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Dolphins 0-for-no more
Several times during the playing of the alma mater, players and cheerleaders bellowed out 'Gulf Breeze High!' at the wrong time - several times. You'll have to excuse the Dolphin football team - they hadn't had a chance to sing the song. That is, until last week. The Dolphins converted three Catholic Crusader turnovers into 19 first half points on their way to a 26-16 win Friday, their first of the season after an 0-4 start. "We made two big plays on defense and we capitalized on offense," coach Chris Nemith said. The win was the Dolphins' fifth in a row over their long time rivals and their second time in as many years Gulf Breeze has picked up its first win of the season against the Crusaders. Gulf Breeze won a 30-24, triple overtime thriller over Catholic last year at Dolphin Stadium.
Friday, he was 19-for-29 passing for 145 yards and a touchdown, but only had 44 yards rushing, 31 of those yards coming on two second half runs. The offense did its part as well, holding the ball for 25 and a half of the final 36 minutes of the game. "He's an incredible quarterback," Nemith said of Kooi. "He does a good job in that system...sometimes he made some plays and sometimes, we did." The Dolphins made one of those plays less than three minutes into the game. On third and eight, Kooi dropped back for a screen pass. Jeff White picked the pass off - his third this week. He returned it to the Crusader 14 and after a block in the back and personal foul against the Crusaders (that resulted in an ejection) put the ball at the four-yard line.
After the kickoff, Gulf Breeze's Houston Chapman forced a Catholic fumble that was recovered by teammate Jacob Burks. Five plays later, Hurd scored from three yards out. The key play of the drive was a 13-yard pass from Kyle Schnackenberg to Dane Baker on a third and seven play. Austin Santiago's extra point was blocked, making it 12-0 with 6:11 with the first quarter. Schnackenberg completed seven of his first eight passes and finished the game going 8- for-12 for 87 yards. Hurd finished with a career-high 178 yards on 29 carries. Catholic went three and out on their next series after Chapman batted down a Kooi pass on third down.
After a block in the back and a personal foul call against the Dolphins put the ball on the GBHS 24-yard line. Three plays later, Catholic's Matt Riley scored from 14 yards out. The extra point made it 12-7 with 15.5 seconds left in the first quarter. Gulf Breeze then went on a 14-play, 74 yard drive that ate up almost six minutes of clock. Franklin capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Farmer's extra point made it 19- 7 with 6:23 left in the first half. The key play in the drive was Schnackenberg's 13-yard pass to Cody Warford on third and 13. The drive almost didn't happen as Schnackenberg fumbled the ball on an 11-yard scramble, but the ball bounced out of bounds. Four plays after the kickoff, Chapman forced, then recovered a Catholic fumble. Seven plays and 59 yards later, Schnackenberg scored from nine yards out. Farmer's extra point made it 26-7 with 1:07 left in the first half. The key play in the drive was Schnackenberg's 25-yard pass to Philip Hoffman on third and five. Gulf Breeze led 26-7 at the half.
The Dolphins got a 13-yard run by Hurd and an 11-yard catch from Warford on the ensuing drive, but would turn it over on downs at the Catholic 26. The two teams traded punts before Catholic's Diego Figueroa made a 33-yard field goal with 2:22 left in the third quarter, making the score 26-10. A Jimmy Beyers sack on Kooi on third down forced the Crusaders to settle for the field goal. Catholic's second touchdown, like their first, came off a Dolphin turnover. Catholic converted a pair of third downs - the second one on a penalty - before Kooi found Garrison Lipscomb on a four-yard touchdown pass. The try for two was no good, making it 26-16 with 10:03 left in the game. The Dolphins picked up a first down before punting back to Catholic. The Crusaders drove to the Dolphin 22 before missing on a 39-yard field goal attempt. Gulf Breeze got the ball back and went on a 16-play drive that ate all but 18.6 seconds of the clock. The 54-yard drive that ate up 5:50 of clock, included a pair of third down conversion runs by Hurd before Schnackenberg was sacked on fourth and nine.
Gettin r done - The Dolphins' biggest Achilles Heel in their four losses was their inability to stop the opposition on third down. On Friday, it was the Dolphins doing all the converting, going 7-for-11 on third down. Grinding it out - Gulf Breeze ran the ball 56 times on the Crusaders for 268 yards, a 4.7 per carry average. Catholic was held to only 73 yards on 17 carries. I Am Ironman - Like the Black Sabbath classic, Gulf Breeze had three lineman - Eric Agricola, Chaz Logan and Andrew Quadrini - that played eight quarters of football this week. The trio played all four quarters in the weatherd elayed game at Fort Walton Monday. "Those three did a helluva job," Nemith said. Next up - The Dolphins host winless West Florida for Logan Homecoming Friday. The Jaguars have lost 25 straight games, but have averaged almost 21 points a game this season. "They're a dangerous team," Nemith said. "They're going to beat someone this year - we have to make sure it's not us. Our kids have the resolution to make sure that doesn't happen." |
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