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.
