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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 30, 2001
The best defense? A good offense.
Wesley Chapel put that theory to work in Friday night's win over Zephyrhills. The Wildcats' defense struggled to contain the Bulldogs. Quarterback James Adamo threw for 167 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Moody rushed for 112 yards. Only two careless fumbles slowed them.
Someone had to stop the 'Dogs.
Enter Tyrone Tomlin.
And Kenny "Junior" Roberts, Greg Harrison, Marcus Stewart and Chris Roberts. They ground it out in the second half, dominating the clock and the scoreboard. The Wesley Chapel offensive line led the way to 376 rushing yards. Tomlin dominated, of course, gaining 210 yards and four touchdowns. The result: after taking a 20-14 halftime lead, the 'Cats scored 23 unanswered second-half points. The 'Dogs punted twice in the first half, three times in the second.
Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare only called six passing plays (two completions, from Spencer Honeycutt to Marcus Felder for 35 yards) in the first half and none in the second, choosing instead to grind up Zephyrhills.
It worked. The Bulldogs only dressed 25 and injuries kept whittling that number down. The Zephyrhills offensive line made it a personal mission to keep Wildcats nose guard Jason Boyd away from quarterback James Adamo; but that same line was also counted on to stop Tomlin.
They stopped Boyd early, but couldn't stop Tomlin. Eventually, they slowed Tomlin late in the second half (when it was already over) but then Boyd caught fire, pressuring Adamo constantly and sacking him twice.
"Same old story," Zephyrhills coach Tom Fisher said. "Too much of our defense is also our offense."
John Gimore hadn't rushed for a touchdown, Tim Dare hadn't thrown for one, and Adam Eberle was River Ridge's leading rusher with 89 yards, a total that ranked 21st in the county.
All that has changed.
Gilmore not only got his first touchdown, but in a dominating effort got two to go with 147 yards, or 37 more than he had in the previous four games ... combined.
Dare not only got his first touchdown pass, but in a spectacular effort had his best game, completing his final five passes for 171 yards, or 69 less than he had in the previous five games ... combined.
And Eberle may have lost his team rushing lead, but his 125 yards in just his second game at fullback bodes well for River Ridge's rising-from-a-slumber offense.
River Ridge had four penalties for 45 yards in a 59-second, three-play span, starting with a penalty on an extra point and ending with an unsportsmanlike penalty called on assistant coach Bill Linderman.
Last week, Castelamare punted on third down for mercy's sake. This week, Hudson's Terry Voyles did it out of necessity.
Hudson's offensive woes were bad enough in the third quarter that when a penalty backed up the Cobras to a third-and-29 from their 35, Voyles called for a quick kick. Eva took the handoff to the right and booted a low kick that rolled to a stop for a 43-yard punt.
Hudson opened the second half with an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by senior Ryan Klaskow, who was hit soundly at the 20 by Hernando's Willie Bates, but bounced off the hit and kept his feet, weaving through the rest of the Leopards before pulling away down the left sideline. Voyles said Klaskow's return for touchdown might be Hudson's first-ever.
The closest we could find was in 1999, when Brad Felten had an 86-yard kickoff return...but not for a touchdown.
"I'm getting too old for this."
-- Wesley Chapel coach John Castelamare, who always looks equally unhappy in victory and defeat, after his team's 5-0 start.
"I've never seen so much arm tackling in my life."
-- Mitchell assistant Scott Bisbe after another one of Gilmore's arm tackle-breaking runs.
"Hey Schmitz, Put in Pilotte, No. 64."
-- Huge sign held up by neighborhood friends of Billy Pilotte. Schmitz apparently didn't see it; Pilotte saw no action.
"They were bigger than we are, but we kept battling them, and you've got to love them for that."
-- Hudson coach Terry Voyles after another hard-fought loss by the Cobras.
"Give Gulf some credit. Those kids smelled blood at one time. I thought they were going to get us. But we hung on."
-- Pasco coach Ricky Thomas.
"I just got over a cold. Really."
-- Wesley Chapel fullback Tyrone Tomlin, after his 275-yard, five-touchdown performance.
Pasco has to contend with South Sumter on the road. It's a non-conference, non-district game, so don't expect the Pirates to throw all those injured veterans into the fire. In the county, Friday night will see plenty of chances for upsets: Hudson is at Land O'Lakes; River Ridge visits Gulf; Wesley Chapel is at Mitchell; and Zephyrhills visits Ridgewood.