NEW PORT RICHEY - First Gulf let the ball slip away, again and again. Then the lead.
Then, finally, the game.
Land O'Lakes won Saturday's war of attrition 19-14, outlasting a tired, exhausted and thin Gulf squad underneath the blazing afternoon sun.
The Buccaneers took a 14-0 lead in the first half, but that didn't hold. Instead, turnovers, injuries and exhaustion did take hold in the opener at storm-damaged W.D. "Des" Little Stadium.
"We just ran out of bodies," said Gulf coach Keith Newton. "We were tired. They had more bodies, and in the end they just drove it down our throats."
More specifically, Scott Mays did. The Gators' battering ram busted for 105 yards on 24 carries, scoring three touchdowns. His 4-yard scoring run with 3:53 left gave Land O'Lakes its first lead.
Both teams had six turnovers, and Land O'Lakes coach John Benedetto had never won with so many turnovers in his 28 years.
"It was a big step for this football team to be able to overcome (a 14-0 deficit)," he said. "We played pretty poorly. But to turn the ball over six times and win? That could be a good thing."
A Land O'Lakes fumble led to Gulf's first score, a 7-yard touchdown from sophomore quarterback Alton Voss to Hector Collazo with 2:35 left in the first quarter. The Bucs' Ray Sousa scored on a 14-yard run, and Robert Robinson's 2-point run made it 14-0 with 1:52 left in the first.
Quarterback Joe Weatherford came in to spark the Gators' offense, completing passes of 40 yards to Caz Piurowski and 9 to Develin Robinson to get a 7-play, 70-yard scoring drive going. It ended when Mays scored on a 9-yard run, making it 14-7 with 4:49 left.
But Gulf failed to turn a Weatherford interception into a 36-yard field goal at the end of the half, as Land O'Lakes' Paul Roberts blocked the kick.
Piurowski's 10-yard mis-punt gave Gulf the ball at midfield. But Voss had to leave with cramps and backup Robinson, on a broken play, lost the ball to defensive tackle Devon Kearney, who ran to the opposing 49. Mays fumbled it at the 3, but after a 24-yard punt, Land O'Lakes drove back to take the lead.
Wesley Chapel rolls
WESLEY CHAPEL - An ankle injury was about the only thing that slowed Nigel Bryant last season, but the Wesley Chapel fullback is healthy and has his sights set on a 1,000-yard season.
Bryant rushed for a game-high 155 yards and a touchdown and caught a 31-yard pass from Anthony Rawson for a TD in the host Wildcats' 41-0 season-opening win over Sunshine Athletic Conference rival River Ridge.
The Royal Knights dropped to 0-2 overall, 0-2 SAC after Saturday morning's game at Wildcat Stadium, rescheduled in the aftermath of Hurricane Frances. River Ridge has been held scoreless in three of its four games against Wesley Chapel.
"Nigel, when he works hard and gets open, he's pretty tough to get," Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare said.
Wesley Chapel (1-0, 1-0), which extended its regular-season winning streak to 11, took a 21-0 halftime lead. Rawson sneaked in from 1 yard for one touchdown and connected with Michael Alvin on a 27-yard pass for another.
Nick Carter got the Wildcats on the scoreboard with a 10-yard run on a reverse into the left corner for the first of his two touchdowns. His 20-yard run late in the third quarter accounted for the final margin.
Wesley Chapel controlled the line of scrimmage and outgained River Ridge 336-80. Rawson completed 6-of-10 for 109 yards.
"The line started getting better" as the game progressed, Castelamare said. "They pass-blocked real well."
