Wildcats pounce late

Wesley Chapel's Michael Alvin catches the winning touchdown pass with 31 seconds left to beat Gulf 15-14.

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published August 26, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - From Wesley Chapel wide receiver Michael Alvin, a told-you-so.

Alvin was so convinced he could beat the cornerback covering him Friday night that he insisted coach John Castelamare run some plays in his direction, an idea that sounded all right by the coach.

After killing Gulf in the second half, Alvin finished the best game of his life by catching the winning 2-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining, lifting the Wildcats to a 15-14 win over the Bucs in the season opener for both teams.

"I never caught the game-winner before," he said afterward, smiling. "It was nice."

But Alvin still had one more catch left in him, intercepting a desperation pass from Buc standout Alton Voss to end the game.

After dropping a pass in the first half, Alvin caught four balls for 88 yards in the second half, accounting for all of Wesley Chapel's receiving yards for the game.

"He'll remember this one for a long time," Castelamare said.

So will Gulf coach Jay Fulmer, who saw a slew of penalties - many questionable - derail his team's hopes for victory.

Voss ran 41 yards for a score to give the Bucs a 14-9 lead with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter, but Gulf's attempts were foiled by three straight penalties, wiping out successful conversion from Anthony Jackson (run), Chris Mazzeo (catch) and Jackson again (catch).

The refs whistled Gulf for illegal formations each time, though Fulmer insisted his team was running its favorite formation.

"If we make some other plays it doesn't come down to that," Fulmer said of the penalties. We dropped some passes and we didn't do a good job tackling. We knew this would be a war because Wesley Chapel is a good football team, and that's exactly what it was."

Hitting Gulf even harder was a call down the stretch that breathed life into a Wildcat drive that appeared over. After Mario Melvins ran 10 yards on fourth and 15 with 1:40 left, referees tacked on an extra five yards for an illegal substitution on Gulf. Fulmer disputed adding the penalty to the end of the play, which gave the Wildcats a first down by a hair at the Buc 10.

Melvin, who finished with 144 yards rushing on 25 carries, ran for eight yards before quarterback Greg Jenkins rolled out and hit Alvin.

Voss, the USF commitment, led Gulf with 111 yards rushing and both their touchdowns, but never found his rhythm throwing the ball, completing just seven of 23 passes for 73 yards.

[Last modified August 26, 2006, 08:15:13]