Bulldogs' sack machine just getting warmed up

At the heart of Zephyrhills' 41-7 drubbing of Hudson on Friday was a persistent pass rush that harassed Cobra quarterbacks Josh Bunting and Shannon Eva for nine sacks.

"We should have had at least six to eight more," coach Tom Fisher said. "We kept getting back there but just missing them."

Junior Daniel Cerf finished with 31/2 sacks, giving him 41/2 for the season and enough to boost him into second among county leaders, trailing only Pasco's Kirk Moats, who has 51/2. The Pirates have four defenders with three or more sacks: Cerf, senior Shane Hand (3), junior Kevin Senior (3) and junior Tony Smiley (3).

Through three games, the Bulldogs have a county-best 19 sacks, putting them on pace to double last year's 10-game total of 32.

Zephyrhills' depth took another hit Monday with injuries to sophomore Chris Clark and junior Travis Mickle.

Clark, the team's long-snapper on kicks and punts, suffered a possible fractured wrist, and Fisher said junior Keith Osterman might take over on snaps.

Mickle, who scored touchdowns on offense and defense last week, sprained an ankle in Monday's practice. Fisher held him out Tuesday with the hope he could return Friday night.

GULF: Center Chris Whytsell is out with a contusion on his right (snapping) hand and will be limited to defense at strongside linebacker. Fullback Tim Tracy will sit this week after separating his right shoulder. Tailback Fernando Rodriguez has a badly sprained right ankle but is expected back.

But it is defense that worries coach Keith Newton the most.

"We still haven't been able to muster a solid defense for four quarters, and that's hurting us," he said. "We're having to patch together different people to make a full team. Thank goodness we have 35 players."

HUDSON: Injured fullback Kenny Eva is back at practice and expected to play against River Ridge. An ankle sprain kept Eva shelved for all but three plays in the secondary against Ridgewood. Eva, who has yet to carry the ball, likely will alternate with incumbent Travis Miller, a junior who has 185 rushing yards and a 6.4 average with two touchdowns.

"I see them playing the fullback position 50-50 unless one takes control of it," Hudson coach Terry Voyles said. "Plus, Miller has done a fairly decent job."

PASCO: Running back Devon Hicks, who opened Friday's scoring with an 81-yard touchdown run, visited a doctor Tuesday to check on lower back pain after he took a helmet to his back during the second quarter. Coach Ricky Thomas said he expects Hicks to play Friday.

WESLEY CHAPEL: With an offense averaging seven touchdowns a game, kicking extra points is a busy job, and Wesley Chapel made a change at that position after two games.

Senior Chase Polston, who also has 21/2 sacks as a starting defensive end, handled the kicks against Lake Placid and River Ridge, but coach John Castelamare opted to go with junior Gabriel Montelongo against Gulf.

Montelongo, a transfer from Pasco whose brother Gilbert was the Wildcats' kicker and punter last year, responded by going 7-for-7 on extra-point attempts.

"Both of our kickers are pretty good, and Gabriel had done well in practice and we wanted to give him a chance to do the kicking," Castelamare said.

-- GREG AUMAN, STEVE LEE, JAMAL THALJI

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