year history.

“This is great,” said senior Matt Magee, who finished third overall by completing the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes 29.4 seconds. “It’s our first (county) championship ever. It’s a great win for the team. We’re all seniors, so we’re not going to come back next year, so it’s a big win for all the seniors.”

Along with Magee, Steinbrenner’s top times were turned in by seniors Tyler Lima (16:44.3) and Tanner Biles (16:53.1), who finished sixth and eighth, respectively. Zach Lima (17:30.7) finished 19th and Chris Cerreta (17:33.5) placed 22nd.

Bobby Ennis, who has also worked with the Warriors since the school opened in 2009, said to watch the team grow has been one of the most amazing sights he has ever seen.

“It’s special, because (the seniors have) been with us for four years,” Ennis said. “Year 1, as freshmen, with no sports, these guys were automatically varsity by default. They’ve matured. They’re great kids.”

Heat and humidity was a big factor early at the event in Lutz, as some runners struggled halfway through the event.

Magee said Steinbrenner was ready because of the extensive offseason training done during the summer, including running the Lutz Independence Day 5K, which he won.

“Oh my gosh, we’ve been preparing since Day 1 of summer,” Magee said. “We ran over summer and almost ran about 600 miles each. So, we trained pretty hard, and we’ve been competing hard.”

Elsewhere at the meet, Freedom finished 13th with 365, Wharton placed 18th with 552 and Gaither ended up 23rd with 693.

Other top times were turned in by Freedom’s Adam Urbaniak (17:56.4), who finished 31st, and Carrollwood Day School’s (CDS) Austin Ham (19:25.8).

On the girls side, Freedom finished third behind Newsome and district rival Plant with 129 points.

Juniors Annie Tedesco (20:17.5) and Lauren Arfaras (20:28.9) were the Patriots’ best finishers, placing eighth and 12th, respectively.

Tedesco said her mind was focused on earning a good finish.

“I felt pretty good,” Tedesco said. “I was just trying to stay in the top 10 and trying to (make a personal record). I really felt like I went as hard as I could.”

Freedom coach Dwight Smith said he felt his team is finally beginning to come together and believes people will respect his runners more.

“I felt all year they didn’t have us in the top three; I knew that we were better than what they’ve had us,” Smith said. “All year long, we really haven’t ran our entire varsity together … and it feels like we’re peaking at the right time. I don’t think we’ve ran our best yet.”

Other notable times were turned in by Wharton’s Mariah Henderson, who placed 16th with a 20:49.40 and CDS’s Lauren Meany (21:26.6), who finished 28th.

Wharton finished ninth with 253 points, Steinbrenner placed 11th with 262 points and CDS scored 582 points and was 19th overall.

The Warriors did not have a runner finish in the top-40 as Jenna Malone (22:17) placed 43rd. Senior Lauren Garris (23:16.1), who is still recovering from an appendectomy prior to the season, finished 69th.

The next challenge for area cross country teams is districts. Freedom and Wharton compete in the Class 4A-District 6 meet at Al Lopez Park in Tampa Nov. 1. Steinbrenner and Gaither run as part of the 3A-8 event at Lake Park Nov. 2, while CDS is in the 1A-8 race at Taylor Park in Largo Nov. 1.

By Kyle LoJacono

Freedom senior track athlete Sandra Akachukwu committed to the University of Western Kentucky Oct. 18.

Akachukwu, who transferred from King as a junior, captured regional championships in the 100- (12.41 seconds) and 200-meters (25.33) and in the long jump (17 feet 7 inches) last season. She was also the runner up in the high jump (5-4) and earned Class 4A state medals in all four events.

Akachukwu said she is unsure what events she will compete in at college and may continue doing all four.

—Follow Kyle LoJacono on Twitter: @Kyle_Laker