WESLEY CHAPEL — It was the kind of play that Wesley Chapel needed to end its 14-game losing streak to Zephyrhills.
Trailing 14-7 in the third quarter Friday night, Wesley Chapel senior cornerback Darian Borden floated back toward his own end zone, picked off Zephyrhills quarterback Joshuan Howard’s long bomb and then zigged and zagged his way behind his teammates and up the left side of the field.
Borden’s 101-yard interception return, his second touchdown of the night, turned a potential Zephyrhills dagger into a 14-14 tie game, and was exactly the kind of play needed to light a fire.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that fire was lit under Zephyrhills.
The Bulldogs played near-perfect ball the rest of the way, keeping the Wildcats from even threatening to score and pulling away for a commanding 30-14 victory and lengthening their winning streak over the Wildcats to 15 games.
“In the second half, we just had to get our heads in the game and that’s all,” Howard said. “Everybody just did their job. The offense executed, the defense executed, and we did what we did.”
The defense not only executed, it totally stymied Wesley Chapel signal-caller Levi Pavlikovic, who threw for over 300 yards in his season opener.
You name it and the Bulldog defense did it. Senior linebacker Lionell Bates, junior Trae Hoyle, plus seniors Kevin Kirkland and Myron Stewart brought the heat to Pavlikovic, authoring six of its eight sacks in the game-defining second half.
Senior Zacary Carroll reeled in a fumble forced by a Hoyle strip sack followed by interceptions from junior Ahmaud Roberts on back-to-back Wildcats possessions.
If not for a long, late pass completion, Wesley Chapel (1-1) would have had negative offensive output in the second half.
“That’s one of our main goals, to be physical and rally to the ball,” explained Zephyrhills head coach Nick Carroll. “I thought we did a pretty good job of that (against the Wildcats).”
“It’s just the hard work we put in week by week,” Bates said. “It’s that level of competitiveness that we practice with every week. It carries over into the games and it almost makes the games easier than our practices.”
The Bulldogs (1-1) shook off Borden’s highlight-reel pick-six and ground the Wildcats down. Howard’s ball-carrying prowess (41 yards on seven carries) joined with running backs Marcus Gonzales (team-high 44 yards) and Dylan Burney (40 yards) to set up a 10-play drive and a 26-yard field goal by sophomore Tristen Searle.
After Zacary Carroll’s recovery at the Wesley Chapel 25, Howard faked a sweep right and called his own number around left end for 3 yards and a crucial touchdown late in the third quarter.
Roberts’ first pick set up Zephyrhills in plus territory again where Howard (102 passing yards) drilled a perfect short pass to Julius Denson III into a tight window, with the senior pulling away to complete a game-clinching 43-yard scoring play.
“I take a lot of pride (in my decision-making),” said Howard, who completed his first five pass attempts of the game and connected with junior Franklin Agholor for a 16-yard touchdown in the first half. “Honestly, I just do what I need to do at the end of the day. That’s it.”
Athletic senior and Pittsburgh commit Saniiyn Black opened the Bulldogs’ scoring when a bad Wildcats punt snap set up a 1-yard score in the second quarter.
Wesley Chapel rode out some strong defense of its own led by seniors Bryce Flemming (five tackles, pass defense), Caleb Walsh (two passes defended), Borden, and sophomore Kendrick Burks (sack).
Offensively, a fourth-down, 10-yard touchdown pass from Pavlikovic (104 passing yards) to Borden gave the Wildcats a 7-6 lead with 5:16 left in the first half, the only time Wesley Chapel led all night.
Zephyrhills, which surprised some of the internet pundits with a loss last week and dropped in some social media rankings, showed it was far from falling off this season.
“It’s a work in progress to be honest with you,” head coach Nick Carroll concluded. “We’re still gelling with a lot of our new skill guys so they’re understanding their roles and how to do things. There were a lot of flags (26 in all, 19 on the Bulldogs) and I’m extremely proud of our team and how we overcame some adversity.”
