LAND O'LAKES 35, GULF 7: The quarterback throws for 250 yards and three touchdowns to upstage rivals.
By STEVE LEE
Published September 13, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - In a tale of two seasoned quarterbacks, Drew Weatherford of Land O'Lakes upstaged Gulf's Jeff Blanchette on Friday at Gator Stadium.
Weatherford, a four-year starter, passed for 250 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 53 yards and a touchdown to lead the Gators to a 35-7 win over their Sunshine Athletic Conference rivals.
Blanchette, a third-year starter who passed for three touchdowns in the Buccaneers' season-opening win, struggled. He threw for 27 yards and ran for 34, including a 19-yard touchdown run with 5:18 as Gulf avoided the shutout.
Land O'Lakes (1-1, 1-1 in the SAC) extended its winning streak over Gulf (1-1, 1-1) to eight games.
"We knew it was going to come. It was just a matter of time," Weatherford said of Land O'Lakes' first win. "We knew we had the potential and the talent. We just had to put it together on Friday night."
An improved Land O'Lakes defense stymied Blanchette, who ran for three first downs in Gulf's flexbone offense but was sacked three times by outside linebacker Brett Ruvolo.
"Jeff's going to get his yards, but they were prepared for him," Gulf coach Keith Newton said.
After a scoreless first quarter, Land O'Lakes exploded for 28 points in the second.
Weatherford threw touchdown passes of 23 and 13 yards to Eddy Gibbs before a 30-yard scoring strike down the right sideline to Joey Cannon.
"We were focused all week in practice," said Gibbs, the game's leading receiver with five catches for 117 yards.
Chris Perez, who rushed for a game-high 69 yards, scored on a three-yard run 1:37 before halftime.
"The first quarter was 0-0. That's where we wanted to be," Newton said. "We were sputtering on offense and playing defense, then we just folded."
Weatherford added a 9-yard touchdown run in the third before Gulf's lone score.
Perez fumbled a punt that David Montanez recovered.
That led to the Bucs' six-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Blanchette burst through the middle before cutting down the right sideline for the touchdown.
The ensuing onsides kick bounced out of bounds and Land O'Lakes ran out the clock.
