HISTORY OF GULF HIGH SCHOOL

Football History

QUICK FACTS

1930-31

The obituary of George William Corwin Littell ('31) says he was on Gulf's first football team. The obituary of Melvin Clay Knowles Sr. ('31) says that he "captained the school's first football team."

On Oct. 3, 1930, the New Port Richey Press quoted Prof. St. Clair as saying the Gulf football team would play Bushnell here on Oct. 31 and would play St. Leo on Nov. 7, and would probably play Brooksville on Thanksgiving day.

On Oct. 16, the newspaper reported the team would play Webster at home at 3 o'clock on Friday. The team had recently lost to Largo High School.

On Oct. 24, 1930, in a story titled "Football Will Be Played Here Tomorrow P. M.," the New Port Richey Press reported that Sacred Heart Reserves of Tampa would play Gulf Saturday at 3 o'clock. It reported that last Friday Gulf lost to Hillsborough High School 26-6. Another article reported that Gulf would play Bushnell at home on Oct. 31 and St. Leo on Nov. 7 and might play Brooksville on Thanksgiving Day.

On Nov. 7, 1930, the New Port Richey Press reported that "Gulf high school football players are elated over the fine invitation accorded them by Tampa Legion Florida Alumni to be that organization's guests at the great football game on November 11 between Clemson-Florida freshmen at Tampa."

A 1957 newspaper photo has this caption: "The stalwart youths pictured above comprised the Buccaneer squad of 1930, the first team to represent Gulf high school on the gridiron. According to Bill Weiskopf, a member of the squad, the Bucs enjoyed a fairly successful season, with virtually every boy in high school competing for a position on the team. They are left to right, front row: "Carp" Carpenter, Charles DeWoodie, F. Dean, O. A. Bragg, Henry Falany, James Grey, Victor Moore, Luchen Roy, B. Dean, Bill Fisher, "Preacher" Mitchell. Back row: J. H. St. Clair, athletic director for whom St. Clair field was named, Cecil Henderson, William Weiskopf, Francis Luikart, Gordon Fullington, Raymond Nikkari, George Marks, Melvin Knowles, Bud Clark, Corwin Littell, Frank Kauffman, Fred Kolb, James Vickers, Robert Foskett, Buck Kelly, J. H. Kely principal."

1931-32

On Nov. 6, 1931, the Dade City Banner reported that the New Port Richey team will play Pasco High today, the first football game played in Dade City in several years.

1932-33

Information unavailable. The New Port Richey Press newspapers of 1932 and 1933 are apparently lost.

1933-34

Information unavailable. The New Port Richey Press newspapers of 1932 and 1933 are apparently lost.

1934-35

No football.

On Oct. 26, 1934, the New Port Richey Press reported, "Formation of an athletic association at Gulf High School was announced Saturday by the new athletic director, Jack Sutor. No football will be played in the school this year, but active preparations are going forward looking to a good season in other lines of sport."

1935-36

No football.

1936-37

No football.

1937-38

No football.

1938-39

On Apr. 29, 1938, the New Port Richey Press reported: "Football will be a part of the athletic program for next fall in Gulf high school, it is announced by Coach Stevens. The school has not had a team in some five years. Initial practices are now being held with about 30 players from which to select a team. Ten games are already arranged for, starting in September. The support of patrons and people of the town are asked in making this new start in football successful."

On Sept. 23, 1938, Gulf lost to Tampa College 52-0. The win by Tampa College broke its losing streak that extended back into the 1936 season. Halfback Napoleon Falany did most of the ball carrying for the Bucs. Tampa College gained 391 yards from scrimmage, compared to 12 for Gulf. The referee refused to allow Walter Frierson, age 11, Gulf's 79-pound halfback, to play in the game, saying he was too small for high school football. He had played in last week's game.

On Sept. 30, Gulf lost to Bushnell, 68-0. This is the greatest margin in a Gulf loss that we know of, although it is possible that greater margins occurred during the 1938-39 season.

On Oct. 14, Gulf lost to Brooksville, 47-0.

On Nov. 4, 1938, Gulf lost to St. Leo college, 44-0. It was the eighth straight scoreless loss. The Tampa Morning Tribune reported the following day that Gulf was the "losingest" team in the country, having been outscored 442-0 thus far in the season. Wally Frierson, at 79 pounds, played for about ten minutes in the second half.

On Nov. 7, 1938, the Associated Press distributed this short article nationally:

New Port Richey, Fla., Nov. 7. AP—Maybe this is a football coach's Utopia. Anyway, Coach Paul Stephens' Gulf High team has lost eight straight games, had 443 points scored against it, and scored none, yet no one is complaining and the townsfolk are all for the club. But there's a catch. It's the first year Gulf High has had a team. So look out next season, Paul.

On Nov. 17, 1938. Gulf won its first game of the season, 14-6, defeating the Clearwater reserves. Clark and Falany scored the two touchdowns. At this point in the season, Gulf had scored 14 points to 457 compared to their opponents.

On Nov. 25, 1938, the New Port Richey Press reported, "On Wednesday night of this week, the locals held the fast Inverness down well, being beaten by 25 to 13. Clark and Falany were again the scorers for New Port Richey."

Other scores from this season have not been found. The Tampa Morning Tribune praised the team for its sportsmanship and praised the fans in New Port Richey for supporting the team. The article (reproduced elsewhere on this page) pointed out that none of the members of the team had ever played football and nine of the 21 players had never seen a football game before the season began.

1939-40

On Oct. 20, 1939, the New Port Richey Press reported that Gulf High School will play football against the St. Paul school of St. Petersburg at 4:15 today at home. It reported that the last home game, against Brooksville, drew a crowd of over 500 persons.

The 1940 yearbook listed the football team as: Charles Frierson, Hilton Williams, Harmon Stevenson, William Willis, Duane Hope, Walley Frierson, Ronnie Sampson (water boy), Johnny DeCubellis, Charles Fisher, Manley Lashua, Joe Littell, Kenneth Hope, Worth Littell, Curtis Falany, Napoleon Falany, Happy Clark, Dick Platt, Albert DeCubellis, Bill Grey, Claude Johnson, David DeCubellis. Coach Oliver Daugherty.

1940-41

On Nov. 15, 1940, the New Port Richey Press reported:

At 8 o'clock Friday, Nov. 8, the opening kick-off resounded marking the annual New Port Richey-Clearwater Football game which led to a Clearwater defeat of 31-0 by the sturdy (?) Buccaneers of New Port Richey.

To show the improvement the boys have made since they started football, Clearwater is a good example: the first year the Tornadoes beat the Bucs 60-0, the next year 25-19; but this year nothing is stopping those hard-running, hard blocking Buccaneers.

The most sensational play of this game and of the season thus far was Worth Littell's 99 yard touchdown. This was undoubtedly one of the few perfect plays in football, not one man laid a hand on Littell in his jaunt, so good was the interference. Harmon Stevenson, Right End, after taking out his man, got up and ran all the way to the goal with Littell. This was not the only time that Stevenson was hard from in this game. When a Clearwater player picked up a fumbled ball and started for the goal, who should come streaking after him but our fleet-footed little end, Stevenson, who caught him on the 10 yard line. A touchdown racked up by Falany on a double-reverse proved to be another perfect play. Falany could have run 200 yards instead of 20 yards so well was this play carried out. New Port Richey is one of the few high schools who use the double-winged back system, there is no other high school team in the state that can run double-reverse better than our own "Bucs." The other touchdowns were made by Clark and Carnegie.

