Bears Fall to Wildcats in Spring Jamboree

It was a bit of a rough night for the Central Bears who fell to the Wesley Chapel Wildcats by a 42-0 margin on Friday. Fortunately for the home team, the middle of May offers schools across the nation the opportunity to brush up on their skills during their spring jamborees without impacting their season record. Bears Head Coach Jim Pusateri spoke to the Sun about his team’s performance after the game.

“I am not saying hanging our hat, but we did see some improvement,” Coach Pusateri said. “We are an extremely young team. We got 19 freshmen out there playing, so that’s what it is: growing pains. We will get there. It is a tough road, but our biggest thing is a little bit of attitude, but we will get there.”

The youth on the team showed at times with key mistakes such as turnovers, turnover-worthy plays, and missed tackles. The Bears would give the ball away three times while nearly doing so on two more occasions via a dropped interception and a fumbled exchange in the backfield.

One such turnover came on one of the home team’s longest plays of the game. Freshman RB/LB Josiah Ojeda would churn out an impressive 25-yard run, but the ball would be poked out during the tackle. The freshman running back ran hard, though, and was afforded a high volume of touches rushing the ball in addition to being thrown the ball. The Wildcats would take the ball down the field on the ensuing drive and ice the spring scrimmage with their third touchdown.

Central is a young team and should only improve as the athletes see more playing time. The Bears’ coach noted a specific area where his squad can improve and offered another reason for some of their miscues on Friday.

“Just route running was a little not there tonight, but other than that we will be okay,” said Coach Pusateri. “I think one week short of spring kind of hurt us, too. We did not have that extra week of practice. We got 19 freshman and 11 juniors out there, but they will get there.”

The Wildcats would have a productive night, scoring 35 points in the first half. A ten-play drive in the first quarter capped off with a six-yard run up the middle by QB Landen Holley would net the visitors their first points of the evening. Wesley Chapel would explode for 28 points in the second quarter alone thanks to a pair of Central turnovers. A pick six deep in the Bears’ territory would complete the scoring in the final frame.

While the Navy and Silver would struggle to move the ball consistently in the first half, they would begin to find their rhythm just before and continuing after the intermission. The home team would put together their own ten-play drive that would progress all the way down to the Wildcats’ 24-yard line thanks in part to a 30-yard rush up the middle by another Freshman RB/LB Chris Hill.

The Bears would eventually turn the ball over on downs with 25 seconds left in the second period. Wesley Chapel would begin to cycle in players as the game wore on, and a running clock would be implemented in the fourth quarter before the clock struck zero and the game reached its 42-0 final.

Coach Pusateri will work to develop his young squad as their next home outing will be a preseason matchup against the Gulf Buccaneers on August 16. The Bears will open their schedule at the Southeast Seminoles on August 23, and they will host the Anclote Sharks in their first regular season home game on September 6.