TRINITY — Reggie Roberts’ team scored 45 points Friday night, but he wasn’t talking afterwards about the big plays or touchdown passes or long runs.
He was talking defense. Like only a Zephyrhills Bulldog can. Woof!
“The Bulldogs have always played defense,” said a fired-up Roberts, and they used that defense to rout a sloppy Mitchell team Friday night 45-14 in a battle of early-season unbeatens.
Zephyrhills (3-0) turned six turnovers, including four fumble recoveries, into 27 points as Mitchell never recovered from some early, crucial mistakes.
Running back and safety Jaylen Pickett returned an interception for a touchdown — the first of his two picks — and Frank Everett recovered two fumbles, returning the last one for a 74-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach.
Everett, a senior middle linebacker, picked up the loose ball and criss-crossed the field and weaved his way in between traffic before finally scoring his first touchdown.
“That was all my teammates,” said Everett, whose cousin Lawrence also recovered a fumble. “I’m the slowest on the team. My teammates helped me on that touchdown. I needed oxygen when I got back to the sideline.”
The matchup between the county’s leading rushers, Mitchell’s Ryan Marsh and Pickett, never materialized. Pickett ran for 55 yards on 22 carries, and Marsh had 15 carries for 67 yards and a fumble.
But Pickett made a huge impact. His interception return in the first quarter was the first score of the game, and he caught a devastating 86-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ty Tanner right before halftime to make it 28-14 when the Mustangs (2-1) were still hanging around and mounting a rally.
Mitchell started the second half with the ball, but went three and out. Zephyrhills drove 70 yards and capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run by Tanner to make it 35-14.
Two plays later, Everett recovered his first fumble, leading to a Zach Gleaton field goal, and on Mitchell’s next drive Gleaton scooped up another bobbled ball for his touchdown.
“It wasn’t just the turnovers,” said Mitchell coach Andy Schmitz. “It’s the turnovers, it’s the roughing the kicker penalty …if you could make a check list on how to lose a football game, we hit them all.”
Tanner led the way offensively for the Bulldogs, rushing for a game-high 108 yards, 82 of those coming after halftime. He also had five runs of 10 or more yards in the second half, and threw for 135 yards, including a touchdown to Pickett and another to Jackie Tucker.