This week the "Bucs" play a breather game with Clearwater on Friday afternoon, before the big game with Bushnell on Nov. 28. This game will decide the Gulf Coast Conference Championship Winners and the "Bucs" await the game anxiously.

On Saturday, Nov. 23 the Buccaneers will engage in a game with an undefeated team from Augusta, Ohio, led by Dean Ford, former New Port Richey coach.

The probable lineup starting for the Clearwater game Friday will be: RE, Stevenson; RT C. Johnson; RG, D. DeCubellis; C, Grey; LG, Willis; LT, J. Littell; LE, M. Johnson; LH, Falany; QB, Platt; RH, Carnegie, or W. Littell; and FB, Clark, who will serve as Captain for the remainder of the season.

On Nov. 22, 1940, the New Port Richey Press reported:

The Gulf High Buccaneers travel to Bushnell to play the last conference game of the season and the only one to be counted as a legitimate game. All of the games this valiant team has won have been taken away from the because of the ineligibility of two players, Clifford Carnegie and Napoleon Falany. The boys were declared ineligible by conference officials due to a misunderstanding and an oversight by school heads in charge of football activities at Gulf high.

Friday night the Buccaneers will play without the able assistance of Falany and Carnegie and they expect to show that the organization is not a two-man team and that they can still win, though they will miss these players.

On Saturday (to-morrow) the Buccaneers will engage in an intersectional game between an undefeated championship team from Augusta, Ohio, under the able supervision of Dean De Ford, formerly of New Port Richey and one-time coach here. He is bringing with him 18 of his best players in hopes to make the mighty Buccaneers walk the plank. It is expected that the Buckeye boys will be here in time to see the locals in action against Bushnell on Friday night.

This is going to be a tough weekend for the "Bucs," playing two games in two consecutive days, but they are in excellent condition and should be able to stand up under the pressure. ...

On Nov. 29, 1940, the New Port Richey Press reported:

Local citizens will pay honor to Gulf High's championship football team on Tuesday night, December 10, when they will be tendered a banquet in the Hacienda hotel.

Though the team lost their chance to acquire the Conference title through the technicality of having two players declared ineligible, the boys are still the champs in the hearts of local people and the banquet will serve in a small way to show the boys that their courage and skill and sportsmanship are appreciated.

The local team won all of the Conference games in which they participated and were outstanding over all the other schools in this area of conference play. But because two of the boys had left just a little early before the close of school last spring, a strict application of a rule marked them off the eligible list. They were apprised of the ruling just before the last conference game. Nothing daunted, they played the last game minus the disputed players and beat one of the toughest teams by 33 to 6. And just to further show they had the goods, they went out the next day and stopped a visiting previously non-beaten Ohio team by 27 to 7. ...

In the Tampa Tribune, Coach Ralph Hood of Crystal River has this comment to make on the recent forfeiture of all conference games by New Port Richey:

"I think the action of the principal and coach at New Port Richey is the finest gesture of sportsmanship I have seen.

"I am sincerely sorry to see them lose the conference championship, but I believe the lesson in sportsmanship and fair play is worth more to the boys than any conference victory.

"We would have much better athletics in Florida if we had more schools like New Port Richey."

1941-42

The team had a 9-1 record, keeping the opponent scoreless in six games, and won the Gulf Coast Conference. Members of the team were Dave Luikart, Bryce Bliss, Jim Butler, Sam Baillie, Harland Kingsley, Manley Lashua, David and John DeCubellis, Harmon Stevenson, Claude Johnson, Sebert Parker, Don Uzzle, Duane Hope, Bobb Emmons, Worth and Joe Littell, Frank Morgan, William Willis and David Clark. Oliver Daugherty was head coach, and Frank Madden was team manager.

In 2006 Harland Kingsley ('45) recalled that the team lost only three games in three years.

In a 1997 newspaper article, David Luikart Sr., the right end, recalled, "We had an excellent team. We beat a lot of people we weren't supposed to. I remember we beat a hot-shot team from St. Pete called St. Paul. They had a 240-pound guy in the backfield and we beat them, 19-6." The newspaper article also stated that Gulf also beat St. Leo (29-6), Zephyrhills (46-0), Tarpon Springs (21-0) and Wildwood (7-0). Its lone loss was at Brooksville, 7-2.]

In December 1941, many newspapers around the U. S. carried the following in a sports column: “What's in a name anyhow? Worth Little, halfback, was voted the most valuable player on the Gulf High team which won the Florida West Coast Conference championship for New Port Richey.” Worth's last name, however, was actually Littell, pronounced with a stress on the second syllable.

One of the all-time football teams of Pasco County was the Bucs of Gulf High School who finished the 1941-42 season with a nine-one record and six games in which opponents were kept scoreless.

The only blemish on the record was a fourth quarter loss to the powerful team from Brooksville-Hernando. In a defensive struggle, the Bucs were leading two to nothing in the final quarter when the Leopards managed to score a touchdown.

Members of the historic team were Dave Luikart, Bryce Bliss, Jim Butler, Sam Baillie, Harland Kingsley, Manley Lashua, David and John DeCubellis, Harmon Stevenson, Claude Johnson, Sebert Parker, Don Uzzle, Duane Hope, Bobb Emmons, Worth and Joe Littell, Frank Morgan, William Willis and David Clark.

Oliver Daugherty was head coach, and Frank Madden was team manager.

Representing a school of only two hundred fifty students in grades seven through twelve, the Bucs outscored the opposition two hundred forty-two points to thirty-three. Nine members were named to the Gulf Coast all-conference team.

The Bucs opened the season defeating Wildwood and followed with victories over Bowling Green, Bushnell, St. Leo and St. Paul's of St. Petersburg. Only the latter two managed to score, six points each.

After the Hernando heartbreaker, the Bucs beat Dade City, Florida Military Academy, Tarpon Springs and Zephyrhills, and won the conference title, unseating Tarpon Springs.

The following account appears in the 1942 yearbook:

The Buccaneers opened the season by traveling to Wildwood and trouncing Coach Daugherty's former Alma Mater, 7-0. The Bucs were handicapped by the illness of several members of the team, but came out on top when the final whistle was blown.

The second game took the Bucs way down to Bowling Green where they took a hard fought game, 20-0. The first half found the Buccaneers a little overconfident but they really came back in the second half.

This next game was a home game and to top it off, Coach Daugherty's brother, Bill, was bringing his Golden Gators from Bushnell to try to knock Gulf High out of the win column. They were unsuccessful though, losing by a score of 20-0.

By now the Bucs were pointing toward not being score on, but the St. Leo Lions managed to put the ball over once, although they were beaten, 29-6.

Another game at home found the Buccaneers pitted against a bigger and more experienced team, St. Pauls of St. Petersburg. This game found the Bucs in top form, though, and they whipped the St. Pete boys, Prowinsky and all, 19-6.

By this time, the Buccaneers thought they had victory by the tail and pointed toward an undefeated season. When the Brooksville team was mentioned around Gulf High, all you could hear was, "We'll mow 'em down!" The Gulf High boys are not very good prophets, though, and Brooksville beat them on a lucky pass in the fourth quarter. The score was 7-2.

A different team ran onto the field of the tall lads in red that night of Nov. 11 and plastered the Dade City boys 40-0. Nothing could stop the Bucs that night. They were out to avenge the defeat at the hands of Brooksville.

