SHS: Potential Begins to be Reached

PINELLAS PARK - When Springstead High football Head Coach Bill Vonada talked with his team following Friday night's 27-6 win at Seminole Osceola, he stressed one key word in his talk with them -- potential.
It was the potential that his team showed on both offense and defense in Pinellas County that helped the Eagles dominate the War Hawks in the football game that concluded spring practice.
Springstead quarterback James Mahla threw for two touchdowns, one to Ben Noury and another to Dominic Roberson.
Running back Mike Greco had a touchdown run along complimenting a 57-yard scoring dash by Noury in the fourth quarter when he replaced Mahla under center.
"We're starting to put things together," Vonada said after the game Friday. "We still have to clean up some mistakes. We played well, but we have a lot of things we need to improve on."

Dominant performance

Basically the Eagles dominated both sides of the ball making two interceptions in the first half and recovering three fumbles in the game.
The Eagles offense simply out played the War Hawks as they finished with 311 yards of total offense while running 54 plays to the 36 plays run by Osceola for 149 yards of total offense.
Noury finished the game as the Eagles' leading rusher, getting 78 yards on just five carriers while Mahla had 45 yards and Greco 32.
Roberson, who hauled in a 15-yard TD pass from Mahla late in the second quarter, concluded the effort with six receptions for 51 yards.
Noury, who caught a 4-yard TD pass in the first quarter, had three catches for 49 yards as Mahla finished the game completing 12-for-21 passes for 112 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns.
"I think it went very good for a spring game," Mahla said. Later, Mahla said his team still need to do lots of work over the summer.
"Oh yeah, absolutely, we have to get into the weight room and work hard this summer," added Mahla. "We need to run, get every sprint in, lift every weight and get everything done perfect."
Asked about his team next fall, Vonada said he does have a lot of players coming back, but he believes that his younger players will be just as important.
"I think a lot of them have stepped up," said Vonada. "And we've had some of the young guys step up tonight."

Fast start

Springstead, which was 5-5 last year, controlled the game from the start.
Noury scored first for Springstead in the first quarter on a scoring pass from Mahla. The Springstead QB then hit Roberson with a 15-yard scoring pass with 19 seconds left in the first half.
In the third period, Greco finished a long drive with a 3-yard TD burst.
After Osceola QB Dylan Lantz scored for the War Hawks on a 2-yard run snapping he shutout bid, Noury replaced Mahla at QB and scored on a 57-yard option run.
"I was impressed because it really wasn't one person who dominated on one side of the ball or the other," assessed Vonada. "We did a good job of spreading the ball around on offense and running from sideline to sideline on defense."

Springstead 27, Seminole Osceola 6

Qtr. Scoring:
SPG 7 7 7 6 -- 27
SO 0 0 0 6 -- 6
Individual Scoring:
SPG - Noury 4 pass from Mahla (Neuner kick)
SPG - Roberson 15 pass from Mahla (Schafer kick)
SPG - Greco 3 run (Neuner kick)
SO - Lantz 2 run (kick failed)
SPG - Noury 57 run (kick failed)