Red Tide Rolls In

Some of the greatest defenses of all-time have catchy monikers.

For instance, Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain. Remember, Mean Joe Green or Jack Ham?

How about Dallas' Doomsday defense? And that was without Bob Lilly.

Or Miami's Killer Bs under Don Shula?

What about Minnesota's famed Purple People Eaters? Hall of Famer Alan Page was a lawyer off the field, but was an assassin to enemy ball carriers and quarterbacks between the lines for Bud Grant.

The Denver Broncos Super Bowl hopes hinged on John Elway on offense and the Orange Crush defense.

It seems the one common denominator for championship teams is their championship defenses.

Right now in Spring Hill, F.W. Springstead's defensive unit is approaching championship status.

Maybe that unit doesn't have a catchy nickname just yet - what about the Red Tide? - but its aurora is swelling.

SHS: on a roll

On Thursday night at Booster Stadium, the Eagles achieved what they had never accomplished in 33 years of varsity football on the Mariner Boulevard campus by blanking archrival Brooksville-Hernando, 21-0.

Maybe on the surface, it wasn't much of a feat, you say. The Eagles improved to 5-1 overall by gathering their fourth straight win. The triumph was the sixth series nod in a row over the Leopards, who dipped to 2-4.

HHS dropped its fourth straight game.

More importantly, the whitewash was the Eagles' third this season - all in a row.

Going back to the final game of the 2007 season - a 37-0 nod over Lecanto - SHS has posted four shutouts in five home games.

Right now, Defensive Coordinator Mike Garofano's unit has strung together 13 consecutive scoreless quarters at Booster Stadium.

The only mulligan was Crystal River's Travaughn Brooks' 68-yard third-quarter gallop on Sept. 5. Prior to Brooks' run, SHS led 28-0 before getting burned.

So far, the SHS 3-3-5 scheme has permitted a stingy six touchdowns in six games. All told, the Eagles have allowed a county-low 44 points, or just over seven points per game.

Interestingly, when the Eagles last made the state playoffs in 2004-05, they posted three shutouts across two seasons.

This current flock of Eagles is attempting to tie the school record of four shutouts set by Head Coach Pat McCoy's 1996 district championship team.

GAROFANO 101

Garofano and special teams coach Terry Hoffman are the lone two holdovers from the original SHS coaching staff in Head Coach Bill Vonada's first season in 1998.

Garofano, a former Powell Middle School mentor, went from scouting coordinator to defensive coordinator in 2001.

Coincidentally, when Garofano took over the defensive duties in 2001, the Eagles were 1-4 overall.

After he started calling the defenses, SHS responded with five straight wins in five weeks.

During that stretch, SHS out-scored its opponents, 135-6.

Most impressively, during those five games SHS did not allow a touchdown, permitting two field goals and securing back-to-back-to-back shutouts.

He's been in that capacity ever since.

The 2001 streak is eerily similar to what's happening now.

So how is the defense supposed to be played under Garofano's watch?

"Our No. 1 goal in a defensive series for our defense is to score," explained Coach Garofano, a 1993 alumnus from Springstead. "We're not just trying to stop the other team; we're not just trying to force a punt or a field goal, we're trying to score. That's our No. 1 goal."

It doesn't hurt that this season's SHS defense returns six starters including All-County linebacker Nate Schafer, All-County cornerback Bryce Hollingshead and returning All-County selections Domnique Roberson and Ben Noury, who play on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Senior cornerback Glenn Clarke and junior nose guard Christian Quinones are also returning starters from 2007.

That experience has enabled the Eagles to collect 10 turnovers going into Thursday night's game. In fact, SHS has won the turnover battle in every game this fall.

That pattern continued against Hernando by winning the turnover battle, 3-1.

Roberson, who has returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and Noury each had INTs off Leopard quarterback Kall Daniel.

Senior DT Stan Miele added a fumble recovery.

Besides the turnovers, Schafer entered the game averaging 11.4 tackles per game. He again paced the team Thursday night.

SCHAFER RULES

Is Schafer the team's undisputed leader?

"To me he puts in a lot more time in the film room. He understands what the other teams are trying to do to him and to our defense," pointed out Garofano. "Within each defense you've got to understand the weaknesses of a defense and he understands those things.

"On our weekly scouting report, he does a great job of studying it," he added. "That led to him making a great interception against Land O' Lakes. There's nothing you like to see more as a defensive coordinator than a sea of red heading down the sidelines (with the football). He also worked his butt off in the weight room; he's got speed, size and athleticism. He's undoubtedly the leader of our defense."

Yet, he's not alone.

"Domnique (Roberson) has been a playmaker. When the ball's in the air, he's a ball hawk," described Garofano. "And he'll tell you he likes to take it the other way. You need guys like that."

Overall?

"I've been pleased with the overall effort," replied Garofano. "There are a few things that you can control when you don't have the overall speed and athleticism (compared to other teams). You can control how hard you work and how much time you're putting in and just the overall effort.

"To me, it's all about getting 11 guys to the football. Really our guys have done a great job of playing their responsibilities and playing within the defense."

According to Garofano there are four defensive bylaws to abide by.

"I preach four things: 1. Pursuit, 2. Create turnovers, 3. You gotta tackle. 4. Defeat blocks," emphatically stated Garofano. "Those are the four things we focus in on each week. And we game plan and the guys have done a great job of following the plan and playing their positions."

To date, the Eagle defense has done such a terrific job that a catchy nickname might just be in the offing.