The Gulf High boys were never going to be over-confident again. This was the boys view, along with the coach's and the fans. The Bucs were surprised though, when F. M. A. (Florida Military Academy) scored on the kickoff by the failure of a Buc player to touch the ball in the end zone. The ruling states that after the ball has traveled 10 yards, it is a free ball, that is anybody's who downs it. Gulf High won 38-14.

Next came the all-important game, the game with Tarpon Springs, the team that won the Gulf Coast Conference last year when the Buccaneers deserved it. All of New Port Richey went to Tarpon to see our boys humble them, 21-0.

To cap the climax, the Bucs let every man that had never scored a touchdown or made a point score when they beat Zephyrhills, a green team, 46-0.

The year of 1941 was a great year as far as football in Gulf High was concerned. They were the winners of the Gulf Coast Conference, received the beautiful Trophy given by the Tampa Morning Tribune, and also placed 9 men on the all-Conference team. The '41 team was a high spirited, fast, and heavy team. Thy were far superior to any of their opponents, as the scores show (except Brooksville). The team was supported wonderfully by New Port Richey fans and the boys surely did appreciate it. Although the boys deserve credit, they feel that they owe all their victories to the fine sportsmanlike leadership of Coach Oliver Daugherty.

1942-43

Team members: George and Emmett Sawyer, Dale and Eddie Swartsel, Frank and Phillip Madden, Sammie, Pete and Eugene Baillie, David and Johnny DeCubellis, James Clark, Jack Mizner, Harland Kingsley, James Butler, William Willis, C. L. Eikel, Frank Morgan, Marvin Burney, Richard Stevenson, Buddy Cassels, Cecil Raymond, Bob Emmons, Buddy Locke, Jeffy Frayne, E. H. Anderson. James Frederick Clark (1926-2001) recalls, "Because of gas rationing, football was the only sport at Gulf High during my senior year (1942-43)."

1943-44

The team lost the first two games 41-0 and 19-0, and then played Dade City, St. Leo, Bushnell, Largo, Brooksville, Largo, and Tarpon Springs.

Team members were Eddie Swartsel, Jeffie Frayne, W. D. Frierson, Richard Stevenson, Henry Watts, Nevin Roush, Ingemar Ahnell, Eugene Baillie, Cecil Raymond, George Sawyer, Marvin Burney, Glenn Lioke, Kenneth Cassels, Dale Swartsel, James Butler, Lester Whittenhall, Pete Baillie, Bobbie Hoffman, Waymond Richardson, Johnnie DeCubellis, Dan Zuber, Frank Morgan, and Harland Kingsley.

1944-45

On Dec. 8, 1944, the New Port Richey Press reported:

The local gridiron supporters of the Buccaneers were over-joyed when the Bucs defeated Tarpon Springs last week in Tarpon Springs, 6-0; but the Bucs surprised most patrons by also winning the West Coast Football Title which is determined under the Dickinson system. By winning the title, the Bucs also won the Tribune Trophy which has been donated each year. The Bucs nosed out Wildwood High's gridders for the title on the final check of ratings set up under the Dickinson system.

Gulf High defeated two first division clubs and lost a game to Bushnell, another first division club, but the Bucs defeated all their second division clubs. Wildwood, on the other hand, defeated two first division clubs, won over three second division teams and tied another.

The final tabulations showed that the Gulf Hi Bucs had a rating of 23.5 to Wildwood's 22.6. Bushnell finished third with an average of 21.2. ...

1945-46

Another article indicates Gulf defeated Inverness 6-0.

The 1946 yearbook reported the team won half of their ten games and finished third in the West Coast Conference. It reported the team held Tarpon Springs to a scoreless tie and defeated Brooksville. Players listed were: W. D. Frierson, Eddie Swartsel, Marvin Burney, Lavon Harper, Clarence Moody, Bill Leazer, Marvin Loechelt, Joseph Weiskopf, Robert Jackson, Oscar Pedrazas, Richard Dugger, Kendall Larch, Sam Withrowe, Robert Hoffman, Dan Zuber, Robert Froberg, Archie Boyd, John Phillips, James Loechelt, Walter Fraddosio, Nevin Roush, Glen Locke.

1946-47

On Sept. 20, 1946, the football field was formally dedicated under the new floodlights and named James H. St. Clair Memorial Field. The first football game was played under the lights, vs Our Lady of Perpetual Help of Tampa.

On Nov. 22, 1946, the New Port Richey Press reported, "Members of the local team had a busy day last Friday. In the afternoon the boys joined the local fire department in combatting grass and brush fires that threatened property on the north east side of town, and this effort kept them busy for hours. Then they changed into their football togs and tackled the hard-to-beat Dade City team." The 1947 yearbook shows: Danon Brantley, Frank Williamson, Jimmy Lochelt, Bill Hicks, Reco Gause, Marvin Lochelt, Rupert Bethel, John Butler, James Eberwine, Wallace Williamson, Berry Alexander, Jim Drinkard, Fred Sawyer, Bobby Jackson, Dan Zuber, Byrum Cooper, W. D. Frierson, Oscar Pedrazas, Richard Duggar, Nevin Roush, Sam Withrowe, Johnny Carey, Henry Sawyer, Dale Bliss, Sam Anderson, Ronald Cooper, Gene Hicks, Walter Fraddosio, Jerry DeCubellis.

1947-48

1948-49

1949-50

The team defeated Largo 39-0 with "Wimpy" Lagano running the initial kick-off 80 yards to a touchdown.

1950-51

A Sept. 29, 1950, newspaper article reports the team has been plagued by injuries and suffered their worst blow when LeRoy Hunt, stellar end, was injured in the Crystal River game. It reports tickets for the Tarpon Springs game tonight are on sale at Roscoe's drug store, Rodger's barber shop, and at the school. The probable starting lineup for tonight's game: Johnny Carey, QB; Arthur Moody, RH; Joe Mason, LH; Lafayette Sullivan, FB; Victor Schuck. LE; Lee Kersey, LT; Jimmy McIntyre, LG; Dixie Hendricks, C; Ray Roush, RG; George Filar, RT; Jack Cone, RE.

1951-52

1952-53

1953-54

The team was inexperienced. Of the 19 boys on the squad, 12 were newcomers to the game. On the first team, six boys had one year's experience and the other five were out for football for the first time.

The team consisted of Kenneth Bragg, Bill Thompson, Joe Gauthier, Lawrence Dickey, Bob Krejci, Bill Stephens, Thomas Dickey, Jim Williams, Andre Gauthier, Clyde Sullivan, Larry Krejci, Ronald Nessler, Lee Krejci, Bill West, Eryman Smith, Wilmer Burney, Paul Butler, Dirk Wiersma, Jerome Radike, Hinton Ransom, Ed McMickel, Ken Thompson, Tom Scott.

1954-55

Head Coach: Al Lagano. The starting line-up for the homecoming game was Richard Sawyer, LE; John Sawyer, LT; Clyde Sullivan, LG; Paul Butler, C; Andre Gauthier, RG; Ron Nessler or Jerome Radike, RT; Jim Lanning, RE; Ken Hope, QB; Ken Janishek, LH; Lorie Goodman, RH; Marvin Pittman or Joe Gauthier, FB.

1955-56

The three known scores are all losses: to Punta Gorda, 20-7; to Bushnell, 26-0; and to Zephyrhills, 26-0.

On Nov. 10, 1955, the New Port Richey Press reported that the winless Bucs would travel to Venice tomorrow.

