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Zephyrhills' Michael Moody reaches the end zone three times in five minutes in a 35-10 win over Hudson.
By GREG AUMAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 9, 2001
ZEPHYRHILLS -- Playing the second of three games in eight days, Zephyrhills gave coach Tom Fisher exactly what he needed: a lopsided score early on that would allow him to rest his starters.
Unfortunately, what Fisher needed were reserves that would allow him to rest his starters.
The Bulldogs rolled to a 35-10 victory over Hudson behind 195 yards and three touchdowns -- all in a five-minute span -- from senior tailback Michael Moody.
"It's a win, a good win, but we have too many people hurt," Fisher said after his team improved to 4-2. "It's a good thing we didn't have to run a play at the end, because we didn't have enough linemen to line up."
With three unnamed players suspended, the Bulldogs had to keep most of their starters in the game late, and with 27 seconds left, starting right guard Jamen Monbaren badly injured his right ankle. He was taken off the field on a golf cart after several minutes with team trainers.
On the game's final play, sophomore lineman Scott Calhoun, called up from the junior varsity three days earlier to provide depth during the suspensions, injured his right shoulder.
But as far as Monday was concerned, the Bulldogs got all the offense they needed in a span of 6:09 starting late in the first quarter.
Moody cut loose for a 22-yard touchdown run and followed it with a 38-yard score on Zephyrhills' next possession.
Moody, showing the form that made him a 1,000-yard rusher last season, needed one play on the next drive, racing 61 yards down the right sideline to give him 121 yards in touchdowns in a span of 5:06.
Hudson quarterback Rob Petrucci fumbled the snap on the ensuing first down, and quarterback James Adamo later went in from 1 yard out for a 28-0 lead.
Dale Lemons, who finished with 71 yards for Hudson, put the Cobras (2-4) on the board late in the first half, and Robert Pollock set a school record with a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
"I don't know what the problem was, but we weren't ready to play football. We're better than this," said Hudson coach Terry Voyles, who had his leading rusher (Kenny Eva) and leading tackler (Justin Brown) out with injuries.
"We were flat the whole first half. . . . I'm not going to blame it on injuries. We just played bad. I told them at halftime that I didn't even recognize this team."
The two teams were playing a game rescheduled from Sept. 14 due to last month's attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. Zephyrhills plays host to Gulf on Friday, while Pasco travels to take on Hudson.