New style has Gulf on winning track

This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Sept. 26, 2003.

By ANDY STAPLES

NEW PORT RICHEY - Jordan Stewart went platinum blond on the first day of school.

He didn't really, but the Gulf High fullback fooled football coach Keith Newton and several teammates with a wig that would have made Twisted Sister's Dee Snider proud. In fact, Stewart stuffed the wig under his helmet for the Buccaneers' first practice.

After looking at the senior's coif for an entire practice, Newton had to ask. What's with the hair?

``New style, Coach,'' Stewart said. ``New style.''

Stewart didn't know he had made a prophecy instead of a fashion statement.

When the Bucs face Ridgewood tonight, they do so with the chance to move to 3-1 for the first time since 1995. In the first three games, they have looked so un-Gulf that even their mothers may not recognize them.

But their fellow students do.

``Everybody's telling me good job and trying to get me up for the game,'' tailback/defensive back/ whirling dervish David Montanez said. ``They tell me they're going to beat me up if we lose.

``Especially the girls.''

This is a monumental breakthrough. Not that the female population of Gulf High is threatening male athletes with bodily harm, but that members of the fairer sex are noticing said male athletes because of their skill on the field.

What's next? The playoffs?

What was Newton thinking when he accepted his team's assignment into Class 3A-District 9?

Probably, he thought it logical that his team be placed in a district with nearby schools of similar size. We ask again. What was he thinking?

Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and Pasco reside in that district. One of those teams won't make the playoffs this year.

Despite several winning seasons, the Bucs have not made the playoffs in the school's 81-year history. Had they tried a little district- swapping chicanery, that could have changed this year.

Had Newton and company petitioned the Florida High School Athletic Association to be placed in Class 4A-District 7 alongside Mitchell, River Ridge, Ridgewood and Land O' Lakes, the Bucs would be playing tonight to clinch a playoff berth.

In a scheduling quirk that means nothing to anyone except sportswriters desperate for an angle, Gulf will have faced all four members of 4A-7 in the first four weeks of the season. The Bucs whipped Mitchell, got whipped by Land O' Lakes and beat River Ridge last week.

A win this week against 0-3 Ridgewood would have guaranteed Gulf its first playoff berth. Unfortunately, Newton seems to be one of those purists who believes in silly stuff like rules and doing the right thing.

But a rough road to the playoffs hasn't stopped the Bucs. On Wednesday, strength and conditioning coach Travis DeWalt put them through 15 brutal minutes of conditioning following more than two hours of practice in 90-degree heat.

``This is mild,'' Newton told an astounded observer, noting that an earlier practice had featured this routine followed by a 3-mile run.

Montanez said the Bucs take pride in this year's painful practices.

``We're all friends since ninth grade,'' Montanez said. ``That's why no one's quitting. If another team went through that stuff, they'd probably have people quitting.''

This time last year, Gulf would have been one of those other teams.

This year, it's a new style, Coach. New style.