1956-57

1957-58

1958-59

1959-60

1960-61

1961-62

1962-63

1963-64

On Oct. 31, 1963, the New Port Richey Press reported that Gulf defeated Brewster 58-0. Johnny Short scored touchdowns three times, Jim Dreher twice, and Frank Robson, Les Snyder, Don Meyers, and Kermit Dunn each scored once.

1964-65

1965-66

1966-67

On Nov. 4, 1966, Gulf lost to Mulberry 71-13, according to a 2001 article in the St. Petersburg Times.

1967-68

1968-69

1969-70

A 1970 New Port Richey Press article reported that Mike Voorhees, who was an All-Sunshine Conference linebacker, signed a two-year football scholarship to Coffeyville Junior College in Kansas. It was the only football scholarship given to a Gulf player in two years. The article quoted defensive Coach Paul Lombardo as saying that Voorhees had been transferred to the linebacker position and in the last four games had made 46 tackles and 38 assists.

1970-71

Quarterback Dennis Smith set a record by scoring four touchdowns against St. Petersburg Admiral Farget. Gulf won the game, 54-0.

In the 1970-71 season RB Arthur Jones averaged 6 yards a carry

JV coaches were Charley McBride, head coach, Alvin Davis assistant.

1971-72

David Drake recalls: "In the 71-72 season we only won one game. We only had 16 guys on the team. Most of us played both ways. We were in the Sunshine Conference, which consisted of Hernando, Zephyrhills, Tampa Catholic, Tampa Jesuit, Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg Bishop Barry, Clearwater Catholic. That year the only game we won was with East Bay Riverview. We beat them 27-20. Arthur Jones set a school record for the longest run from scrimmage with a run of 87 yards. With such a lousy season Ron "Lizard" Lilland was named all conference at Center, Gordon Wesley (Offensive Guard) and me David Drake (Offensive Tackle) were named honorable mention all conference. Lenny Ponte (Fullback) was named all district."

The team lost to Zephyrhills 37-0, Palmetto 26-7, Crystal River 24-6, Bishop Barry 28-0, Tarpon Springs 36-0, Tampa Jesuit 53-6, Tampa Catholic 48-0, Hernando 48-19, and Ocala Vanguard 24-0.

1972-73

The season opened with a win against Zephyrhills, 28-0. The 50th anniversary of Gulf High School was observed at that game, and old timers from the first graduating class were recognized. The seniors in the yearbook who played in the 50th anniversary game were as follows: Frank Grey (QB, Captain), Jim Harris (Safety), Arthur Jones (Halfback), John Stratford (Guard), Eric Henrickson (Tackle), Jim Asbel (Linebacker), John Tucker (Running Back), Richard Penn (Defensive Back), Bill Stratford (Guard), Keith Naperkowski (Guard), Wayne Harper (Guard), Keith Aston (Linebacker), Jim Goodchild (Fullback), Ron Lilland (Guard), John Collins (Safety), David Drake (Tackle, Captain), Mike Blair (End), Bill Drake (Tackle).

1973-74

1974-75

1975-76

1976-77

The team had a 6-4 record, defeating Crystal River 13-7, Land o'Lakes 19-13, Dixie Hollins 34-22, Zephyrhills 24-15, Pinellas Park 34-0, and Citrus 20-0. The team lost to Pasco 34-0, Tarpon Springs 21-13, Hernando 9-0, and Hudson 14-0. In the Tangerine Bowl, Gulf lost to North Marion 19-7.

1977-78

1978-79

1979-80

1980-81

1981-82

1982-83

1983-84

1984-85

1985-86

1986-87

1987-88

1988-89

Offensive lineman Jim Watson was named the Times Player of the Year. The After a 1-4 start, Gulf finished with six wins and four losses.

1989-90

1990-91

1991-92

The team finished 5-1 (or 6-1) in the new Sunshine Athletic Conference and 6-4 overall.

1992-93

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

A notable win by the Bucs occurred on Sept. 26, 1997, when Gulf defeated Tarpon Springs 10-8 on a muddy field at Des Little Stadium. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Gulf "stunned" its home crowd and the Tampa Tribune called it a "stunning" upset. Gulf coach Keith Newton called it "the win of the century." Gulf had lost 19 of the previous 20 games against Tarpon Springs, and had been outscored by the Spongers 227-26 in the previous eight games. The win occurred because of a dramatic fourth-quarter safety, courtesy of a Jason McCue sack of Spongers star running back Atif Austin.

1998-99

1999-00

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

2005-06

On Sept. 9, 2005, Gulf defeated Citrus High School 68-40. It was apparently the largest number of points scored by a Gulf team in school history. Gulf scored 46 points in the first half.

Gulf lost to Trinity Catholic without quarterback Alton Voss, 66-0.

2006-07

On Oct. 27, 2006, Gulf clinched its first-ever berth in the state playoff system by defeating Hudson, 41-6. One score came on a 79-yard pass from Alton Voss to Shawn Williamson. Gulf led 41-0 at the half and used backup players in the second half, which had a running clock.

On Nov. 10, 2006, Gulf lost to Bishop Moore High School of Orlando, 24-7, in the opening round of the Class 3A Region 2 playoffs. The loss brought the team's record to 6-5.

2007-2008

On Sept. 7, 2007, running back David Williams rushed for 305 yards and four touchdowns to lead the team to a 42-26 win over River Ridge. On Oct. 26 he broke the unofficial Pasco County single-season rushing record.

On Oct. 5, 2007, Gulf defeated Sunlake 66-20. Coach Jay Fulmer used all of the players on the team in the latter part of the game.

St. Petersburg Times All-Time Best List (1999)

• 22. Chuck Pitcock, OL/DL, '75 Tulane tackle a fixture on USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits.
• 24. Jim Watson, OL, '88 First team 4A All-State pick went on to play in Gainesville.
• 31. Bobby Highhouse, LB, '85 D-I couldn't compete with medical school for 4A All-State LB.
• 54. Gary Laging, RB/DB, '86 Cowboys drafted this Carson-Newman NAIA national title veteran.
• 57. Mike Bobek, LB, '79 All-GCAC pick played for national champ at Eastern Kentucky.
• 62. Chad Filimon, RB, '89 Hard-running Times All-NS first team RB in '88; 1,600 yds total.
• 65. Donnie Webb, QB, '60 Scored two-thirds of Bucs points; 7 on ground, 8 by air, 5 XPs.
• 75. Shawn Crane, LB, '76 Led county in tackles in '75; two-time All-GCAC pick.
• 80. Brian Fisher, OL, '88 Times All-Pasco, All-NS pick key part of 2,000-yd rushing season.
• 83. Claude Johnson, OL, '43 All-GCC pick opened holes for Bucs' best team ever, 9-1 in '41.
• 98. Harold Martin, RB, '88 Rushed for 1,058 yards as a junior; booted off team senior year.

He Quarterbacked Gulf's First Team

By SUSANNA SOMMERER

NEW PORT RICHEY - Football 1930 style.

Quarterbacks 5-6 and 127 pounds. Leather helmets with players having the option to wear no head protection at all. College players being shuffled into high school games.

James Grey, a 1934 graduate of Gulf High, remembers all this and more in recalling his football days of the early '30s,

Grey was on the very first Gulf football team in 1930, a team that won one game. He played quarterback, despite his slight 5-6 build. The team had no regular coach. A Tarpon Springs baker, Bill Machachas, volunteered to coach the team that first year. Dean Deford later took over the team.

