Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Gators 29-21 win keeps them alive for the playoffs

By Kyle LoJacono

As the final second ticked off the clock, Land O’ Lakes High coach Matt Kitchie looked up, raised his arms and yelled with excitement and relief.

The Gators (7-1) won a hard-fought game against Class 3A, District 7 rival Sunlake High (7-1) 29-21 Oct. 29 to stay alive in the playoffs. Land O’ Lakes has made a Pasco County record 13 straight postseason appearances entering this season, but a loss to the Seahawks would have ended that.

“It’s very important,” Kitchie said of keeping the streak alive in his second season coaching the Gators. “I don’t want to be the guy who lets that die.”

Gators senior quarterback Stephen Weatherford is the sixth member of his family to play for Land O’ Lakes and likely felt a little more pressure to keep the streak alive than anyone else on the team.

“It is a great feeling,” Weatherford said. “My brothers have all played here and I didn’t want to be on that team to stop the streak.”

The Gators had to come back in the game’s final minutes for the win. The offense got the ball back with 6:57 left in the game on their own 19 yard line. It took ten plays for Land O’ Lakes to get to the Sunlake 4 when Weatherford took matters into his own hands.

With 2:58 on the clock, Weatherford ran in for a four-yard touchdown to put Land O’ Lakes up for good. The Gators signal caller said he always believed the offense would be able to get the winning score.

“Being the quarterback of a team you’ve got to stay calm and confident,” Weatherford said. “If you panic then the whole team is going to panic. Everyone on our team knows we have a good offense and athletes who can score at any time.”

The Gators defense stopped Sunlake on the next drive by sacking Seahawks senior quarterback Jacob Jackson twice and

forcing an incompletion on fourth down. Weatherford got the ball back and added a 21-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Will Irwin with seconds remaining.

“I knew our defense was going to go out there and get us the ball back,” Weatherford said. “I have to face it in practice and they just bring the heat. We’ve got great linebackers and defensive line and they just fly all over the place.”

That defense had 10 sacks in the game, the third double digit sack performance of the season, four from junior linebacker Shadow Williams.

“He’s definitely the toughest quarterback we’ve had to take down this year,” Williams said of Jackson. “He’s a load, but we just needed to swarm to the ball and we were able to get it done.”

Senior linebacker Patrick Meritt sacked Jackson on third down of Sunlake’s final drive, which essentially ensured the win.

“That’s the most intense feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” Meritt said. “Going into that play I wasn’t designed to blitz, but the gap opened and I just decided to go.”

Land O’ Lakes came out on top, but some early fumbles nearly cost them the game. The Gators gave Sunlake the ball on their own 30 on the third play of their first drive. Jackson made them pay when he hit junior tight end Nick Morrison for a 10-yard pass for a touchdown.

The Gators put the ball on the ground six times of which two were picked up by Sunlake. The week before against Pasco High they fumbled four times and lost two.

Kitchie had the kids work on securing the ball in practice before the matchup and said they will continue to correct the problem.

The Land O’ Lakes offense’s 29 points were more than the 21 Sunlake had given up all year entering the contest. Weatherford completed 13 of 26 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns, including one to junior tight end Kent Taylor. Senior running back Ryan Lane had 40 yards on nine carries and a touchdown.

Jackson was the Seahawks offensive leader, completing five of 13 passes for 66 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 70 rushing, including 61 on a touchdown run near the end of the third quarter.

“He’s a special player,” Kitchie said of Jackson. “I hate to see him go from this area. It’s fun to watch games like this. Even if you’re coaching against him and you think your head is going to explode, but still it’s just so much fun. I have the best job in the world.”

Things will not get easier for the Seahawks when undefeated Pasco comes to play them Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

“We’ll have to get back at it in practice and learn from this,” said Sunlake coach Bill Browning.

Land O’ Lakes will play Mitchell High at home Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Zephyrhills Christian moves on to the semifinals

By Kyle LoJacono

Zephyrhills Christian Academy took another step toward a state championship by defeating Elfers Christian 72-27 Oct. 29 in the six-man football quarterfinals.

The 72 points were the most scored by the Warriors (11-0) in their history.

“They actually scored on us first,” said Zephyrhills Christian coach Mike Smith. “Then Dale Smith (Jr.) ran the next kickoff back for a score and we never looked back from there.”

Dale, who is a senior linebacker, also scored on an interception and a fumble return.

Warriors quarterback Mikey Smith, an eighth grader and Mike’s son, had a pair of touchdown passes in the game. Mike said the offensive star was Josh Roberts, who scored almost every time he touched the ball.

“They just couldn’t bring Josh down,” Mike said. “We didn’t punt once all night and it was good to put up those kinds of numbers.”

Zephyrhills Christian’s offense was clicking on all cylinders, but the defense was rusty after having a bye week in the first round of the six-man football playoffs. The Warriors allowed just 20 points and recorded eight shutouts in the regular season.

