Wesley Chapel RB Devin Piper breaks ankle, out for season

Posted Oct 11, 2011 by Mike Camunas

Updated Oct 11, 2011 at 09:16 PM

Wesley Chapel coach Ben Alford said Tuesday afternoon that RB Devin Piper broke his ankle and will miss the remainder of the season.

Alford says Piper suffered a fracture dislocation and torn tendons at practice, which led to surgery Tuesday.

“This is a huge loss,” Alford said. “We’ll have to plug in a few guys, but the injuries have really gotten to us.”

The 6-foot, 242-pound bruising running back leads Wesley Chapel (2-3, 0-3 Class 5A-District 6) with 71 carries for 479 and four touchdowns and was already battling a rib injury sustained in the loss to Fivay (4-1, 3-0) on Sept. 30. In his absence, Alford said, the 5-foot-9, 195-pound junior DeQuane Anderson, who has 9 carries for 26 yards, will become the starter.

Piper was limited in yards in the Wildcats’ loss to Pasco on Friday, but had a team-high 86 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown run that gave Wesley Chapel a brief 12-7 lead in the first quarter.

Wesley Chapel has had numerous injuries including CB Kudeil Gomez (wrist), S Chris Ayers (rotator cuff) and OG Cody Green (concussion), plus QB Keegan Tanner (left ankle), who only played the first half against Pasco (6-0, 3-0).

Tanner, Alford added, is a game-time decision this Friday when the Wildcats host Ridgewood (1-5, 1-2) for Homecoming.

Correspondent Mike Camunas can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or follow him on Twitter @MikeCamunasTrib.

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