Since the team began during the money scarce years of the depression, the Buc players had second-hand uniforms. Shoes that didn't always match or fit, and used equipment purchased from Clearwater High.

"Most of us were playing in the first game we'd ever watched," said Grey, of the team's first game that year. "There were only 15 of us on the team so we all went both ways.

"We had shoulder pads and thigh pads but you didn't have to wear a helmet if you didn't want to. Most of the time I didn't because it got in my way."

That's hard to imagine in these times. But Grey said there were few injuries during those days.

His job of running the team was made even more difficult because quarterbacks couldn't throw two incomplete passes in a row. The team had to use a running play after throwing an incomplete pass.

If a team was losing? No problem. Change jerseys around and insert some of the local college kids who might be home visiting.

Grey said that Largo and Saint Leo (then a high school) did that and came from behind in the second half to beat Gulf.

The Bucs played Clearwater, Hillsborough, Dunnellon, Hernando, Tarpon Springs, Pasco, South Sumter, and Plant during the '30s, and relied on individual cars to get from game to game, until the final season when they finally acquired a bus.

The site of what has become Des Little Stadium was then known as Sandspur Stadium. [Note: this was a different location than Des Little Stadium.] "We worried more about getting sandspurs in our legs and feet than about who was going to tackle us," laughed Grey.

Henry Falany, nicknamed Harpo, was Grey's favorite receiver. Most of the players had nicknames but Grey said he didn't.

"Football those days is nothing like it was when I played. You could pile on as much as you wanted in the '30s. You thought they were gonna' kill you, but the worst injury I ever suffered were some broken ribs.

"I got hurt when playing baseball," added Grey, recalling being spiked on the foot and taking a ball in the face.

"I still don't believe they have the camaraderie now that we had then. Everyone was friendly," said Grey.

After graduation from Gulf in 1934, he attended the University of Florida extension division in Ocala for two years.

He studied real estate, but worked as a service station attendant for several years after finishing school.

You may recognize the Grey name as the local real estate company. Grey's father Frank established the company in, 1924 and James joined the group in 1940. Since then, Frank has died, and two of James' own sons, John and Charles, have gotten into the business.

Grey's other children include Frank, who is about to graduate from Stetson law school, Alan, who is running a local grocery, Paul, who spent time in the Navy, James Jr., who attends Ridgewood High, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Linda.

Elizabeth is a nurse in St. Augustine and Linda married into the Little family, who Gulf's current football stadium is named after.

Several of Grey's sons have gone on to be stars in their own right at Gulf High.

Grey still enjoys watching football and claims his favorite team is the Tampa Bay Bucs, in spite of their poor season last year.

"I don't have much use for Mr. McKay myself," quipped Grey. "He's got lots of good players, but he doesn't motivate them."

Motivation -- you know that and a pure love for the game had to be the main force driving Grey and his buddies to play football. There certainly wasn't the glory or money associated with the game then than there is now.

Real Sportsmanship (1938)

By PETE NORTON

This is the story of a football Utopia, a land where a team can lose seven straight games, have 399 points scored against it while scoring none, and still retain the solid backing of every fan, the admiration of every person in the community.

In these days of high pressure football, when players and coaches are thrown to the wolves after each defeat, it is refreshing to run across a coach and a team like Paul Stephens, of Gulf Coast high school, New Port Richey.

Seven times this year Coach Stephens has sent his squad into action, and each time it has been beaten by one-sided scores. The season record reads, 399 to 0, and games with four strong teams remain on the schedule.

Yet the wolves are not howling at New Port Richey, the fans are not demanding a new coach and the boys are not being called quitters each time they drop a game.

In exact contrast, Coach Stephens, who introduced football at Gulf high this year is just as proud of his youngsters as Dr. Jock Sutherland is of the Pittsburgh Panthers.

When a team has a season record of 339 points to 0, it is news. So we wrote Coach Stephens and asked a few questions about his football team.

How many boys on the squad? What are their weights? How much experience have they had?

Says Coach Stephens: "We have 21 boys on the squad. Not a single one of them had ever played a game of football until this year. Nine of them had never seen a football game until the whistle blew for the opening contest of the season with Clearwater.

"The weights of the boys run from 79 pounds to the giant of the squad, Dave Clark, who tips the scale at 175. Clark is the only player over the 155-pound mark. Seven weigh less than 125 pounds."

Who is the smallest boy on the squad? Wasn't he ruled out of the Tampa College game in Tampa?

"Walter Frierson, a back who weighs 79 pounds, is, I believe the smallest senior high school player in Florida, perhaps in the country. The officials at the Tampa College game would not permit him to play for fear he would be injured by the larger Tampa players."

How do the fans take the numerous beatings the New Port Richey team has been handed this year? Do the boys have a good time playing football, even though they lose? How is the spirit of the squad?

At this point Coach Stephens really goes to town with as fine a recommendation for football in high school as we have seen.

"The people of New Port Richey are proud of the plucky youngsters that form the football squad. They know the boys are light and inexperienced, but now they also know the kids love the game and are learning fast.

"Football was started at Gulf high as an incentive to the boys and it has served that purpose 100 per cent. The boys on the football squad attend school regularly, work harder at their lessons and in general, are better youngsters because they play football.

"Sure, the kids have a good time playing. As a sport, none of them believes football can be excelled. It teaches them to give and take hard knocks with a smile, something they can use all through life. It develops them physically and mentally.

"It is a safe bet to say the spirit of the Gulf high team is as good as that on any prep team in Florida, and that includes teams that have beaten us 10 touchdowns.

"Our youngsters are coached to play the game hard but fairly. That is all anyone can do in sports."

Wouldn't it be a great thing for the game of football if the players, coaches and fans all over the country felt about the game as do the good people of New Port Richey.

Here is a bunch of kids going into every game knowing they haven't a chance of winning, but playing their hearts out and having a grand time.

This column salutes Coach Stephens and the New Port Richey football team.

1958 Gulf High Football Team Reminisces

By CLIFF GILL

NEW PORT RICHEY - Last weekend, the Gulf High School class of 1958 celebrated its 50th reunion. With just 39 seniors, it was one of the smallest graduating classes in the state. The high school, which included students from grades 7-12, had an enrollment that rarely exceeded 300. It was located at Grand Boulevard and Gulf Drive, currently home to the Schwettman Education Center.

The football team had only 14 players on its roster, which meant that nearly every player played on offense, defense and special teams. What the Buccaneers lacked in size, they made up in heart.

Just ask Tom Chittum. Originally from Peru, Ind., Chittum played every down on both the offensive and defensive lines. Standing 6-foot tall and weighing 165 pounds, he was one of the biggest players on the team.

"We had no equipment, no trainers, nothing like today's players have. We played through injuries. Unless it was a broken bone, the coach taped us up and sent us back in," Chittum said.

Lineman Tommie Boyd agreed. At 135 pounds, Boyd played guard on offense and tackle on defense.

"We came home bandaged up like a bunch of war veterans. But, even though we lost more games than we won, we played our hardest and held our heads high. Having a victory was important, but having character was just as important," he said.

Playing against schools with 50-plus players, the team lost every game during their freshman and sophomore years. In their junior year, they defeated Admiral Farragut 26-6 for their only victory of the season. Their senior year, the Buccaneers won three games.

One of the team's leaders was running back Orville Williamson. In addition to being Gulf's leading scorer, Williamson played all positions on offense and linebacker on defense.

