PALMETTO — They stayed away from him almost the entire night.

But when the ball went in Brian Poole’s direction, he made the Palmetto Tigers pay.

Poole’s timely interception with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left sealed a 28-13 Southeast victory Friday night in front of an overflow crowd at Harllee Stadium.

Palmetto quarterback Cory Crawford fired a pass toward Austin Gordon’s path, which would have cut it to one possession, but Poole was shadowing Gordon before leaping in front of the Tigers’ 6-foot-5 receiver for the clinching turnover in the end zone.

“I was surprised,” Poole said. “Because they were trying to rock me to sleep.”

Of course, Poole had a good tutor in Jonathan Dowling, who took his game to the University of Florida after graduating from Southeast last season.

“Jonathan got me really prepared,” said Poole, who has interest from Georgia and South Carolina. “A lot of teams were throwing away from him (last year), so they were coming at me. So that made me take my game to another level.”

He has done it with non-stop workouts in the gym and a summer that gave him a place on the inaugural IMG All-Madden team.

Poole wasn’t just a one-trick pony with his defensive back skills eliminating one side of the field for the Tigers’ passing attack.

No, Poole did some of the hard running for the Noles’ ground game. He even ripped off an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“It’s hard for him going both ways,” Noles head coach Paul Maechtle said. “We’re trying to find an identity running the ball.”

Before Poole was doing his thing, Southeast quarterback Dyron Speight showcased his chemistry with fellow senior Boe Brand, as the duo hooked up for two touchdowns to give the Noles a 12-0 halftime lead.

“That’s truly nice,” Maechtle said. “They really are on the same page a lot of times.”

But the real game-changer was Desmond Blue’s fumble recovery off the second-half kickoff that he returned 45 yards for a score.

“I think the fumble recovery for the touchdown that started the second-half kickoff was obviously real big,” Maechtle said. “That gave us a little momentum.”

Despite Southeast’s offense rolling, there’s still room for improvement, Maecthle said.

The loss was a double-whammy for Palmetto.

That’s because Melvin Burston made his 2010 debut under center with 2:52 remaining in the first half.

However, he wasn’t fully fit and his return from the sprained ankle that sidelined him last week was too soon, head coach Dave Marino said.

“That was my worst nightmare that he was going to get hurt worse,” Marino said. “And that’s on me. That’s one of those tough decisions. You consult with the trainers. You consult with your coaches. You just have to make a decision, and I made the wrong decision.”