Side lines

By KEITH NIEBUHR

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 12, 2001

Midweek football report

Lecanto (1-1)

LAST WEEK: Beat Central 26-13.

THIS WEEK: At Citrus.

WHO'S HOT? The offensive line. Lecanto has rushed for 330 or more yards in each of its two games. Much of the credit goes to this unit, which has improved greatly since last season. "They're working very hard at practice, their skills are improved and they're getting better at the business of blocking people," coach Dick Slack said.

WHO'S NOT? The kicking game. The Panthers missed three PATs against Central and one in their opening loss to Tavares.

WEEKLY BUZZ: The 13-game losing streak is history. Lecanto's victory over Central will go down as one of the most memorable wins in school history, but the Panthers don't have time to celebrate. This week, they open the district schedule against Citrus, which owns a 12-2 series edge. Lecanto last beat the Hurricanes in 1999.

QUOTABLE: "We've got to get better than we were last week," Slack said. "We've got to improve every week and take what we did and build on it. I'm happy with the effort (against Central). We sustained the effort for four quarters, and it made all the difference. We've known all along that we can compete with anybody, we've just been stopping ourselves."

Crystal River (2-0)

LAST WEEK: Beat Springstead 42-16.

THIS WEEK: At Dunnellon.

WHO'S HOT? Ryan McNally. The junior fullback leads Citrus County in rushing with 334 yards on 36 carries, a 9.3-yard average. He's scored 6 touchdowns. Against Springstead, McNally ran for 210 yards and made an interception.

WHO'S NOT? No single group struggled last week, but Crystal River lost four turnovers and committed 130 yards in penalties.

WEEKLY BUZZ: Can any area team challenge Crystal River? At this point, it doesn't look like it. In their opener, the Pirates thumped always-tough South Sumter. Last week, they whipped Springstead, which had hopes of pulling off an upset. Now Crystal River faces a Dunnellon team it has owned in recent years. The key to the Pirates' success has been the running attack, which has combined for 660 yards against two solid defenses.

QUOTABLE: "We feel good about the way we've played," Crystal River coach Jere DeFoor said. "Dunnellon presents a lot of problems. (The Tigers) have a big team up front."

Citrus (0-2)

LAST WEEK: Lost to Hernando 13-10.

THIS WEEK: Home vs. Lecanto.

WHO'S HOT? Isaiah Webb. The junior completed 1 pass for 14 yards, had 3 receptions for 64 yards and returned a kickoff 77 yards to set up Citrus' only touchdown against Hernando. "He's Mr. Versatile for our team," Coach Larry Bishop said.

WHO'S NOT? The linebackers. This group had a game to forget. Three of the four starters had more missed tackles than tackles.

WEEKLY BUZZ: Citrus showed some improvement from Week 1 to Week 2, but it wasn't enough. The offense had just one lengthy drive against Hernando, and the defense spent far too much time on the field. Penalties and blown assignments have been the Hurricanes' two biggest problems. If Citrus eliminates the mistakes, it has a chance to beat Lecanto. If not, it could be a long night.

QUOTABLE: "I don't think this week's game is make or break," Bishop said. "But it's definitely important because we haven't won yet and because it's a county rivalry. This is a big game no matter what our records are. We made great strides from our first game to our second game, and we need to make the same strides from Week 2 to Week 3. We've got to play assignment football on defense and not do things on offense to shoot ourselves in the foot."

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