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Ridgewood's errors, including eight turnovers, help Wesley Chapel to a 54-7 drubbing.
By JOHN C. COTEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 22, 2001
WESLEY CHAPEL -- Ridgewood offensive coordinator Troy Cornwell had plenty of places to point when it came time to dissect the Rams' performance Friday night, whether it be the six interceptions, the two lost fumbles, the bad snaps on special teams or other breakdowns the unit suffered.
Too much help, he said, was given to Wesley Chapel.
"And let me tell you, that team doesn't need any help," he said.
But the Wildcats took it, then took it out on Ridgewood in a 54-7 victory, its seventh straight dating back to last season.
Wesley Chapel, now 4-0 and Pasco County's lone undefeated team, has outscored its opponents 163-7 since halftime of its first game and took sole possession of first place in the Sunshine Athletic Conference.
The Wildcats turned two interceptions and two bad snaps on punts into 24 points in the first half, and almost scored again after a third interception as Tyrone Tomlin was knocked out of bounds at the Rams' 4 after a 45-yard run on the last play of the half.
It was one of the few times Ridgewood (1-3) stopped the junior fullback. Tomlin had 115 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns.
By game's end, Wesley Chapel had knocked out Ridgewood starter Jon Emminger with an injury after four different Wildcats picked him off, and backup Kale Durocher was intercepted twice more.
Leading 27-7 at the half, Wesley Chapel's Greg Harrison took the opening kick of the second half back 89 yards for a touchdown, and Ridgewood's first four possessions ended with an interception, lost fumble, interception and blocked punt respectively.
The Wildcats turned all but one of those errors into touchdowns as Tomlin, Harrison and Marcus Stewart had touchdown runs.
The score was 47-7 with seven minutes left in the third quarter when Tomlin came out.