FOOD FOR THOUGHT

BRADENTON — Here are the pertinent stats for Manatee High’s four defensive linemen:

Twenty-one sacks. More than 180 tackles.

Seven large pizzas. More than 40 ribs.

The guys up front for the Hurricanes can play. And they can eat, too.

A lot.

Just ask Steve Gulash, Manatee’s defensive line coach, who routinely has the group over to his house.

“They went through seven large pizzas one night,” he said. “Then I had some ribs left over in the fridge, a big bag. ... So I warmed them up. And they left two.”

“There were about 42 ribs,” junior interior lineman Drakkar Wilson said.

But it’s about more than just stuffing their bellies for Wilson, brothers Chris and Quinton Pompey, and Marquis Dawsey.

It’s about bonding. And whether they’re playing video games, wolfing down slices of pizza or spending a Saturday afternoon watching a USF football game, the group has turned from a patchwork project into a tightly knit unit heading into Manatee’s Class 5A state semifinal Friday with visiting Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

“They’re my family,” Gulash said.

One that took some time to gel.

Defensive ends Dawsey (a freshman) and Chris Pompey were originally linebackers, and the Pompey brothers were both at Palmetto last year.

Initially, Dawsey, who was switched to end during the third practice of the summer, didn’t want to move.

“He came to me and said, ‘I don’t want to do this, Coach. Send me to JV,’” Gulash said.

Then came Week 2 at Palmetto, where Manatee scored a 35-3 win. Wilson said that was the night where everything clicked, when the group began working in sync.

They’ve been in stride ever since.

Dawsey has taken to his new position, totaling 4 1/2 sacks, which ranks behind Quinton Pompey (eight) and Chris Pompey (5 1/2). Wilson, who missed some time with an ankle injury, has three.

“It was a new position to me, and I really didn’t like it at first,” Dawsey said. “But then they got me into it.”

“I told him, ‘This time last year, you were playing Little League. Now you’re playing for a state championship.’” Gulash said.

Strengthening their relationship on the field is the time they spend off it — mostly at Gulash’s house, where they watch plenty of game film, as well as college football games.

Gulash’s children have become the boys’ biggest fans, wearing homemade jerseys around the house with Wilson’s No. 99 scribbled on the back, and play the roles of the defensive linemen during backyard football games.

It doesn’t hurt that the guys have become fans of the Gulash’s cooking.

“The breakfast is the best,” Wilson said. “I never ate sunny-side eggs until I went over there.”

The group plans on staying together, too — Wilson and the Pompey brothers are juniors. And Chris Pompey and Dawsey are enjoying their first fall at their new positions.

“I liked playing linebacker,” Chris said, “But I like playing end better.”

Now this group of boundless potential — and appetites — has helped put the Canes on the cusp of playing for a state title.

“At first, like Coach Gulash said, it was kind of shaky,” Wilson. “Then we clicked as a unit. We’re one now.”