Stingy Mustangs don't give Gators any opportunities in nail-biting win

LAND O'LAKES -- Mitchell's defense limited Land O'Lakes to two plays in the second half Thursday , and the Mustangs escaped with a win thanks to Mario Formoso's right foot.

Formoso's 29-yard field goal with 11 seconds left gave the Mustangs a 9-6 win over the Gators, forcing a second-place tie between the teams at 3-1 in the Sunshine Athletic Conference. They trail Wesley Chapel (4-0), a 36-16 winner over Pasco.

"Inside the 30, he's pretty reliable," Mitchell coach Chris Murphy said of Formoso.

Mark Pijanowski recovered a Mark Soril fumble to set up Mitchell's tying touchdown 30 seconds before halftime. The Mustangs scored on Chris Watts' 28-yard pass to Cliff Edwards. The Gators took a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter on Soril's scoring pass to tight end Caz Piurowski.

Neither team converted extra points. Formoso had his kick blocked and Land O'Lakes' Alex Gorgan missed wide left. Middle linebacker Troy Adams' sparked the Mustangs' defensive stand.

"It was close," Land O'Lakes coach Tim Stevens said. "We had our chances to take care of things in the first half and didn't. Once we lost momentum, we couldn't get it back."

FAST 'CAT: Fullback Aaron Dickler ran roughshod in Wesley Chapel's win over Pasco, finishing with 257 yards and three touchdowns.

The fleet-footed sophomore, who anchored the state 400 relay team last season, has at least 100 yards in each game.

"I can run a simple fullback trap and he'll break it for 80 yards," Wesley Chapel coach Joe Brown said. "Once he gets past the line of scrimmage, nobody can catch him."

FIRST WIN: River Ridge (1-3) notched its first shutout in its first win of the season, 22-0 over Zephyrhills.

Mike Gregory scored on a quarterback sneak, Sam Bell ran for a 14-yard touchdown and Danny Stevens threw a halfback pass to Chad Kleinatland for a 20-yard touchdown. The defense also contributed. Josh Johnson blocked two punts and the Knights had a safety.

WIN RECORD: Chasco (4-0), a second-year middle school coming off a 3-3 season, remained unbeaten after Tuesday's 36-21 win over Pine View.

Though Chargers coach Nick Zizo was reluctant to mention the conference championship, he left no doubt about his team's goal.

"It's big," Zizo said of the win. "That clinches a winning record, but (Chasco's players are) looking down the road at something else."

David Williams ran for 140 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 64-yard scoring pass from Joey Nix. Williams has 14 touchdowns this season. The Chargers also scored on Cordell Fields' 30-yard interception return and Byronell Arline's 60-yard kickoff return.

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