Gulf's offense gets the point in big victory against Citrus

By JOEY KNIGHT

Like most native Kentuckians, Jay Fulmer enjoys a briskly paced basketball game.

He just didn't expect his new football team to try to replicate one -- at least not this soon.

"That's not the first time I've had a team put that many points up," Gulf's first-year coach said two nights after the Bucs pushed the tempo -- and the statistician's stress level -- in a 68-40 romp against winless Citrus. "I like it, though."

So would any arena ball fan. The Bucs and Hurricanes combined for 16 touchdowns (eight passing, five running, three interception returns) and more than 850 yards of total offense. Gulf quarterback Alton Voss accounted for six TDs, including three through the air. By halftime, the Bucs led, 46-34.

"It was just a fast break the whole first half," Fulmer said.

Therein lay the most glaring concern for Fulmer, who watched his program equal its win total of last season with the bizarre blowout.

Even without fleet wideout Shawn Williamson (suspended) and sophomore running back Julian Ford (knee), the Bucs still scored at will. But so did Citrus, at least for a half, which might concern some Bucs fans.

The Hurricanes totaled only 27 points their first two games, were shut out by Hudson in a preseason contest, and were missing starting quarterback Walt Howard (shoulder).

Fulmer, however, said his defense's first-half struggles were a result of constant over-pursuit. The Bucs did so much stunting and blitzing, he added, they frequently found themselves out of position.

But after reverting to its 4-3 base scheme and adhering strictly to its assignments in the second half, Gulf allowed only six points and returned two picks for TDs.

"I just got them calm and said, 'Guys, look, we've just got to slow the pace of this game down,' " Fulmer said.

"Assistant Coach Mike Rusche had told the defensive line to push. Well, when he told 'em to push, they pushed, all right. They pushed the offensive line almost 5 yards into the backfield, which is almost as bad as over-penetrating. … The kids listened very well. They made the adjustment, did what I asked them to do and it worked out fine."

But how it works out against a quality opponent remains unclear. After a 39-0 season-opening loss to Wesley Chapel -- when Fulmer says roughly half his team had the flu -- Gulf has scored 107 points. But all have been tallied against Citrus and River Ridge, who are a combined 0-6.

"You really don't want to get in a track meet with somebody who's got pretty good athletes," said Fulmer, whose team is idle this week. "That's really not our style of play. Hopefully we can learn from what happened Friday night."

THE NUMBERS

• The 68 points Gulf scored in Friday's victory against Citrus represented more than half of their 2004 point total (131).

• The win was Gulf's second in a row, marking the first time the program has notched back-to-back victories since September 2003.

• The scoring outburst was the Bucs' largest since a 56-0 rout of River Ridge on Oct. 11, 1991.

• The Bucs' four passing touchdowns Friday were one shy of their team total for 2004.