It's Not Illogical

 
Star date Oct. 24, 2008.
First Officer Alex Spock, who doubles as the Land O'Lakes place-kicker, enjoyed a night most Vulcans would never forget.
Against host Central High, Spock deposited three touchbacks beyond the backline of the end zone, converted 5-of-5 extra point boots, buried a 47-yard field goal and boomed a 70-yard punt in his only try.
Yet, Spock was upstaged by Captain Kirk - portrayed by Land O'Lakes sophomore quarterback Stevie Weatherford.
Weatherford, who came into the Class 4A, District 8 tilt completing 64-of-114 passes for 814 yards and five touchdowns against six interceptions, was near perfect at the Bears' Den.
Weatherford, who rushed three times for 27 yards, completed 15-of-17 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns against one first-quarter swipe to help the Gators (5-2 overall, 2-1 4A-8) cage the Bears (3-4 overall, 1-2 4A-8), 38-13.
Weatherford's efforts enabled the Gators to its third straight win this year and notch its third series win in a row over Central.

Comeback kid

Central scored first following sophomore cornerback Jose Morales' interception off Weatherford on the game's opening drive.
CHS cashed in the turnover traversing 82 yards in 14 plays as Bear senior quarterback Dallas Waugh capped the drive with his third touchdown of the season from a yard out.
LO'L quickly answered on its next possession going 53 yards in seven plays with Ben Hicks scoring from three yards out for his fourth touchdown of the season.
Eight plays later, the Gators' Andrew Gorgen fumbled and Central's Steven Read recovered.
Again CHS proved opportunistic covering 57 yards on five plays.
Waugh's seventh touchdown pass of the season from 41 yards to Read gave CHS its final lead, 13-7. Waugh finished 8-of-16 passing for 110 yards and no interceptions. Read was his favorite target snaring four passes for 81 yards.
CHS place-kicker Nick Rosario, who converted his first PAT try, saw his second attempt blocked with 6:03 left in the second quarter.

Opening it up

From there, Land O'Lakes unleashed 31 unanswered points.
Tyler Hipps' 16-yard run with 4:45 left in the first half and Spock's second PAT forged the Gators ahead, 14-13.
The backbreaker arrived with 13 ticks remaining in the first half when Weatherford connected with WR Alex Robinson on the first of his two touchdown passes from 42 yards out, 21-13. Robinson finished with a game-high four catches for 159 yards. He was one of seven Land O'Lakes receivers to catch a pass.
The visitors outscored Central 17-0 in the second half.
Weatherford continued to sizzle clicking with Robinson on a 75-yard scoring pass on the Gators' initial snap in the third quarter, 28-13. The TD grab was Robinson's team-leading fifth of the season.
With 1:31 left in the third quarter Weatherford connected with a wide-open Hipps over the middle on a 26-yard scoring aerial. Hipps' first touchdown reception of the season made it, 35-3.
Spock, who drilled a 70-punt over Read's head in the third quarter, blasted his fifth field goal in six tries from 47 yards out with 5:42 left in the game to close the books, 38-13.
All told, Land O'Lakes' defense restricted CHS to 34 rushing attempts and 88 net yards. Senior tailback Austin Forte overcame a second-half fumble to finish with 21 carries for 59 yards.
LO'L utilized three quarterbacks and 11 different backs to churn out e 443 yards against the porous Central defense.
Despite the score, Central Head Coach Cliff Lohrey was not distraught.
"They (Land O'Lakes) made more plays than we did," calmly explained the third-year skipper on the difference in the game. "Weatherford was just what I thought he was. He threw strikes. And we knew we had to limit the yac (yards after the catch). We did sometimes, but not consistently."
Overall?
"The team effort was there," replied Lohrey. "Against Springstead, we didn't compete. Tonight, we competed; that felt good. I thought we played hard throughout the game."
And Mr. Spock?
"Both special teams kinda canceled each other out," Lohrey said. "But that Spock kid has got a bio-nuclear leg. That's no secret. He's a great high school weapon."
Where does Central go from here?
""We'll keep fighting," stressed Lohrey. "We talk about Bear pride all time. We talk about it even when things aren't going well. Our goal is to beat Tarpon Springs when they come to the Bears' Den next week."
Yet, as the Land O'Lakes team bus was pulling away wasn't that Mr. Spock splitting his fingers gesturing, 'Live long and prosper.'

Land O'Lakes 38, Central 13
Qtr. Scoring     1   2   3   4
Land O'Lakes   0  21  14   3 --38
Central 7   6   0   0 --13

Individual Scoring:
CEN - Waugh 1 run (Rosario kick)
LOL - Hipps 3 run (Spock kick)
CEN - Read 41 pass from Waugh (Rosario kick blocked)
LOL - Peak 16 run (Spock kick)
LOL - A. Robinson 42 pass from Weatherford (Spock kick)
LOL - A. Robinson 75 pass from Weatherford (Spock kick)
LOL - Hipps 16 pass from Weatherford (Spock kick)
LOL - Spock 47 FG
 
    LOL CEN
First Downs   14   17
Atts./Rushing Yds.  32-167   34-88
Comp./Pass Atts./Int.  15-18-1 8-17-0
Passing Yds.   276   110
Total Offense   50-443   51-198
Fumbles/Lost   3-1  2-1
Return Yards   7-67   3-67
Punts/Avg.   1-70.0   4-34.3
Penalties   13-126   0