Jamboree learning experience for Dolphins
BY JASON THOMPSON Gulf Breeze News jason@gulfbreezenews.com

Photo courtesy of Sue Violette Garrett Carr tries to get away from a tackler during the Dolphins' Blue and White game Friday.

The Gulf Breeze Dolphin football team had a busy week last week, playing in a three-team jamboree at Pace on May 15 before returning home for the Blue and White game three days later.

"We put about a quarter of the offense in," coach Chris Nemith said after the jamboree. "It's hard to scheme against two different offenses in just 10 days. I thought the guys did a good job."

The jamboree featured all three team's junior varsities and varsity squads. Gulf Breeze's JV played Pace for a quarter, then played Milton's for a quarter. Pace and Milton then played a quarter and repeated that schedule for the varsity teams.

Proof that things were difficult for the young Dolphins were five turnovers and only two first downs against Pace's and Milton's JV. The Dolphin JV kept Pace off the scoreboard in the first quarter, ending in a 0-0 tie, while the Panthers beat Gulf Breeze 12-0.

Grant Harris' eight-yard catch from Ben Lively accounted for the first down against Pace, while Colin Burke's 12-yard scamper on third and nine was the lone first down against the Panthers.

Defensively, Jesse Parsons and Colin Greer had consecutive sacks to end one Pace drive, while Matt Fockler recovered a Patriot fumble inside the Dolphin 20-yard line in the final minute. E.J. Troup had a pair of tackles in the quarter.

Harris had two catches, one from both Ben Lively and Thomas Dorsey.

Wes Cross recovered a fumble for the Dolphins against Milton, while Seth Hewerdine blocked an extra point. Making multiple stops on defense were Troup, Blake Conner, Taylor Retherford and Jeff Leonard.

Pace's Riley Hawkins grabbed a 38-yard pass from Aaron Nunez with 1:23 left to beat the Dolphins 6-0 in varsity action.

Kyle Schnackenberg, who went 4-for-7 for 26 yards in the quarter, ran for a first downs on third and three before the Dolphins had to punt.

Pace picked up a pair of first down on their opening series before the defense stiffened. Jimmy Beyers sacked Nunez on a first down play before Eric Mims broke up a pass on third down.

GBHS went three and out before Pace drove 56 yards for the touchdown. Mims blocked the extra point.

Stuart Franklin caught three passes for 21 yards.

The loss was compounded by Mike Tugwell tearing his ACL late in the quarter. Tugwell would have been one of only two returning starters on defense for the Dolphins (Jacob Burks is the other). He hopes to be back for the final few games of the regular season.

Center Kyle Magnes also tore his rotator cuff during the jamboree. He was one of only two returning starters on the offensive line (Scott Mitchell is the other).

The Panthers scored on its first two possessions against Gulf Breeze - one on a seven-yard run, the other on a nine-yard pass.

Schnackenberg was 11-for-16 passing for 60 yards, completing his first seven passes and throwing to five different receivers. Franklin caught five for 26 yards, while Cody Warford caught two for 16 yards.

Zach Permenter and Shane Dorlag had multiple stops for the Dolphins.

Friday's Blue and White game featured only a smattering of varsity players, with the younger guys getting most of the playing time.

The White team was offensive players, while the Blue team was the defense. The Blue team scored one point when they forced a turnover on downs and three points for a takeaway.

The Blue team went up 1-0 on the opening series when Grant Harris stopped Stephen Schmitz after a short catch from Garrett Carr. The Blue team made it 4-0 two plays later when Casey Moore picked off a Carr pass.

Lively played the next series at quarterback for the White team, completing a 27-yard pass to Alex Gonzales. But four plays later, the White team turned it over on downs, making it 5-0.

On a fourth and two play, Parsons recovered one of his two fumbles to make it 8-0 Blue with 3:07 left in the first quarter. Quarters were 10 minutes long, compared to the normal 12.

With Dorsey at quarterback for the next series, Burke hauled in a 37-yard pass on a fourth and 12 play. Harris recorded a sack on the next play before Dorsey found Burke again for 11 yards. But it was short of the first down, making it 9-0 Blue.

Five plays later, White got on the board when Dorsey scored from six yards out. The PATwas no good, making it 9-6 Blue with 41.7 seconds left in the first quarter.

Carr scrambled for 20 yards on the first play of the next series before throwing an 11- yard pass to Cuyler Snyder. But two plays later, Harris picked off a Carr pass two plays later, making it 12-6 Blue.

Carr would quickly redeem himself, throwing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Chris Barretta on the very next play. Thomas Farmer's PAT made it 13-12 White with 5:26 left in the half.

Blue would tie the game at 13 when they forced a punt after Mario Villegas gave Gulf Breeze a first down.

Blue would reclaim the lead when Blake Conner recovered a fumble. Three plays later, Moore fell on a loose ball to make it 19- 13 Blue as the half ended.

Blue made it 20-13 by forcing a 'three and out' to start the second half.

Kale Driscoll made a three yard grab on a fourth and three before Parsons made a fourth down stop, making the score 21-13 Blue.

Another three and out on the next series made it 22-13 Blue before Austin Santiago made a 34- yard field goal to make it 22-16. Villegas scored on a 15-yard run to tie the game at 22 before the extra point gave White a 23-22 win.

The Dolphins are off all this week, with the offensive line and the passing offense getting together for workouts next week. Mandatory workouts start on June 11, with the first day of fall practice starting August 6.

The Dolphins will practice every weekday that week before their situational scrimmage on August 17. The Dolphins will play in a Kickoff Classic August 24 at Crestview before opening the regular season August 31 at Choctaw.