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By Times staff, correspondents
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2001
Wesley Chapel 55, Gulf 0
NEW PORT RICHEY -- Wesley Chapel, which entered the season with one shutout in its history, notched its second in a row Tuesday by limiting host Gulf to 79 yards of offense in a 55-0 win.
The third-year Wildcats had one shutout last year.
More importantly, it kept Wesley Chapel on pace for a playoff berth with a 3-0 record, 1-0 in Class 3A, District 7. Gulf dropped to 1-2, 0-1 in 3A-7.
Tyrone Tomlin, the county's leading rusher, broke open a scoreless game with an 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
"That gamebreaker by Ty put us on course a little bit," Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare said of Tomlin, who gained 127 yards on 11 carries.
Tomlin's 3-yard scoring run on the Wildcats' next possession highlighted a 29-0 second quarter and allowed Castelamare to rest most of his starters in the second half, a welcome respite with Friday's upcoming game against Ridgewood.
"The starters wanted to stay in, but I think they understood because in (three) days we've got another game," Castelamare said.
Wesley Chapel's defense capitalized on six turnovers, scoring twice on Gulf miscues. Marcus Stewart scored an a 37-yard interception and Derek Zabko closed out the game with an 18-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Jason Boyd recovered a fumble and sacked Gulf quarterback Jeff Blanchette twice.
Boyd has a season-high 12 sacks, one more than last year when he led the county.
Scott Burke did his best to keep the Buccaneers in the game by blocking Gilbert Montelongo's 46-yard field goal attempt and recovering one of two Wesley Chapel fumbles.
Spencer Honeycutt threw for two touchdowns, a 22-yard score to Marcus Felder and a 32-yarder to Chris Roberts that was tipped by Gulf's Mike Stanzione at the goal-line. -- STEVE LEE