Gators will miss star quarterback Drew Weatherford next season but expect to compensate for loss of senior with an impressive ground game.
By STEVE LEE
Published December 2, 2003
LAND O'LAKES - Don't feel too sorry for Land O'Lakes losing the most prolific passer in county history.
There is no replacing Drew Weatherford, but that does not mean the Gators are headed for a tailspin.
As he has done for each of his 27 seasons, coach John Benedetto's offensive scheme will be centered around his best players.
For Benedetto, two immediately come to mind: Scott Mays, a hard-nosed running back/linebacker, and tight end/defensive end Caz Piurowski.
"We'll build around them," Benedetto said.
Before Weatherford became the area's first 7,000-yard passer, the Gators were known primarily as a running team. In fact, the quarterback spent most of his freshman season handing off to Godrey Pestana, the county's only 4,000-yard rusher.
With returning interior linemen Justin Giddens, Ross Hughes, Kyle Embry and Stephen Curry clearing a path for a backfield including Mays, Hunter Hedblom, Evan Keel and Lannie Graham, an emphasis on the running attack looms.
"We feel as though we've got some good running backs next year," Benedetto said. "It's looking as though we'll do some different things, but we're looking for the same thing, and that's victories."
Whether that includes a third straight region final is undetermined. But one thing is clear: Land O'Lakes spent the past two years erasing the ignominy of a 1-9 postseason mark. The Gators went 4-2 in 2002 and 2003 and now have a 5-11 overall playoff record.
Ultimately, experience and talent are yardsticks for winning programs, but Land O'Lakes' recent run can be traced, in part, to an underclassmen movement. The program's junior varsity has gone unbeaten in three of the past seven seasons (1997, 2000 and 2003).
"I didn't have Drew play for me, but we went undefeated anyway that season (2000, Weatherford's freshman year)," JV coach Tim Stevens said. "That was the group that put together two pretty good varsity seasons."
Success at that level, Stevens said, "gives them a lot of confidence and teaches them how to win games."
For the first time in four seasons, someone other than Weatherford could find out what winning is like for Land O'Lakes - or not.
The quarterback vacancy likely will be a three-way battle between current backup Mark Soril and junior varsity players James Dominguez and Joe Weatherford.
"I think it's wide open," Stevens said. "Spring's going to tell a lot; how big they get physically, who doesn't make mistakes."
"It'll be decided, I'm sure, before spring practice is over with," Benedetto said. "The Weatherford kid may have the advantage because he's got the genes."
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Al Claggett has spots reserved for linebackers Mays, Hedblom and Keel, along with linemen Piurowski and Devon Kearney.
"Three extra weeks of practice is big," Claggett said of the preparation for three playoff games. "The other thing is that they got experience against top quality competition."
