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The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
Proud to be independently owned.

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

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Live Oak

Bulldogs look past playoff loss to promising future

November 26, 2014 By Michael Murillo

The Zephyrhills Bulldogs played approximately 540 minutes of football this season — but it was the final two minutes that were the most disappointing.

Zephyrhills Bulldog junior linebacker Kevin Lee swats down a pass from Sunlake quarterback Dayton Feiden during the final game of the season that Zephyrhills won 22-7. The Bulldogs would lose a heartbreaking first-round playoff game, while the Seahawks would move to the next round after beating Ocala’s Vanguard High School. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Zephyrhills Bulldog junior linebacker Kevin Lee swats down a pass from Sunlake quarterback Dayton Feiden during the final game of the season that Zephyrhills won 22-7. The Bulldogs would lose a heartbreaking first-round playoff game, while the Seahawks would move to the next round after beating Ocala’s Vanguard High School. (Fred Bellet/Photo)

The team came up short on a fourth-and-one that would have sealed a victory in their first playoff game in eight seasons. Instead, their opponent — Suwannee High School from Live Oak — drove down the field quickly and scored a touchdown.

Suwannee then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff for another score. And just like that, Zephyrhills’ season was gone.

But not forgotten.

“We’re a little disappointed about the loss, not getting the win up in Live Oak, especially being ahead most of the game,” Bulldogs head coach Reggie Roberts said. “But we played good football to get there, and we played good football when we got there. But we just have to finish at that level.”

As the sting of not finishing a winnable playoff loss subsides — the team led 24-9 at the half — it will be replaced by memories of the good football that brought them to that point in the first place. Their 8-3 final record is the best of Roberts’ tenure, which began in 2010.

It was their fourth straight year with a winning record, and the playoff appearance snapped an eight-year drought without postseason play. The Bulldogs took the field for that game ready to play their brand of football, not like a team that was just happy to be there or wanted to play conservatively.

For his part, Roberts has no regrets about going for it on that critical fourth down at the end of the game. Converting that yard would have meant a victory, he said, and the circumstances at that time and the field position dictated it was the best move for the team.

But that decision was made and the playoff game is over. And Roberts, like all successful coaches, doesn’t like to dwell in the past. He’s already looking ahead to 2015, and he likes what he sees.

While he admits that replacing offensive cogs like quarterback Ty Tanner, receiver Tyler Kirby and running back Jaylen Pickett won’t be easy, Roberts believes the team’s depth will step up and fill the gaps.

“Our seniors will be missed, but by the same token, we have a lot of young players that know how to play football,” he said.

The Bulldogs will welcome back known talent like receiver Jackie Tucker and running back Antwione Sims, who distinguished himself this season and in the playoff game. They also have a number of junior varsity players who are ready to graduate to varsity and contribute immediately.

If there’s an early area of concern, it’s the kicking game. Somebody will need to fill punter and kicker Zach Gleaton’s spot, but there’s time to find a replacement. But from offensive line to other skill positions, the coach feels good about the talent he’ll carry into 2015.

“I like what we have coming back,” Roberts said.

He also likes the renewed community interest in Zephyrhills football, and the fact that coaches are now coming to him asking for advice on how to build and maintain a successful program.

The returning players will bring a renewed desire to win and a lot of pride in what they’re building, but they’ll also carry some bitterness about the way the season ended. After the playoff loss, he found the younger players hurting after the game, even if they didn’t get on the field much.

They were upset at the way things ended for the team, and the coach wants them to use that frustration as fuel for next season.

“They’re going to remember that pain,” Roberts said. “They’re going to remember this experience. They’re going to remember it takes blood, and hopefully that’s going to just energize them and motivate them to get back there (to the playoffs) every year.”

If Roberts is looking for indications that the team will learn from this year’s lessons, he’s already seen some positive signs as the long off-season gets underway.

The players aren’t interested in taking extended breaks, even when offered by the coach at the end of a hard-fought playoff game and a successful 2014 campaign.

“I gave the kids two weeks off, and the kids were in the weight room” four days after the playoff game, he said. “If that doesn’t tell you anything, it tells me a lot.”

See this story in print: Click Here

Filed Under: Land O' Lakes Sports, Local News, Local Sports, Zephyrhills and East Pasco Sports Tagged With: Antwione Sims, Jackie Tucker, Jaylen Pickett, Live Oak, Reggie Roberts, Suwannee High School, Ty Tanner, Tyler Kirby, Zach Gleaton, Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills Bulldogs

Sunlake tops Vanguard, travels to Gainesville next week

November 14, 2014 By Michael Hinman

The Sunlake Seahawks have advanced in the state football playoffs once again by stopping the Vanguard Knights 24-6 Friday night in the Class 6A playoffs.

Sunlake (9-2) dominated on the ground against the Ocala team with 280 total yards and three touchdowns. The Knights, on the other hand, were powerful in the air, with quarterback N’Kosi Perry throwing 17-of-29 for 189 yards and a touchdown. However, two interceptions would tarnish his record for the night.

