Allie Davison, Times Correspondent
Friday, October 14, 2011
WESLEY CHAPEL —Wesley Chapel walked away with a 40-0 victory over district foe Ridgewood on Friday night.
With Devin Piper out due to a season-ending ankle surgery, the Wildcats (3-3, 1-3) made adjustments to their ground game.
Off an early turnover by the Rams, DeQuane Anderson ran in a 25-yard touchdown to put Wesley Chapel up 6-0.
On their next two drives, the Wildcats scored two running touchdowns off Keegan Tanner's 66-yard and Ty Tanner's 2-yard runs to push the Wildcats lead to 20-0 two minutes into the second quarter.
Heading into halftime, Robert Jota scored a 55-yard rushing touchdown after a turnover by the Rams (1-6, 1-3).
Despite a comfortable 27-0 lead and 236 yards on 17 carries, the Wildcats were penalized 16 times for more than 100 yards in the first half alone.
Ridgewood's closest chance at scoring came in the fourth after the Wildcats were called for two personal fouls and ended up on the 2-yard line after eating up more than seven minutes. A poor handoff resulted in a fumble recovery for Wesley Chapel.
The only TD pass came in the final seconds with Troy Cothran's 14-yard pass to Sasha Mentor.
Wesley Chapel's Keegan Tanner led both teams with more than 110 yards and two touchdowns. Ridgewood's offense was held to 67 yards on the ground.
"It's huge for us because Wesley Chapel High hasn't had a winning season in I think six years," coach Ben Alford said. "We are trying to get on that road and trying to teach the kids how to go out and win. They played hard from the first quarter on."