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Backs Burr, Burbridge Boost Bucs

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By RICK HARMON

Tribune correspondent

Published: September 3, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Gulf High may have one of the most experienced offensive backfields in the county.

Junior Madison Burr returns as the Buccaneers starting quarterback and junior Will Burbridge at fullback.

But Coach Jay Fulmer has to replace the 2,092 yards and 27 touchdowns recorded by David Williams.

Burr started as a sophomore and completed 56 of 111 passes for 809 yards and 8 touchdowns. He also rushed for 215 yards on 64 carries but the majority of his time was spent handing the ball to Williams.

"We just have to be more confident in Madison Burr and let him run the show," Fulmer said. "He'll probably call a lot of his own offense this year. He has a good grasp on what we want."

Fulmer has the confidence in Burr, so much that he's turned the offense over to offensive coordinator Brian Wright and Fulmer is focusing more on the defense.

"It's a bonus when you have a coach like Burr on the field," Fulmer said. "There's no doubt in my mind he could take the offense and run it. We have about 160 plays in our offense and he knows each one of them and all the hand signals that go with them."

Burr and the rest of the Bucs received a surprise when Adrian Golden showed up at the first day of practice after moving into Gulf's district from Ridgewood. Golden was Byronell Arline's backup last year and rushed for 258 yards on 37 carries.

"Having Golden takes a lot of stress off because you can run and pass the ball," Burr said. "He's a good receiver, too. He should help the receivers. They may try to double-team him and leave someone else open."

Golden will be Burbridge (6-2, 225) in the backfield. Fulmer thinks Burbridge may be more suited as a tight end at the next level.

"He's just a big, strong strapping kid. Typical blue-collar kid," Fulmer said. "He'll punch it up there from the fullback spot. He runs great routes. He can play tight end. He can play defense. He can play in the secondary. He can play linebacker. He's a real strong utility kid. You wish you had a whole team of Will Burbridges. You can put him anywhere and he's going to shine."

Burbridge, also a linebacker, was more concerned about the defense.

"I think we're going to work more as a team on defense," Burbridge said. "We have a lot of work to do on defense and we've had good teamwork this summer. I think we're going to be much better on defense this year."

Fulmer agrees with Burbridge's assessment of the defense. "We've got to improve on defense," Fulmer said. "We gave up way too many points. We gave up easy runs and easy passes which led to easy first downs and easy touchdowns. We gave up way too many big plays last year. We have to be more consistent on defense."

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