The Seahawks were only able to convert the two picks to three points, the first coming in the very first play of the game when Perry shot a bullet downfield into the hands of senior defensive back Mosi Davis. Sunlake would use 12 plays to move it from their own 28-yard line all the way to Vanguard’s 1, but running back Nathan Johnson just missed the goal line, and the Seahawks would have to settle on a Chris Wilkinson 18-yard field goal.

Vanguard roared back, and scored the game’s first touchdown just 8 seconds into the second quarter when Perry connected with Darryn Lake for 14 yards. A fake kick by Bruce Christopher allowed Rashard Laiz to try and run it in for a two-point conversion. However, he met the Seahawk’s goal line defense, and was stopped at the 1.

The Knights never really had a chance after that as Sunlake was able to move the ball and burn the clock, adding scores along the way, including a 46-yard run into the end zone by Davis in the answering drive to help the Seahawks go up 10-6. Naejaun Jackson added two touchdowns of his own on a 7-yard run late in the first half, and a 6-yard run early in the third quarter.

Johnson led the rushing attack with 102 yards, while quarterback Dayton Feiden added 64 yards of his own. Feiden spent very little time in the air, finishing 4-of-5 for 63 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.

For the Knights Lake led all receivers with 108 yards and a touchdown, while Justin Watkins picked up 38 yards on three catches.

Gainesville outlasted Mitchell 24-17, meaning the Seahawks will now have to travel north for the Class 6A regional semifinals.

In other local action, a late fumble cost the Zephyrhills Bulldogs a chance to upset Suwannee in Class 5A, losing 42-34 to the Live Oak team.

Filed Under: Top Story, Updates Tagged With: Bruce Christopher, Chris Wilkinson, Darryn Lake, Dayton Feiden, Gainesville High School, Justin Watkins, Live Oak, Mitchell High School, MOsi Davis, N'Kosi Perry, Naejaun Jackson, Nathan Johnson, Ocala, Rashard Laiz, Sunlake High School, Sunlake Seahawks, Suwannee High School, Vanguard High School, Vanguard Knights, Zephyrhills Bulldogs, Zephyrhills High School

In Print: Playoffs kick off Friday for Sunlake, Zephyrhills

November 12, 2014 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Are you ready for the playoffs? Are the Sunlake Seahawks, or the Zephyrhills Bulldogs?

Well, someone needs to be, because the state football playoffs begin Friday, with Zephyrhills on the road to the Panhandle area, while Sunlake is hosting a tough team from Ocala.

Sunlake High School head football coach Bill Browning looks on with concern as his team trails Zephyrhills, 22-7, last Friday. The Seahawks lost to the Bulldogs in the final game of the season, pitting together the two area teams heading to the playoffs. (Fred Bellet/Photo)
Sunlake High School head football coach Bill Browning looks on with concern as his team trails Zephyrhills, 22-7, last Friday. The Seahawks lost to the Bulldogs in the final game of the season, pitting together the two area teams heading to the playoffs. (Fred Bellet/Photo)

“The farthest we’ve gotten is the second round in the playoffs,” Seahawks coach Bill Browning told reporter Michael Murillo. “That our goal now, to go farther than any Sunlake team has.”

Sunlake will face Vanguard High School, which finished 4-5 on the season, but was able to claim a playoff spot as the runner-up in Class 6A-District 5. Yet, the Knights were 1-4 on the road, and gave up an average of nearly 47 points in their five losses.

Zephyrhills will have a bit of a tougher time. The Class 5A-District 6 runner-up has a long drive ahead of them Friday to Live Oak, just south of Interstate 10. If that wasn’t enough to worry about, the team from Suwannee High School also is known as the Bulldogs — and they have an impressive 9-1 record, losing only the final game of the season.

“You feel really good for a short time, but you know you’ve got to get back to work and start over,” Zephyrhills head coach Reggie Roberts said. “Our objective is not just to get there. It’s to perform once we get to the playoffs.”

How are both teams preparing? Find out in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, available on newsstands now. Or read it for free in our online e-edition. Get the Zephyrhills version of the story here, with more details on Sunlake here.

Also, check out LakerLutzNews.com Friday night for results from both games, and find complete coverage in the Nov. 19 print edition of The Laker/Lutz News.

It’s great having a chance to celebrate football and other sports. But when we do, we should stop to thank a veteran.

Tuesday was Veterans Day, and just ahead of a day filled with events, one group of veterans do what they do for every holiday honoring those who served — they remembered those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for those freedoms.

Last weekend, four members of American Legion Post 108 visited the Lutz Cemetery to place flags on the gravestones of soldiers.

“There’s a lot of sacrifice here,” Bill Garrison, a former code breaker with the U.S. Air Force, told reporter B.C. Manion.

“Unfortunately, they don’t get the honor and respect that they deserve,” said Richard Fernandez, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard.

The men and others visit the cemetery every Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day. The come bearing small American flags, which they will then collect the day after the holidays, honoring veterans from all the major wars.

To learn more about this solemn service provided by these American Legion members, check out this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read our free online e-edition by clicking here.

The elections are finally over after months and months and months of campaigning. While Pasco County had a turnout of more than 50 percent, turnout for the mid-term elections overall across the country were at the lowest levels since World War II.

