5 takeaways from Wiregrass Ranch’s victory over Clearwater

The Bulls pull off a nail biter of a win on the road at Jack White Stadium

Wiregrass Ranch improved to 2-0 after a 21-19 win over Coearwater / Wiregrass Ranch Football/X

Whew, that was a close one off Gulf to Bay Blvd.

One of the top Florida high school football games taking place in the Tampa Bay area was when the Wiregrass Ranch Bulls traveled into Pinellas County to take on the Clearwater Tornadoes.

The game lived up to the billing as the Bulls (2-0) eked out an exciting 21-19 victory over the Tornadoes (1-1) at Jack White Stadium on Friday night.

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There’s plenty to dissect from this game that evenly matched up teams, so we give you five takeaways from the contest for you to digest:

Quality win for Wiregrass Ranch

It wasn't a hostile environment at Jack White Stadium, but there certainly was a quality matchup between Clearwater and Wiregrass Ranch taking place Friday night. With the kind of schedule Bulls head coach Mark Kantor put together, a win early on versus Clearwater certainly shows where Wiregrass Ranch is under his watch. Games against Mitchell, South Sumter, Springstead and Zephyrhills loom ahead, but Wiregrass Ranch proved that they can hang with one of Pinellas County's best squads.

Nowhere to run for Clearwater

In last week' 30-0 rout of Bartow, the Tornadoes had lived on the ground offensively and rushed for 214 yards. Versus Wiregrass Ranch, all of those rushing yards vanished and became virtually nonexistent. Clearwater was stymied to 26 total rushing yards, with those coming from quarterback Jaylen White. Thor Jozwiak and his coaching staff will get back to the drawing board on how to bounce back and materialize a run game in Week 3.

Liberty commitment Bryce Randolph breaks out

One of the North Suncoast's top wide receivers showed why he's committed to Liberty. Wiregrass Ranch wide receiver Bryce Randolph had arguably the top pass catching performance by a Pasco County player so far, with the senior hauling in seven passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. A favorite target of quarter back Dillon Rose-Bailey, expect Randolph to break the 1,000-yard plateau this fall.

Wiregrass Ranch QB Dillon Rose-Bailey settling in

The Bloomingdale transfer didn't have to throw too much in last week's 48-7 thrashing of Wesley Chapel Cypress Creek, completing 3-of-5 passes for 35 yards and two touchdowns. This time around, Kantor needed Rose-Bailey to throw more and the signal caller delivered. Rose-Bailey finished the night completing 9-of-14 passes for 178 yards and two scores. Safe to say Rose-Bailey is settling in just fine for the Bulls.

Bulls-Bulldogs looms ahead

What was impressive about the win for Wiregrass Ranch was the focus ahead of what's becoming a brewing rivalry-type game with the Zephyrhills Bulldogs. The Bulldogs took are of business on the night, defeating Wesley Chapel 29-0 and now sets up what should be the top game of the year on the east side of Pasco County.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl