Preps

East Lake 23, Gulf 10

By NATHAN COWAN, Times Correspondent
Published November 10, 2007

Gulf and East Lake showed up Friday night with different agendas. East Lake wanted to win its Homecoming game and prepare for the playoffs while Gulf was focused on getting David Williams the Pasco County single-season rushing record. The Eagles were successful, winning 23-10 in a tight contest.

"With the playoffs next week, it was hard to get our kids up again," Eagles oach Bob Hudson said.

East Lake got on the board first after forcing the Bucs to turn the ball over on downs. Drew Petzoldt nailed a 33-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead. The big play on the drive was a 44-yard catch by Richie Bailey.

After stopping the Bucs on downs again, East Lake was forced to punt and pinned Gulf at its own 5.

Two plays later, Williams broke a 92-yard run for a touchdown, and Courtney Cohen's PAT made the score 7-3.

"Coach Fulmer told me I had to hit the holes," said Williams, who finished with 183 yards. "I looked for the back pylon and ran to it."

The lead was short-lived, as East Lake pounded the Gulf defense with an 11-play drive that ended with Blake Robles finding Brian Lesniak for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Petzoldt's PAT put the Eagles up 10-7 at halftime.

The Bucs came out of the half and forced a quick three-and-out. They then had a 12-play drive of their own and tied the game at 10 when Cohen made a 28-yard field goal.

The Eagles wasted no time going back on top as T.J. Herman returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a score.

"That kind of took the wind out of them," Hudson said.

The Eagle defense, which allowed only 25 more yards rushing after halftime, stood up to the task the rest of the game and didn't allow Williams and his teammates any more opportunities to score. The closest the Bucs got was a 52-yard kick return by Williams, but the Eagles intercepted Gulf to end the threat.

East Lake added a late 15-yard touchdown run by Erin Murray to finish the Bucs' season.

"Our team has nothing to be ashamed of," Gulf coach Jay Fulmer said. "That team made more plays than we did. Our defense is young, and I'm proud that they stood up to a 5A playoff team."

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 23:54:13]