"Back then, if the coach told you to snap the ball, you did it. There was no talking back."

The practices were often endurance tests.

"We practiced four, five hours without a water break. You were called a sissy if you drank water," Williamson said.

During one after-school practice, the coach told Williamson to run laps around the field in full equipment. Four hours later, he was still running.

An Odessa native, Williamson walked and sometimes ran to and from school.

"Hardly anyone had a car, so getting a ride was out of the question. Plus, if you saw a bear or a bobcat in the woods, you'd double-time it. Williamson later played college football at the University of Southern Mississippi.

"Orville had heart. He was just tough," teammate Udell Hatcher said.

Organized sports for girls were nonexistent.

"For females, sports were only available in PE class. We were either cheerleaders, majorettes or played in the band," Barbara Cooper recalls. "Like most folks in town, I never missed a football, baseball or basketball game."

Jane Livingston Baillie agreed.

"You went to all the games, because that's all there was to do in town."

After the games, the teens often went to Sims Park, which had a building that included a jukebox for dancing.

Barbara Brunner was the homecoming queen and a member of the school band.

"We'd support the cheerleaders during timeouts. One of my favorite cheers was:

'Scratchy, scratchy

Itchy, itchy

We're the team

From New Port Richey.'"

Brunner reflected on her time at Gulf High.

"We were the first generation of girls who went to college for a career, although the options were mostly limited to nursing or education," said Brunner, who taught elementary school for 36 years.

"Plus, U.S. Highway 19 was built while we were in high school," she said.

T. Edd Webb: A Name to Remember, Especially Now (1998)

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

How long was that streak? Thirty-five ... 45 ... 50 games?

It depends on who's telling the story. Not even T. Edd Webb, coach of the 1956 Gulf High School football team that snapped the atrocious string of losses, knew for sure.

What Webb does know is the 26-6 victory over Admiral Farragut on Oct. 26 was a defining moment in turning the Bucs from doormats into a force the town of New Port Richey, which lived and died with its high school team, could be proud of.

"Our first victory was great," said Webb, whose 1958 team finished 8-2-1, a record the school has not duplicated since. "I never saw a bunch of guys more willing to work. I had no problem getting them into condition."

The memories are more precious now as Webb, 72, fights what has been diagnosed as inoperable intestinal cancer. The coach said he has run the gamut of emotions from fear to anger and denial, but is now "at peace" with his situation.

"I've got a fighting chance," he said. "I'm not going to give up, that's for sure."

Webb has been a fixture in Pasco County athletics since 1953, when he was an assistant football coach and boys basketball coach at Zephyrhills. In 1956 he came to Gulf as its football coach and athletic director.

He left in 1962 to pursue a career as an insurance agent after leading Gulf to a six-year mark of 28-31-3. It is a remarkable record considering Gulf's previous ineptitude, and that the school has had just five winning seasons since, none with more than six victories.

"He was probably the best coach Gulf ever had," said Johnny Grey, a wide receiver on the 1960 and '61 teams.

"He brought the community together," said Orville Williamson, a running back/linebacker on the 1956 team.

He did it on the field with discipline and grueling 4-hour practices. He brought in an offense that relied on unbalanced line formations, double reverses and halfback passes.

Jed Pittman, a center on the 1958 team and now clerk of the circuit court of Pasco County, said he recently sent one of those plays to his friend, Florida coach Steve Spurrier.

The play is called a flip-through in which the quarterback flips the ball between the running backs, who are moving toward each other, confusing the defense as to which one will make the play.

"He was very innovative," said Grey, now the president of a real estate company. "He put in a single-wing formation and a bunch of stuff nobody had ever heard of. He was a hard worker, tireless. He'd run with you, wind sprints, and run you till you dropped."

And if you didn't do it right, Webb and his assistant coach, Hap Clark, now a Pasco County commissioner, would get into the scrimmage to demonstrate and, as Grey said, "knock you on your butt."

And speaking of running: Williamson, now the director of special projects for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, drew Webb's ire at practice by being a little too aggressive against his own teammates with a tackling dummy. Webb told Williamson to "get your butt to running until I tell you to stop."

As Webb told the story, 4 hours later Clark came to him in the locker room and said, "Orville's still running out there."

"I had forgotten about him," Webb said. "He would have run all night rather than let me get the better of him."

For Webb, there is no forgetting the good times. Like Lorie Goodman going 80 yards on the first play of the second half to give Gulf a 12-6 lead over Farragut.

Like the Gulf band lining up outside Farragut's locker room and playing for 90 minutes to celebrate the end of that 38-game losing streak.

Like getting tossed into the Pithlachascotee River by his players celebrating the victory. And being stopped in town the next day and being forced to make a speech in front of what Webb remembers as 200 people.

Then there are the players like Williamson. "His desire to win was the best of any boy I coached," Webb said.

And 1958 quarterback Gene Little. "Like having another coach on the field."

Webb, who has four children with Maxine, his wife of 49 years, gave back to the community at large as well. He coached Little League until just a few years ago, and helped organize the local Police Athletic League.

"I think the greatest joy I have from the years I coached," Webb said, "was being able to stay and see all the young men I could serve ... "

Tears.

Composed, he talked again of Gulf football.

"I would dearly love to see somebody break it," he said of his 8-2-1 season, "and get back on the winning side."

Something T. Edd Webb has always been on.

-- Times correspondent Tony Castro contributed to this report.

Edd Webb: Overcoming the Odds (1999)

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

Edd Webb keeps a handkerchief handy when he watches television because he never knows when he might cry. Shows concerning children seem to affect him most, especially if there is a happy ending.

For those who remember Webb as Gulf High's football coach, knocking over players while teaching them to block, the teary image probably doesn't fit.

"I have been different emotionally ever since I found out I had a serious illness," Webb said.

But don't for one minute think Edd Webb has gone soft.

A year ago, the most successful football coach Gulf has ever had was diagnosed with inoperable intestinal cancer and given two weeks to live.

But after 24 chemotherapy and 28 radiation treatments, the 73-year-old New Port Richey resident has gained 35 pounds, takes a daily half-mile walk, cleans the pool, fishes with his grandsons and is even talking about a hunting trip later this month.

He is not cured.

But Dr. Gajanan Kulkarni, the oncologist treating Webb, said he is in "partial remission" and, barring complications, should remain that way "for a long time."

"I truly think the good Lord had something left in the world for me to do," said Webb, who coached from 1956-61 and led the Bucs to an 8-2-1 mark in 1958, a record the school has not duplicated since.

"Maybe it's just to talk to people with cancer like I had to try to cheer them up. I made some very good friends sitting around waiting rooms."

They are a hearty group with a sense of humor. When Webb enters the doctor's office, he said the standard greeting is, "Didn't make it to the obituary today."

But the battle was serious business.

"The chemo is second to death," Webb said. "When you're on the chemo, you don't want to do anything. It's hard to keep from being depressed. You have no strength, no desire to do anything."

When there was talk of organizing a party to celebrate Webb and Maxine's 50th wedding anniversary last August, Webb said forget it. He was too sick. The treatment not only took Webb's hair, but his eyebrows and eyelashes.

"I was slick as a mole," he said.

Maxine, who took care of Webb at their home, watched and worried. Though she was "the cheerleader for the kids," she wondered what it would be like to be alone.

"I would miss not being able to say, "Edd, what do you think about this?"' Maxine said. "I would miss having a strong person around who could give you opinions about things."

That strength served Webb well. He was getting better.