“I made a coaching mistake by not letting them hit in practice leading up to the game,” Mike said. “I was worried about injuries. We usually hit really well in games and we came out flat and tried to make a lot of arm tackles. We won’t make that mistake again because we’ll be hitting in practice.”

The Warriors will next play in the semifinals against the No. 3 seed Clearwater Academy (10-1) Nov. 5 in their building, 34927 Eiland Blvd. at 7:30 p.m.

This is the fourth season of the six-man league and the Warriors have made the semifinals each year. During the season many of the Warriors players, including Roberts, Mikey and Dale, said they feel they will win the state title this season.

“We have to play our game to win,” Mike said. “Clearwater has probably the best quarterback we’re going to play against. He gets everyone involved and we’ll need to play better defense if we’re going to beat them. We need to believe in ourselves because we have a shot at this.”

By Kyle LoJacono

The Raymond B. Stewart Middle football team completed the first perfect season in program history Oct. 26 by defeating Weightman Middle 41-6 at home.

The Bulldogs (6-0) claimed the Eastside Conference championship with the win. The squad was also the co-champs last season with a 4-2 record.

“It was a pleasure to coach this team,” said Norman Scheuerman, who has coached Stewart for five years. “We had a lot of eighth graders come back from last year and it was great to have them go out as outright champions this year.”

When Scheuerman took over five years ago, the Bulldogs did not have a winning reputation.

“We had to change the whole atmosphere around here and get the kids excited and proud about their athletic program,” Scheuerman said. “They had a lot of 1-5 and 0-6 seasons because they weren’t scoring.”

Scheuerman and the coaching staff have also gotten the community excited about the team. He said administration told him the game against Weightman had the highest attendance of any home game in program history.

“Our stands have been packed all year,” Scheuerman said. “People come up to me I don’t even know and congratulate me on how the team has been doing. It’s nice to see that support from the people of Zephyrhills.”

Putting up points also is no longer a problem for Stewart. The Bulldogs averaged just less than 32 points a game while they allowed less than six.

Two of the key contributors on the offense and defense are Jaylan Pickett and Brandon Debyah.

“It was a great year,” Debyah said. “We thought we could win every game because we knew we were good. Last year we almost won every game. Our losses were really close.”

Scheuerman said the Bulldogs lost by a combined nine points in their two defeats in 2009.

“In the end, it’s just middle school football and a lot of these kids will go out and play on the high school team the next couple of years, but I’m happy the eighth graders could go out on top,” Scheuerman said. “They can always say they were part of the first perfect team here.”

By Kyle LoJacono

The Steinbrenner High volleyball team is only 2-years-old, but the new program has already established a winning reputation.

The Warriors (17-9) won their second straight Class 4A, District 9 championship by defeating Strawberry Crest High 25-13, 25-10, 25-18 Oct. 28 in just 64 minutes.

“I feel like we came out exactly like we needed to,” Warriors coach Staci Elias said. “We came out strong. We served, we passed

really well. You know there in the third game we got a little relaxed for a while. You know our goal all year has been to finish and that’s what they did.

“I think it was an expectation coming in,” Elias continued. “It was definitely an expectation for this season. It’s been a goal from when we started the program last year to put district titles up there.”

The Warriors were led in kills by junior outside hitter Miranda Powell with nine against the Chargers (12-9-1), followed by senior outside hitter Natalia Ortiz with eight and senior middle hitter Megan Moyer with seven.

“We played really hard last year and we’re going to keep it up this year,” Moyer said. “We’ll play our hardest and just go as far as we can this year.”

Ortiz added three blocks in the contest. Powell had two blocks and a team-high seven aces.

Giving those frontline players clean opportunities was setter Erin McMurtry, who had 38 assists while adding five aces and five digs. The senior and co-captain believes the team’s collective mentality can serve them well in regionals.

“We just play together as a team,” McMurtry said. “We have fun, but we’re unified. We don’t want to break apart. If someone is having like a bad day, we just pick them up.”

While most of the Warriors have experienced a district crown before, two are freshman. Outside hitter Rachel Mathison and setter Casey McLean were part of the junior varsity (JV) squad that finished 18-1 this season before moving to varsity.

“It was really honoring because we started off as JV and we bumped up because we were performing so well and now it’s just an honor to be able to defend our district title,” said Mathison, who had four kills in the title match.

Coming up to a team that was the reigning district champ could have been difficult, but McLean said that was not an issue.

“The girls are all so welcoming and there’s a really good atmosphere,” said McLean, who had two aces and three digs against the Chargers.

Lakewood High eliminated Steinbrenner in the first round of regionals last year at home in five games. Elias believes the team will use that as motivation this season.

