By Brian McLaughlin (follow on Twitter @BrianMacWriter)
Palm Harbor Sports
From 1925 until 1996, if high school aged students from the present-day area known as Palm Harbor were heading to high school, they mostly drove about seven miles north to Tarpon Springs HS. And you can be sure that many of the young men played high school football for the Spongers.
Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs share some football genetics.
Since the late 1990s, the schools have been separate — but the football rivalry isn’t nasty. It isn’t PHU-East Lake (or East Pond as many PHU enthusiasts refer to it as). There’s a measure of respect, even though on Friday night at Hurricane Stadium in Palm Harbor, these two teams aren’t cool with walking off the field without a win.
But hatred? It doesn’t seem to be in play. On Friday, when the game kicks off in Palm Harbor at 7:30 p.m. (buy tickets here), the last two undefeated public schools in Pinellas County will do battle, and PHU is aiming for its hottest start to a season (4-0) in the 27-year history of the younger school. Tarpon Springs (2-0) obviously wants this one too — and the crowd is expected to be massive on both sides of the stadium in anticipation.
PALM HARBOR GAME TICKETS: https://gofan.co/event/1064873?schoolId=FL5995
Maybe the lack of the word “hatred” all starts with the coaching staffs. Members of Palm Harbor’s staff and the Tarpon Springs staff have worked together at various stops in their careers. There’s a clear measure of respect. PHU head coach Mike Mullaney and defensive coordinator Matt LePain have worked previously in Pinellas County with Tarpon Springs head coach Jeremy Frioud. And several assistants have, also.
“Our kids don’t run their mouths at each other, it’s a respectful, fun rivalry,” Frioud, a Tarpon Springs graduate who went on to play at Western Kentucky, told PalmHarborSports.com. “But it’s like playing your brother. You definitely don’t want to lose to your brother, but you’re not going to kick them when they’re down, either.”
PALM HARBOR FOOTBALL HISTORY: A year-by-year breakdown of the program’s history
An added bonus to this game? The booster club presidents from both schools mapped out a rivalry nickname, and there will be a trophy awarded to the winner after Friday’s conclusion. PHU president Sean Somerfield told PalmHarborSports.com that it will now be known as The Clash of the Coast, and The Harbor Springs Trophy will be awarded to the winner. Dr. John Forcella is the Spongers’ president.
“It’s going to be pretty exciting, with two undefeated teams,” PHU head coach Mullaney told PalmHarborSports.com. “If this isn’t the biggest game between Tarpon and Palm Harbor, it has to be one of the top two or three.
“The atmosphere should be really good. We have a great student section and like we tell our players: Enjoy these types of games, because you won’t get a lot of these and you won’t forget them.”
For the record, Mullaney’s correct. We checked the records, folks. This is clearly the biggest matchup ever between the teams that only have a 15-minute bus ride to play each other.
You’re not going to want to miss this one, Sponger and Hurricane fans. Show up and show out.
THE YARDSTICK BREAKDOWN
TARPON SPRINGS AT PALM HARBOR
HURRICANES STADIUM (1900 Omaha St., Palm Harbor, FL 34683 – behind school)
GAME TICKETS: Purchase here – https://gofan.co/event/1064873?schoolId=FL5995
2022 RECORDS: Palm Harbor– 3-0 (6-4 in 2022); Tarpon Springs– 2-0 (3-7 in 2022)
FIRST YEARS OF VARSITY FOOTBALL: Palm Harbor 1997 (27th season); Tarpon Springs: 1925 (99th season)
LAST WEEK Palm Harbor defeated Sunlake (Land O’ Lakes) 35-2; Tarpon Springs defeated Osceola (Seminole) 31-10
HEAD COACHES: Palm Harbor– Mike Mullaney (25-27, 6th year at PHU); Tarpon Springs– Jeremy Frioud (5-7, 2nd year at TS; 36-44 overall in 9 seasons)
LAST YEAR: Palm Harbor beat Tarpon Springs 21-14
2022 GAME RECAP: Palm Harbor found itself behind by a touchdown to Tarpon Springs in the third quarter, but rallied to score 14 unanswered points — capped by quarterback Will Seibert’s TD run in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. Together, Seibert and RB Mykhel Boebert combined for more than 300 yards of offense and all three TDs. On defense, Gunner Fodor and Alex Malyszko had 11 and 10 tackles respectively.
TOP 2023 STATISTICAL LEADERS (3 weeks)
PALM HARBOR– No. 3 Gunner Fodor, Sr./LB-RB (32 tackles); No. 8 Will Seibert, Jr./QB-DB (251 passing yards, 4 TDs); No. 10 Mykehl Boebert, Sr./RB (199 rushing yds, 3 TDs); No. 13 Jake Rennart, Soph./WR-DB (125 yards receiving, 2 TDs; 1 INT on defense); No. 40 Patrick Iaconis, Sr./LB (22 tackles); No. 18 Jason Ice, Sr./DB (2 INTs).
TARPON SPRINGS– No. 1 Geramyah Porter, Ath./Sr. (179 yards rushing, 3 TDs; 69 yards passing, 1 TD); No. 3 Parkees Harris, Sr./RB-LB (336 yards rushing, 2 TDs); No. 5 Greg Stamas, Sr./WR-SS (20 tackles, 3 TFL – leading receiver on offense); No. 2 Tyrek Winthrop, Sr./DE-WR (14 tackles, 1 TFL);
SERIES RECORD: PHU leads 7-6-0 all-time (first meeting 2003 – PHU has won four straight vs. Tarpon Springs, last falling to Tarpon Springs in 2011)
DID YOU KNOW?: Students from present-day Palm Harbor Middle School mostly went on to Tarpon Springs HS until the mid to late 1990s when PHUHS was built … Tarpon Springs is the fourth oldest football program in Pinellas County, behind St. Petersburg HS (1915), Clearwater (1922), and Largo (1923). The Spongers played their first game in 1925 during the leather helmet days.
PALM HARBOR’S RIVALRY WITH TARPON SPRINGS
