Zephyrhills manhandled Wesley Chapel 40-0 in front of a packed homecoming crowd at Tom Fisher Field thanks in part to five passing touchdowns by quarterback Brendyn Colella to help the Bulldogs claim their fifth straight win.
“As a team, we have been growing together off the field. I have grown together with my receivers more and more,” Colella said. “All of that has made us close and a lot of that is what is make the offense more successful and skyrocketing the last two or three weeks.”
Colella connected with DJ Pickett on three TD passes and also found Teddy Sands and Jakobe Campbell for a pair of scores. The Bulldogs sixth TD came on an interception return by Sands.
“We work on it everyday at practice so we expected it,” Pickett said of the Wildcats inability to stop the pass. “We keep working and next week we’ll work on it more. I had a lot fun out there because they played me one-on-one.”
Zephyrhills coach Nick Carroll found the Wildcats’ weakness in stopping the passing game and he exploited it with Colella’s arm and speedy receivers on the outside.
“They give us stuff. Regardless of who the opponent is, we attack at what they’re weak at,” Carroll said. “I’m glad we scored on defense too.”
Penalties plagued the Bulldogs again as the the yellow flags led to more 100 yards in penalties in the first half and it wasn’t much better in the second.
“We have to learn to behave and win with class and that’s what I’m disappointed in,” Carroll added. “We have to learn to walk away. These penalties are really going to hurt us. It’s stupid. We punish them and they don’t understand. We have to get that fixed.”