It was another wild week of football in Hernando County, as all five teams played on Friday night. Not everyone was playing district matchups, with Springstead hosting first-year Cypress Creek. We take a look at the five games that were played this past Friday.
Hernando 56, Central 6
It was homecoming night for Hernando when they welcomed Central to Tom Fisher Stadium for a Class 5A, District 7 matchup. The Leopards entered the game not giving any kind of leeway to the Bears in knowing that Central gave Nature Coast everything they could ask for just a couple weeks ago. Hernando (6-0, 4-0) made sure everyone was focused from the get go, as the Leopards cruises to a 56-6 drubbing of the Bears (2-6, 1-5). With the win, Hernando now heads into a huge matchup against Nature Coast for the Class 5A-7 title on the line.
“They’ve been involved in so many close games,” Hernando coach Bill Vonada said. “It was homecoming week for us, so we had to get the guys refocused. In pregame, they were as focused as I’ve seen them all year. For us it’s always been one week at a time. We can’t look ahead. We are always 0-0 to start the week.”
Inverness Citrus 37, Nature Coast 27
Can someone say upset? That’s really all anyone could think of when taking a second glance at the final score between defending 5A-7 champion Nature Coast and Inverness Citrus. The Sharks were tied up at 20-20 in the third quarter but were then out scored 17-7 the rest of the way in falling 37-27 on the road to Citrus. With the loss, it sets up a titanic matchup with Hernando on Thursday night and likely holds the key to Nature Coast’s playoff hopes. Running back Michael Weston rushed for over 150 yards in the loss.
““They were just more physical than we were,” Nature Coast coach Cory Johns said. “We didn’t play like we normally do. We threw a pick six, but even take away that and they still scored 30 points on offense. We just can’t go into that matchup (with Hernando) without making some adjustments. Some guys will be getting replaced. We can’t continue to have penalties and we can’t keep doing that to ourselves.”
Weeki Wachee 42, Lecanto 21
The rise of Weeki Wachee football under first-year head coach Jacob Gray continues on the upward trend. The Hornets, whom went winless in 2016, have now won one more game than they have in the last two seasons. The former Jacksonville Bolles’ special teams coordinator guided Weeki Wachee (2-5, 2-3) to a 42-21 blowout victory over Lecanto last week. The Hornets will end the season on the road against Crystal River before hosting New Port Richey Gulf for the regular season finale at home.
Springstead 59, Cypress Creek 0
The Eagles (5-3, 2-1) knew heading into last Friday’s contest against first-year Pasco County school Cypress Creek that they might have their way. Springstead’s dominance was never in question, as the Eagles rolled to an easy 59-0 victory over the Wolves. Mike Garofano’s club will face Dade City Pasco this Friday night before finishing up the season with games against Nature Coast and Hernando, respectively.
