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Prep football: Gulf Coast comes to life in second half to top Belen Jesuit
GULF COAST 19, BELEN JESUIT 15
Gulf Coast 0 0 19 0—19
Miami Belen 0 15 0 0—15
SCORING
MB — Sosa 2 run (Aguila run)
MB — Fernandez-Soto 7 run (Sroka kick)
GC — Smith 6 pass from Schmidt (Goulding kick)
GC — Biada 19 interception return (pass failed)
GC — Cuccuini fumble recovery in end zone (pass failed)
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MIAMI — When Frank Tudryn addressed his team at halftime, they looked worn down. On a typical hot, steamy afternoon in South Florida, the Gulf Coast coach knew he needed to find a way get his players excited again.
He told the Sharks to forget that it was the first game of the season. He told them to turn the second half into a defining moment. He told them to provide the effort and sacrifice necessary to get the offense going and rally from a 15-point deficit.
His players responded.
The Sharks forced three third-quarter turnovers that led to three touchdowns in Gulf Coast’s 19-15 victory Saturday at Miami Belen Jesuit.
“We had some good hits in there,” Tudryn said. “They came out there and they laid the wood to them.”
Nothing went right in the first half. The offense couldn’t move the ball and the Sharks’ two biggest plays came on penalties — two on a single play prevented a Wolverines touchdown. Gulf Coast picked up just two first downs in the opening half and committed five penalties on one drive that helped Miami Belen down the field for its second score late in the second quarter.
“We were having a bad day,” Tudryn said.
But while the defense committed too many penalties, Tudryn was happy with play of that group, and it was the tenacity of those players that turned the course of the game.
On the second play of the second half, Gulf Coast linebacker Stephen Ritter forced a fumble that gave the Sharks the ball deep in Wolverines territory. It didn’t take long for quarterback Jeff Schmidt to find Korenzo Smith, hitting him in stride on a slant route in the end zone.
All of a sudden, the team that looked so defeated at halftime found some life.
“We were real tired as a team in the first half,” senior linebacker Matt Milk said. “We got some good words from our head coach and our defensive coach and it really pumped us up and made us want to get at it.”
Later in the quarter, Brian Biada stepped in front of a pass and returned the interception 19 yards for a touchdown.
“It was like a dream,” Biada said. “It was amazing.”
Less than a minute later, Geoff Cuccuini fell on fumble in the end zone and the Sharks took a lead they never relinquished.
“Motivation is a huge thing in this game and that’s what we thrived off of,” Biada said.
With time winding down and Miami Belen trying to muster the energy for one final drive, Bo Logan intercepted a pass that allowed Gulf Coast to run out the clock.
It’s only the first game of the season, but it proved to be defining moment. It certainly set the kind of tone Tudryn was looking for.
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