Many local candidates — including those running for county commission and for an office in Tallahassee — touted local jobs and local money to help grow Pasco’s economy. Yet, none of the candidates really spent a lot of time trying to provide their own influx of cash to local businesses.

In fact, in just three races — two county commission races, and the election battle between Danny Burgess and Beverly Ledbetter for Will Weatherford’s state House seat — more than $324,000 was sent out of the county. That’s 71 percent of the total money raised by all six candidates involved.

What do the candidates have to say about it? We’re not sure. Many wouldn’t address it, but Ledbetter — who lost to Burgess in the House race — did talk about where money in her campaign was spent.

“Our campaign bought local services when available, such as some printing supplies and materials,” Ledbetter told reporter Michael Hinman in an email. “I used a local Dade City printer for some work, and a local company for the T-shirts.”

Yet, despite those efforts, Ledbetter spent just $3,000 in Pasco — less than 10 percent of the total amount she raised. Burgess wasn’t much better, however, spending $35,000 — less than 27 percent — of the money he raised locally.

Find out what all this outside spending means to local businesses in this week’s print edition of The Laker/Lutz News, or read it online right now for free in our e-edition by clicking here.

And finally, photojournalist Fred Bellet has some great pictures to share from a recent work day at the Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce in Land O’ Lakes, turning the headquarters a vibrant tropical blue. See it online by clicking here.

All of these stories and more can be found in this week’s The Laker/Lutz News, available in newsstands throughout east and central Pasco County as well as northern Hillsborough County. Find out what has your community talking this week by getting your local news straight from the only source you need.

If The Laker/Lutz News is not coming to your door, call us to see where you can get your copy at (813) 909-2800, or read our free e-edition by clicking here.

Filed Under: Top Story, Updates Tagged With: American Legion Post 108, B.C. Manion, Beverly Ledbetter, Bill Browning, Bill Garrison, Central Pasco Chamber of Commerce, Dade City, Danny Burgess, Fred Bellet, Hillsborough County, Interstate 10, Live Oak, Lutz Cemetery, Michael Hinman, Michael Murillo, Ocala, Panhandle, Pasco County, Reggis Roberts, Richard Fernandez, Sunlake High School, Sunlake Seahawks, Suwannee Bulldogs, Suwannee High School, Tallahassee, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, Vanguard High School, Vanguard Knights, Will Weatherford, Zephyrhills Bulldogs, Zephyrhills High School

Sunlake, Zephyrhills headed to playoffs

November 3, 2014 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

The Pasco Pirates wanted to play spoiler for the Zephyrhills Bulldogs once again, and earn a trip to the playoffs themselves. Instead, they were beat by a tough Nature Coast Tech team that almost outlasted the Bulldogs in a single-quarter playoff Monday night.

That means Zephyrhills (7-2) is going to the playoffs for the first time in eight years as the Bulldogs finish as the Class 5A-District 7 runner-up behind the undefeated South Sumter.

Also heading to the playoffs once again, but winning its first-ever Class 6A-District 6 title was Sunlake High School (8-1), outlasting Mitchell (6-3) in front of a home crowd in its one-quarter playoff. Mitchell will enter the Class 6A playoffs in two weeks as well, finishing as the district runner-up.

The Bulldogs almost didn’t make it into the playoffs once again. They took on their longtime rival, Pasco High School, last week with a 7-1 record in a game they were finally expected to win against a 5-3 team. But the Pirates stayed close the Bulldogs, and eked out a single-point victory in overtime.

That forced the playoff, involving not only Pasco, but Nature Coast Tech (5-4). However, the Pirates were not able to survive that challenge, and watched as the Sharks took on Zephyrhills in a chance to earn that last playoff berth.

Sunlake will host the first game of the Class 6A regional quarterfinals, taking on Ocala’s Vanguard High School. That team finished with a 4-4 record, but chalked up two of those wins against district opponents, according to MaxPreps. The Knights have not really dominated this season, virtually even between points scored and points allowed.

The Seahawks, on the other hand, have outscored their opponents 6-to-1.

Those teams match up Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Sunlake.

Zephyrhills will face Suwannee, out of Live Oak, a team also known as the Bulldogs. Suwannee powered its way to a 9-0 record, outscoring opponents 337-116. Zephyrhills is no pushover itself, also boasting a powerful offense that has outscored opponents 366-189.

If the local Bulldogs find a way to beat Suwannee, there’s a good chance their foe in the regional semifinals will be South Sumter, one of the two losses Zephyrhills posted this year. Few chunks have been found in the Raiders’ armor this season, and will be battling North Marion High School in the first round, a team that finished 7-2 on the season and looked almost as dominating as Suwannee in the same division.

Zephyrhills will travel to Live Oak Nov. 14 for its 7:30 p.m. contest at Paul Langford Stadium.

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: Live Oak, MaxPreps, Mitchell High School, Nature Coast Tech High School, North Marion High School, Ocala, Pasco High School, Pasco Pirates, Paul Langford Stadium, South Sumter High School, Sunlake High School, Suwannee, Vanguard High School, Zephyrhills Bulldogs, Zephyrhills High School

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