At Tarpon Springs
Score: Northeast 33, Tarpon Springs 25
Spring game-breakers: A possible broken ankle suffered by rising senior Donnie Crum with 5:02 left in the contest brought a premature end to a sloppy (four total turnovers, 25 penalties) game. Crum, who earlier had a 9-yard TD catch from Keon Gulley and a 96-yard kickoff return to the house, made his seventh catch of the night before getting injured on an awkward sideline tackle. An ambulance was on the scene and, along with the training staffs from both schools, started administering treatment within minutes of the injury. … Gulley, a rising sophomore, showed strong knowledge of the Vikings' hurry-up offense, hitting on 13-of-22 passes for 255 yards and three TDs, two to rising junior Bryce Green. … Rising senior Keith Jackson also tacked on a TD kickoff return for Northeast, his going for 89 yards. … Tarpon Springs' offense struggled in the early going but found its footing behind the assured running of Dearrian Wright, who finished with an even 100 yards and three TDs on 15 carries — 61 yards coming in the second half. … Fullback Steve Balionis added the Spongers' other touchdown on a 2-yard, fourth-quarter dive.
Did you know? Gulley and Green were teammates on the Vikings' JV squad last season, connecting for 15 touchdowns. Green finished with 92 receiving yards while Crum had 98 in the victory.
Audible I: "My footwork's out of hand right now. I've got to get back on the ladder, get my three-step down." — Gulley on what he has to work on this summer
Audible II: "Our philosophy is to make sure our kids become better people. Once we build boys into men, then we'll be a success." — Tarpon Springs coach George Kotis
Audible III: "After having what happened with Leshawn (Williams, who lost a leg to injury two years ago), when I see a kid get injured, my heart drops into my stomach. But to see an ambulance here, to see the Tarpon training staff and our training staff act as quickly as they did, you couldn't ask for a more professional group. If that ambulance wasn't here, we might still be waiting." — Northeast coach Jeremy Frioud