Northeast Lauderdale's Chad Hall takes off against Gulfport after a pass reception Friday night.

    When momentum swung at Trojan Field on Friday night, it swung for the fences.

    WIth 5:23 remaining in the third quarter, Northeast Lauderdale led Gulfport by three scores and was seemingly in control. One play into the fourth, the Admirals had taken the lead and were on their way to a 46-28 rout.

    “When that thing called momentum got on the orange and the blue and the white’s side, they took full advantage,” Northeast coach Steve Nelson said as the Trojans fell to 3-2. “When it got on their side, they went for the throat and the knockout punch. And they did an outstanding job.

    “We unraveled a little bit.”

    Gulfport, ranked No. 4 in Class 6A, improved to 4-0 with the 39 unanswered points. That response was something Admirals coach Mike Justice was anxious to see. Gulfport had yet to be challenged in its unbeaten start.

    “They jumped on us,” he said. “We hadn’t been jumped on this year, and it scared us. But we came back.

    “The idea that you’re just going to go out there and beat somebody’s butt every week is ridiculous. It just don’t work that way.

    “We haven’t been challenged before tonight and then we get jumped on. I think it’s very important to see how we come back from that.”

    Gulfport’s answer started swiftly and was convincing. It took the Admirals just six plays to answer the final Northeast score, with Nick Burks covering the final 12 yards to make it 28-14 with 3:50 left in the third.

    Northeast’s Alex Nicholson was then intercepted near midfield and on the Admirals’ first play, Dennis Robertson hit Travon Travis for 41 yards. Travis caught all six of Robertson’s completions for 151 yards. Three plays later, Robertson snuck in from the 1. After Chad Hall was downed at the 1 on the ensuing kickoff, Gulfport pulled with 28-23 with a safety on Northeast’s next play when Joseph Gordon was swarmed in the end zone.

    Four plays later, nine seconds into the fourth, Gulfport grabbed the lead on a 21-yard run from Burks.

    “There was no key, you just play,” Justice said. “We had told our guys that adversity is part of the game. We had it first and they had it last, and we’re very fortunate.”

    The snowball continued to pick up steam from there. On the ensuing kickoff, the Trojans fumbled with Jamie Edwards scooping up the loose ball and rolled 10 yards to pay dirt.

    Northeast, finally found its footing.

    The Trojans, who had mustered just 10 yards while turning it over twice in the Admirals’ run, put together a 12-play drive to push into Gulfport territory. Mixing in quick passes to Ben Brooks and Maurice Terrell along with runs from Gordon and Phillip Everett, the Trojans reached the Admiral 26. However, on a fourth-and-inches, Nicholson’s pass for Brooks in the flat was picked off by Jovan Thigpen, who never broke stride and darted 75 yards, giving Gulfport a 44-28 lead.

    “Give credit to coach Justice and them, they did what it took,” Nelson said. “I’m just disappointed we didn’t finish the game.

    “The way we finished some others, that’s Gulfport over there and not those others that we were able to come back on late.”

    The Admirals finished off the 39-point swing with another safety when a snap sailed past punter Cohlby Sims through the end zone with 3:17 left.

    Before the momentum swing, Northeast built its lead on Gulfport miscues and big plays, offensively. After Vance Miller picked up a Gulfport fumble and returned it 34 yards, Northeast got the early lead when Nicholson hit Books just inside the left corner of the end zone on a fourth-and-goal with 6:07 left in the first.

    When Gulfport’s next drive stalled, Stephen Bauchle couldn’t handle the low long snap and after being hit as he tried to fall on the loose ball, Cordarian Porter dove on the loose pigskin in the end zone and the Trojans led with 4:50 remaining in the opening period.

    The Admirals would close within 14-7 when Nicholson was intercepted by Rodgick Boose, who returned it 85 yards for a score with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. The Trojans, though, had an answer for the first momentum swing.

    On the next offensive snap, Nicholson’s swing pass to Brooks was completed at the 20 and the Northeast senior outraced the Gulfport defense 80 yards for a score. Brooks had five catches for 129 yards, while Nicholson completed 11 of 24 throws for 207 yards, but was picked off three times.

    “First halves don’t matter,” Nelson added. “There’s two halves, and usually, if you can come out on top of that second half, you’re going to be the winner in the end.

    “Like I told my kids, for 31 minutes we were up 28-7. For the last 17 minutes, they’re up 39-0. They took full advantage of every opportunity, and we didn’t do a good job of slowing that down.”