Tough regular-season schedule pays off now for Land O'Lakes
By JAMAL THALJI
Published November 14, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - John Benedetto would do it again.
The Land O'Lakes coach would again add to his team's schedule Lake City Columbia, a state powerhouse ranked second in the state 4A poll when it beat the Gators 28-7. He would again sign a contract to play Ocala Forest, the Class 4A, District 5 champion, which Land O'Lakes beat 28-13 on the road.
Yes, the Gators struggled in 2003 against a tougher schedule, at one point falling two games below .500. But the Gators (6-4) are also tougher because of that schedule, Benedetto said, having won four straight to clinch the 4A-7 district title.
"I don't know if I will ever schedule teams that are soft in the future," Benedetto said. "I will be looking for playoff-caliber teams. I think it's important for us to play playoff-caliber teams if we want to experience playoff-caliber success."
Like the kind of success Land O'Lakes experienced in last season's 2-1 postseason run, as the team ended a five-year playoff losing streak, won consecutive games and advanced to the region final for the first time. Can this year's schedule help the Gators reproduce last year's postseason success? Land O'Lakes finds out tonight against Auburndale.
The road back to the playoffs wasn't easy. The postseason looked distant when the Gators fell to 2-4 after a 21-0 shutout Oct. 10 against Pasco. This year's team may not have realized how badly foes wanted to beat them after last year's 12-1 Land O'Lakes team dominated the county. "It's almost like you have a big target on your chest," linebacker/fullback Scott Mays said.
Despite the graduation of the best senior class in school history, the Gators had leaders to rally around.
"The kids, I just think they stuck together," Benedetto said, "and we have good leaders on this team, and when you have players like Drew Weatherford and Scott Mays, kids who are not quitters, they kind of instilled that type of attitude into some of the other kids." Weatherford, the Florida State-bound senior quarterback who holds Pasco County records in passing yards (6,997) and touchdowns (75), said the team had to figure out how not to lose.
"It's pretty simple," Weatherford said. "You can't make a lot of mistakes and you've got to limit the other team's big plays. We've done that, and that's why we've won the last four games."
Land O'Lakes secured the district title in a 13-6 win over Mitchell on Oct. 17. But even at 3-4, a winning season was not assured.
"Ocala Forest," Weatherford said. "That was the turning point."
Defeating a noncounty foe, beating a team that won its district on the road, showed the Gators how good they can be.
"Playing for the district championship was a big game for us," Benedetto said. "Then we had to play out of the county, and that meant a lot. We were expecting a letdown, we weren't really expecting to play as well as we did, but we did play well."
"From that point on we felt like we were really as good as anybody. We managed to win four in a row and get a home game in the playoffs. Things couldn't be any better for us right now."
