gulf shores: Dolphins lose defensive-minded spring game on a 49-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds left

Monday, May 15, 2006
By DEREK BELT
Sports Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- The 2006 spring football game came and went for Gulf Shores High School, and according to Dolphins coach Duane Davis there were plenty of positives and only a handful of concerns.

Gulf Shores, fresh off a school-best 5-5 finish in 2005, played remarkable defense for much of the game, something Davis said is typically "unheard of" for the Dolphins' seventh-year program.

Unfortunately, one little slip-up late in the game cost Gulf Shores the victory, as Madison Academy's Lance Clark found a crease in the secondary and hauled in a game-winning 49-yard touchdown reception with 16 seconds left on the clock.

The heartbreaking 7-0 setback had many of the players down after the game, but Davis eased their worries with a solid post-game speech that harped on the positives and should help send the Dolphins into the offseason with some much-needed confidence.

Overall, Davis said he was pleased with the effort he saw Friday at the Orange Beach Sportsplex, especially from the Dolphins' defensive unit.

"I thought the defensive guys really stood out tonight," he said. "For 47 minutes and 44 seconds we had a shutout and that's almost unheard of. A lot of the times in the spring you don't see defensive games, you see offensive games.

"I'm excited," he added. "I think with a good offseason and with a lot of hard work we can come in with the right attitude and maybe win some games. I really believe that. I believe this is going to be a good group."

On offense, quarterbacks Evan Stringfellow and Gary Johnston played well but had difficulty dealing with constant pressure from Madison Academy's front line. The two were sacked on several occasions and tackled for losses on several more, but they also made some people miss and completed enough passes to keep the Dolphins moving.

The running game struggled at times as well and the receiving corps dropped a few passes, but neither group did anything to diminish the overall feeling that this year's spring game was a success.

Especially, and surprisingly, on the defensive side of the ball.