Bye week no vacation at Land O’ Lakes

Posted Sep 16, 2010 by Eddie Daniels

Updated Sep 16, 2010 at 03:00 PM

So, after skunking an opponent 49-6 and then heading into a bye week, one would think there would lots of grinning, back slapping and taking it easy.

Not so much at Land O’ Lakes.

Matt Kitchie had a message – a strong message – he wanted to pass along to his players. The team racked up roughly 280 yards in penalties, one of which wiped out a 94-yard score, in their win against Ridgewood in Week 1.

Instead of kicking up their heels and enjoying the bye week, the Gators were in for something of a shock to the system.

“I punished them,” Kitchie offered up in a deadpan tone. “We ran and ran and did up downs and ran some more to let them know how serious we were about the penalty issue. We also talked about how we’re not just playing for ourselves, we’re playing for everyone who came before us; all the coaches, all the players, for some of them brothers, for some cousins, uncles, dads, who played before.

“We’re messing up because we’re putting a dirty mark on the Land O’ Lakes name because we want to have (so many) penalties.”

The Gators (1-0) will take that new sense of discipline to Springstead (0-2) where the Eagles have scored 10 points in two games.

“All that stuff adds up,” Kitchie said.