Gulfport will air it out Friday

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 28, 2003

[8/28/03]Joey D’Angelo used to be an old-school coach. The 31-year veteran cut his coaching teeth in the run-first mentality of the 1970s and was a devout disciple of that philosophy.

Two things turned him into a passing convert, however.

“I found that I moved the ball better when I was behind and throwing the football than when we had a lead and were sitting there grinding it out,” D’Angelo said. “Then my son came through and he had a tremendous arm.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

“That was when Steve Spurrier was coming on, and I looked at the pros and cons of each one, and decided to go with the spread offense.”

Now, D’Angelo whose son, Micky, is the starting quarterback at Southern Miss is bringing his version of the run-and-gun to Vicksburg.

He’ll lead the 20th-ranked Gulfport Admirals into Viking Stadium on Friday to face No. 19 Warren Central in the second half of the Red Carpet Bowl doubleheader.

Gulfport’s wide-open style has given the Vikings vivid flashbacks to last season, when Murrah stunned them with a similar attack. Murrah quarterback Joseph Hawkins completed 25 of 41 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns.

Two Murrah receivers topped the 100-yard mark as the unranked Mustangs stunned then-No. 7 WC 25-22.

“He’s wide-open as you can get. It’s scary how much they remind me of Murrah, and Murrah whipped us,” WC coach Robert Morgan said. “We’ve got to score a lot of points. We’d love to shut them out, but realistically speaking, they score a lot of points.”

There are some differences between this Gulfport team and that Murrah team.

The Admirals come in with a solid pedigree, having taken eventual Class 5A champion Wayne County to the wire in the second round of the playoffs last season before losing 20-16.

Gulfport has also lost three of its top four wide receivers from last year, and its starting tailback. Receiver Richard Dubuisson, the fourth receiver last year, is the top returner at that position.

Quarterback is a different story, though. The Admirals are loaded there, with three solid signal-callers who will share snaps.

Returning starters Shabazz McClellan and Adam Carlson each threw for more than 1,000 yards last season, and provide the Admirals with the ability to change the pace of the game. McClellan is an excellent scrambler, while Carlson is more of a pocket passer.

“(McClellan) seems to roll out and scramble like he walks,” WC defensive back Jason Williams said.

Gulfport’s third quarterback, Greg Anderson, is a combination of the other two. D’Angelo said he expects to continue with the multi-quarterback system throughout the year.

“I’d rather have three than not have one, because you can do a lot of things when you have three,” D’Angelo said. “You can’t do a lot when you don’t have one.”

While Gulfport’s offense is keeping Morgan awake at night, D’Angelo’s defense is giving the Gulfport coach the chills.

The Admirals lost 10 starters from last season, with only defensive ends Jose Ruiz and Jayson Dixon returning. Both of those players have missed practice time this week, however, and may not play. That means the Admirals could have an entirely new defense on the field for the season-opener on Friday.

“I’m liable to have 11 new starters on Friday night, and that’s real scary,” D’Angelo said, sounding a lot like his counterpart at Warren Central. “That’s what we’re worried about. We haven’t had anybody step up yet. Maybe on Friday night it’ll happen.”