And as the treatment shifted from chemotherapy to radiation, the improvements became noticeable.

His strength began to return. He gained weight to his current 202 pounds. He told his physical therapist to stop coming around. He could handle the exercises himself.

His hair grew back.

In July, Webb got an emotional boost from the birth of a grandson, Peyton, to son Clendon. He got another when he began fishing with grandsons Matt and Kyle.

Over time, Webb took on more responsibility. He fired the pool guy, taking cleaning duty himself, and began delivering the payroll to his business, a garbage dump on New York Avenue.

"I might even get up enough nerve to go hunting," he said.

Webb said deer season in Alabama runs though January. Taking advantage would mean a trip to his brother Donnie's cabin in Camden, which is near their hometown of Coffeeville. It would be a tough trip for someone who said he can't walk more than a half-mile without getting tired.

"One thing he hasn't lost is a mind of his own," Clendon said. "If he decides to go, he's going to pack up and go by himself. We haven't tried to stop him before. We wouldn't stop him now."

Webb has no intention of stopping or asking his doctor about a long-term prognosis.

"I don't ask, and they don't say you're going to have a certain length of time," Webb said.

But one thing is certain.

"I'm very grateful," Maxine said, "for the extra time we've had together."

Beloved Coach Succumbs to Cancer (1999)

By JAMES THORNER

Thomas "Edd" Webb, one of the winningest football coaches in Gulf High School history, died Sunday of the cancer that had plagued him for more than a year.

Mr. Webb, 73, was a fixture in Pasco County athletics. In 1953, fresh from his home state of Alabama, he became assistant football coach and boys basketball coach at Zephyrhills High School.

Three years later he took the head football coaching job at Gulf High in New Port Richey.

Mr. Webb took the perpetually losing Bucs and made the team respectable through daily four-hour practices and innovative game plans. His team's 1958 record of 8-2-1 has never been bested at the school.

He left Gulf High in 1962 to become an insurance agent, but stayed active coaching Little League and men's softball.

"I guess you could say he was a man's man," said Johnny Grey, who played wide receiver for Mr. Webb in the early '60s and stayed friends with his old coach through the decades. "He used to tell us players, "You're playing this for fun, right? Then what's more fun than to win?' "

That winning spirit helped him during his fight against cancer. It was a year ago that Mr. Webb learned the disease was attacking his intestines. Doctors gave him two weeks to live.

Through dozens of chemotherapy and radiation treatments that tested his mettle, Mr. Webb beat the odds for months. His battle with the disease was the subject of a Jan. 8 Times article.

But on Sunday, the illness caught up with him. He died at home surrounded by his family.

Even in his later years, Mr. Webb couldn't resist being the coach.

Grey was among a group of former players who joined their old coach on deer hunting trips to Alabama.

During the excursions, he remembers Mr. Webb lecturing his student athletes, now middle-aged men, about eating right and exercising.

"He was a good friend to lots of people," Grey said. "I'm glad his suffering is over, but we're going to miss him."

Mr. Webb is survived by his wife, Maxine, and three sons, Clendon, Dale and Michael, all of New Port Richey. His daughter, Cynthia Webb-Orenstain, lives in New York.

The viewing will be Tuesday from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at Faupel Funeral Home in Port Richey.

The service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in New Port Richey.

The Gulf-Hudson Football Rivalry (1999)

By JOHN C. COTEY

It's here, the 25th anniversary of one of the most fierce, hard-fought rivalries in Pasco County history, a series bitterly contested before yearly overflow crowds of 3,500-4,500 fans, some of whom could not even make it into the gate until the third quarter due to long, winding lines.

Gulf versus Hudson.

Seriously.

You can stop laughing.

Granted, in recent years, with the diminished success of the two programs, their annual meetings have generated about as much excitement as snails racing. But in a time not too long ago, it was The Game.

"You bet it was," said Keith Newton, the Gulf coach who was an assistant and head coach at Hudson from 1976-83. "I remember I was on the other side, and we had a bitter hatred for Gulf. The game you had to win the whole year was the Gulf game. That was it."

Local newspapers touted the game all week, splashing around names like Mike Marlin, Tommy Waugh, Rick Samon, Tony Trancucci, Shawn Crane, Rocky Collins, Ken Highhouse, Jim Pietsch, Mark Bobek and Ralph Simoneau. Often, the results ran on the front page.

And why not? Back then, Hudson, which opened in 1974, and Gulf were the only two west side schools. Both had good programs. In 1976, both schools went to bowl games, and from 1977-79, Hudson was winning eight games every year, culminating in the school's only playoff appearance.

In '76, Jim Riser, the Gulf coach, said this of the game: "This Hudson game is sort of like Georgia-Florida, LSU-Ole Miss and Auburn-Alabama all wrapped up in one."

Predictably, those were the glory years of the rivalry, sparked by the opening of a new school.

Until Hudson, Gulf's biggest rival was Tarpon Springs. But in '74, before Hudson's students had a place to call their own, they actually attended Gulf on double sessions. Gulf students went in the morning, Hudson students in the afternoon.

"Everyone knew each other," said Jerry Young, the Gulf head coach from '78-81. "That's what made it such a heated rivalry. It was just great.

"I know it sounds weird, but it was like a Florida-Florida State game. It was always the last game of the season, and it was always the game we waited for all season. It was really something."

Young, who Newton said would save up at least one trick play a year just for the game, was the central character in the rivalry's best -- and most humorous -- moment. We'll call it the Polecat Caper.

In 1979, Hudson coach Wilbur Lofton drew up a fake playbook called the Polecat Offense. Figuring that Young would be desperate considering the Cobras had dominated the series the previous four years (outscoring Gulf 108-20), he dangled the playbook in front of the second-year coach, hoping he would bite.

He did.

"We sent it over to Gulf with a kid who knew a lot of the players," said Newton, an assistant coach. "He said he stole it off of Lofton's desk and brought it over because all of his friends went to Gulf, and he thought he'd be cool and take it."

Young was thrilled. That week, he prepared his team for the Polecat, and when the Cobras lined up in it for the first play, he called the right defense to stop it. His excitement soon turned to mush as he looked across the sideline and saw Lofton, Newton and Paul Girardi, then an assistant at Hudson, laughing hysterically.

"I knew right then (I'd been had)," Young said. "I was mad, but now I think about how funny that was."

Hudson won the game 21-6.

"We lined up in the offense and never ran it again," Newton said. "Then we pleaded amnesia."

Those were the things that defined the rivalry. It was so big that Tampa Bay Buccaneers like Scot Brantley, Curtis Jordan and Mark Cotney -- Young's roommate at Cameron State -- would make the drive up to watch.

Mind games were at a premium during game week. Young would hang jerseys on the goal posts for his players to hit. Hudson players would wear the names of the players they were going against on their helmets all week. Trash was talked incessantly.

"I remember (in '78) we had dominated Gulf for two years straight, and the game was at Hudson," Newton said. "The game was at 8, and at 10 to 8, Gulf hadn't shown up. I felt something was up. Then at five minutes to 8, they weren't there. All of a sudden, we saw two buses roll up right to gate. Both buses opened, and the players sprinted out in full gear. They had done all their warmups at their own school. When they opened those bus doors, they just came screaming and yelling and sprinting out. Gulf was notorious in those games for coming up with some strange thing."

At the apex of the rivalry, it was all Hudson. The Cobras lost 20-6 their first year of existence but won the next six. Guys like Waugh, who scored two touchdowns in '76 in a 14-0 win and then three more in 1977's 41-0 win, became local heroes.

