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Gulf's Season Golden

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2008

On Aug. 10, Adrian Golden had a decision to make. He, along with his grandmother, had moved. His choice was to stay at Ridgewood, where he had participated in 7-on-7 competition during the summer, or transfer to Gulf, where his cousin Leon Orr played.

Buccaneers coach Jay Fulmer says he knew nothing about Golden when Orr called him to say Golden had decided to go to Gulf.

"I knew he was Byronell Arline's backup last year," Fulmer said during preseason interviews. "When he showed up the first day, I could tell he had some talent. He looked like a football player when we put pads on."

Five weeks into the season, that may be the biggest understatement of the year. Golden set a county rushing record as he became the first to run for more than 400 yards as he recorded 432 yards on 34 carries as the Bucs defeated city-rival Ridgewood 52-28 before a packed house at Rams Booster Stadium on Oct. 3.

Golden also has scored 11 touchdowns in his last two games, including six against the Rams (2-2). He has 18 total TDs in five games.

The game was billed as the battle of the two best running backs in the county and the crowd was not disappointed. Ridgewood's Sterling Ross, who was tied with Golden with 664 yards coming into the game, finished the night with 310 yards on 31 carries and scored four times. His TDs came on runs of 10, 20, 37 and 23 yards.

"We did everything we could possibly do against Golden," Ridgewood coach Chris Taylor said. "We just couldn't stop him."

Gulf went on to complete the first two months of the season undefeated (8-0) before suffering a 1-point loss to Pasco on Nov. 7.

CONVERSION DOOMS PASCO

In most circles, what Nature Coast did late in the Oct. 3 football game would be called gutsy.

Sharks coach Jamie Joyner called it a statement.

With 4:01 left in the contest, Nature Coast running back Tevin Drake scored a touchdown and the extra point would have tied the game, but Joyner wanted the win, calling for the successful 2-point conversion run by Drake.

That call propelled the Sharks to an 18-17 victory against Pasco at W.F. Edwards Stadium - the only regular-season loss for the Pirates, who advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals.

"It was a good call," Pasco coach Tom McHugh said of the 2-point conversion. "He was either going to win it or lose it. You gotta like that. He was playing to win."

RIVER RIDGE, HUDSON WIN

River Ridge and Hudson advanced to the FHSAA region volleyball tournaments by winning district titles.

River Ridge claimed its 12th district title with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 Class 5A-District 7 victory against Ridgewood, while Hudson got nine kills each from Cara Carley and Hallie Bislick to defeat Nature Coast 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 after losing twice to the Sharks during the regular season.

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