“I feel very confident,” Elias said. “We’re going to take it one match at a time. We’ve got the experience. We’ve got a year under our belts. They know what it felt like to lose that first round of regionals last year and on our home court, so I think they remember that feeling right now.”

Steinbrenner plays against Palmetto High at home Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.

In the 5A-9 tournament, Freedom High fell to Sickles High 25-18, 25-17, 25-21. The Patriots still advance to regionals, but have to play on the road at Venice High Nov. 3.

-All stats as recorded to Maxpreps.com by coaches.

Second-year school has big goals for district tournament

By Kyle LoJacono

Before a team can consistently win it needs confidence in itself and Steinbrenner High boys cross country runners now have that belief in their abilities.

The Warriors enter this week’s Class 2A, District 5 tournament, which is Nov. 4 at Al Lopez Park in Tampa, ranked No. 6 in the state by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association. Steinbrenner has also won four of the first eight meets it has participated in this season.

“The biggest thing is this year we know we can win any event we’re in,” said senior Alex Newby, who is Steinbrenner’s No. 1 runner. “… Last year we just didn’t feel that way. We’ve beaten a lot of good teams at meets and we’re ready to do the same thing in districts.”

One of the changes this year for the Warriors is the addition of coach Bobby McConnell, who taught and coached at Gaither High last year.

“We have a lot of great runners who really enjoy cross country,” said McConnell, who teaches social studies at Steinbrenner. “Everyone has gotten much better since we started in the summer and we have a lot of depth. Alex is our fastest runner, Dan Sarver is our second fastest and after that, anyone is third through sixth at any race.”

Newby said his best time in the 5K (5 kilometers or 3.1 miles) is 16 minutes and 38 seconds.

The Warriors team has 24 runners, but many watching the team likely think there are two less. The reason is there are two sets of twins on the roster, both sets born on March 13. The older set is Dan and Matt Sarver, seniors.

“We’re a lot closer this year and that’s probably just because we’ve spent two years together as a team since the school opened,” said Matt, whose personal best in the 5K is 16:46. “We put in a lot of miles during the summer and that has been the biggest help. We had the 500 mile club and we tried to get everyone to put in 500 miles of running during the summer.”

Dan’s personal best is a little behind Matt’s at 17:21, but he took last year off from cross country to play football for the Warriors.

“I learned how much I love cross country when I took that year off,” Dan said. “I’m glad I came back to the sport and I think we’re good enough to come in the top two or three in districts.”

The younger set of twins is Zach and Tyler Lima, sophomores. The two have seen improvement from summer workouts like the Sarvers, but also from new methods brought by McConnell.

“We did a lot of running last year, but our new coach creates more individual workouts for us,” Zach said, whose personal best is 17:16. “I liked our old coach and everything, but coach Bobby seems to be able to work with us individually a little better.”

Both sets of twins are fraternal, not identical, but they look very similar to their sibling.

“It’s funny at meets if we both get on the medal stand,” Zach said. “People look at us both weird sometimes because we look so alike.”

While Newby and the Sarver twins spent two years at Sickles High before coming to Steinbrenner, the Limas have only been Warriors.

“I really feel lucky that we’re getting to start the cross country program at the school,” said Tyler, whose personal best is 17:17. “The older guys on the team won’t be here for four years like my brother and me. We’ll be part of the first class that spends four years here and we’ve got all that time to get the team to the top level.”

While the Warriors are No. 6 in the state, they have very tough competition in their district from Jesuit High and Berkeley Preparatory, both in the top five.

Vivian Frizzle of the Zephyrhills Shuffleboard Club (ZSC) teamed with Mary McLin, of Betmar to come within an eyelash of winning the Florida State Championship at the Betmar Shuffleboard Club. In finishing runner-up, Frizzle qualified as an instant professional. In the men’s division, the best match of the tournament was the very first one as Henry Strong and George Darwin of the ZSC drew the team of Earl Ball and Stan Williamson. The match was a three and a half hour war. Everyone that could pack themselves around the court was there and they were not disappointed as the match went three very close games. In the third game Strong and Darwin had their opponents by the throat ready to put them away with a 40-point lead, but somehow Ball and Williamson squirmed out and won on the last shot. The match took so much out of Ball and Williamson and they barely won the second match two games to one. They recovered to win the next match easily. In the quarter finals, Williamson got a lesson from Gerald Sharp, who is known as someone who can bury opponents in the kitchen. Sharp, of Betmar, buried Williamson in the kitchen one shot after another. Ball and Williamson survived and also defeated Walt Shine and Jerry Brandon, of Betmar, in the semi finals in two games. The title match was tough with Ball and Williamson winning game one and the ZSC team of Elmer Cox and Ernie Waldron won the second. The last game saw Cox and Waldron get off to a big lead, but their opponents roared back and Ball scored the winner before Cox and Waldron had a chance at their next two hammers.