Meanwhile, the Bucs were enduring a 24-game losing streak and some of their worst seasons ever. Even so, it never seemed to detract from the Big Game.

"It was a big game, and at that time, we beat 'em up pretty good," said Marlin, who quarterbacked Hudson to wins in '78 and '79 and now is an assistant at River Ridge.

In '81, Young's final season, the Bucs finally beat Hudson 29-16.

Young's quote in the paper the next day? "It's the most important thing that ever happened to me in sports."

It also may have been the worst to happen to the rivalry. Both teams were 1-8 entering the game. The next year, they were both 0-9. In '83, they introduced the Navy-Chasco Jaycees Cup, which went to the winning team. But by then, the rivalry had simmered, with both schools no longer competitive and the ties no longer bound.

Blame it on Ridgewood. When the school came into existence in 1984, it took from both schools, draining talent and turning both programs into football also-rans. In effect, it was a barrier between the Bucs and Cobras, a dam that slowed the wave of disdain until it became a trickle of disinterest.

"It's a shame what Gulf and Hudson have gone through," said Young, now the girls golf coach at Gulf. "It's a shame these kids can't put together winning teams. They deserve it."

The rivalry as it was known was dead. The game was moved to the season-opener instead of the finale. The hope being that as the first game it could re-generate interest. But the losing continued and still does to this day.

River Ridge further diluted the talent pool, and today, the west side lacks any concrete rivalry to match what the '70s had to offer.

All that's left is the memories.

"I still think about it," Newton said. "Stuff like that still brings tingles down your spine. Thinking about that ... is bittersweet."

High School Coach Spending Final Days With Family (2003)

By JAMAL THALJI

Former Gulf and Hudson high schools football coach Wilbur Lofton, a popular fixture in Pasco County athletics for two decades, is near the end of his yearlong battle with cancer, his son Dean said.

On Friday the family checked the 68-year-old Lofton out of a Chattanooga, Tenn., hospital so he can spend his final days with family in his home in the Tennessee mountains.

"The doctors on Monday came to my mom and my brothers here and told us that the battle is lost unless a miracle happens," said Dean Lofton, 43, a teacher and coach at Gulf High School who is in Tennessee with the family. "He wanted o come home, he wanted to see his dog, to see the view out the windows and be with family."

Wilbur Lofton spent three seasons at Hudson High School and 13 at Gulf. When he retired in 1995 after 36 years in coaching, he had many friends in Pasco County.

"His heart was as big as his body," said Wesley Chapel High School football coach John Castelamare, "and he was a big man."

Dean Lofton said his father had surgery for colon cancer a year ago. Wilbur Lofton seemed to be doing well up until Thanksgiving, but on Nov. 30 the family checked him into Parkridge Medical Center in Chattanooga when he complained of back pain.

"They found the cancer had spread," Dean Lofton said. "It's very aggressive and not responding to the chemo(therapy) anymore. He wanted to go home, but today was actually the first day he was alert enough to understand he wasn't going to make it.

"He took it really well. As well as somebody can take it."

Wilbur Lofton's football career began as a two-way starter for the University of Georgia, playing for renowned coach Wally Butts from 1956 to 1959. He joined Butts' staff, then enjoyed success as a high school coach on his own at Tifton, Ga., and Leesburg.

His biggest successes in Pasco County were at Hudson. Two years after the school opened, Lofton won eight games in each of his three seasons from 1976 to 1978, the only coach with back-to-back winning seasons in school history. After a stint at Tarpon Springs, he returned to the county in 1982, taking over at Gulf.

Wilbur Lofton is with his wife, Ethel, 67; sons Dean, 41-year-old Mike and 40-year-old Keith; and his English bulldog, Missy, the coach's homage to his alma mater.

When Castelamare coached Ridgewood High School, he enjoyed a fierce rivalry with Lofton's Gulf teams. He said he spoke to the Loftons Thursday.

"It was real hard talking to him on the phone," Castelamare said. "You're talking about one of the best coaches around. As a man, he'd do anything to help you.

"I enjoyed his friendship. If I ever needed anything, it was like asking a brother."

Retired Coach Wilbur Lofton Dies at 68 (2003)

By STEVE LEE

NEW PORT RICHEY - Surrounded by family, longtime Pasco County football coach Wilbur Lofton died Sunday (Dec. 21, 2003) at his home in Reliance, Tenn.

Mr. Lofton, who spent a year battling colon cancer, was 68.

"It was a peaceful passing," said Dean Lofton, Mr. Lofton's son, who coaches Gulf High's girls cross country and track teams. "We prayed and said our goodbyes."

Mr. Lofton and his wife of 46 years, Ethel, had their retirement home built in 1996 in a town about 75 miles east of Chattanooga.

With a Jan. 30 wedding anniversary approaching, Mrs. Lofton prefers to view their marriage as a 50-year run, explaining that they began dating in 1953.

Mr. Lofton, a soft-hearted man with a gruff exterior, coached for 13 seasons at Gulf High and three at Hudson. The Cobras and Buccaneers each had three winning seasons under Mr. Lofton.

Before that, Mr. Lofton was a fullback/linebacker at the University of Georgia and had a one-year stint (1960) with the New England Patriots.

In 1970, Mr. Lofton had his most successful high school coaching season, guiding Leesburg to a state runnerup finish.

"He loved working with young people," his wife said. "I know that's kind of a cliché with all coaches, but it was true. He loved the kids."

Gulf coach Keith Newton, an assistant on Mr. Lofton's Hudson and Gulf teams for 11 seasons, became Gulf's head coach when Mr. Lofton retired in 1995 after 36 years of coaching.

"He had a big heart," Newton said. "No. 1, he was a very tough person out on the football field. But he had a very big heart, and the kids knew it.

"Wilbur always acted very gruff, but he had a soft heart."

Dean Lofton, 43, played football on his father's teams, as did his brothers Mike and Keith. Dean Lofton coaches cross country and track at Gulf, and Mike Lofton coaches middle school football in Winder, Ga.

"I find myself just being a lot like him," said Dean Lofton, who this fall was named the St. Petersburg Times All-Pasco County Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year for a third straight season. "I'm quick to react. If (Gulf's runners) do something I don't like, I'm quick to let them know."

"He was an intense person," Mrs. Lofton said of her husband. "When he was on the field, it was total concentration. He didn't think of anything else but what he was doing."

Added Newton, who learned the X's and O's as well as the nuances of the game from Mr. Lofton, "Probably the largest part of my knowledge comes from him."

Among the things Mrs. Lofton will miss is watching football with her husband, especially college games on Saturdays. And she has fond memories of watching from the stands as he coached.

"I hardly ever missed a game," she said. "It was important for me, and it was important for Wilbur. He liked me to be there."

"(Football has) been everything to him," Dean added. "We were his and his teams' biggest fans. It was just our way of life, football."

Part of Mr. Lofton's extended family includes former players, such as Mike Napier, the quarterback for Leesburg's state finalist team. Napier, a minister in Birmingham, Ala., will preside over Saturday's 2 p.m. funeral in the chapel at the Ralph Buckner Funeral Home in Etowah, Tenn.

"He's been calling Wilbur the past year or so and talking with him and praying with him over the phone," Mrs. Lofton said.

The Loftons moved often before settling in Hudson.

"Probably moving down to the Pasco area was the best move we ever made," Dean Lofton said. "We made our lifelong friends there."