The Zephyrhills defense pitched a shutout and the offense finally got on track in the second half as the Bulldogs crushed Wesley Chapel 29-0.
After getting points on defense in the first half from Tristan Lennon interception return for a touchdown and a safety on a tackle in the endzone for a safety by Deori Pope, the offense made things exciting with a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Xzavier Jackson into the outstretched hands of AJ Jackson to put the Bulldogs up 15-0 at halftime.
“We focused a lot at practice and fixed a lot of things from last week,” Lennon explained. “This week, we have to work on the offense.”
The defense kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard as Xzavier Jackson found AJ Jackson again. Lennon added the two-point conversion, but he was not finished as he added a 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs struggled to sustain drives on offense, but the big plays bailed them out. Penalties were a factor again this week putting the offense in several third and long situations.
“We didn’t sustain drives and we didn’t move the ball efficiently and we have to do that to win against teams that are just as good or better than us,” said ZHS head coach Nick Carroll. I have high expectations and we’re not where we need be yet.”
The Hail Mary play was not a streetball play call with Carroll adding the play to the playbook just one day earlier.
“We did practice it and they looked at me like I was crazy, but it actually worked,” Carroll said.
Jackson said Carroll was ready for the situation.
“That was put in for situations like this,” AJ Jackson said. “This was my first Hail Mary ever. I just know I had to outjump DJ (Pickett) to get to the ball.”
While the offense is lagging, Carroll is pleased with the defensive effort that kept the Wildcats scoreless and scored eight points. A surprise star of the night was David Llanes who had a sack, fumble recovery and field goal block.