DeShawn Smith is gone. The nation’s leading rusher and scorer graduated following his historic senior season at Nature Coast, and surely took the Sharks’ hopes of repeating 2015 with him, right?
That’s the perception the Nature Coast football battles as it heads into a new campaign, exacerbated by a poor showing in the spring, a 37-2 loss to Palm Harbor University.
“I think we definitely have a few guys leaning on last year’s success still, and we’re trying to stop that mentality,” Nature Coast head coach Justin Worden said. “This group of seniors has a brand new blank slate in front of them and have to leave their own legacy.
“The standard was set. We told the kids, ‘We finally got to the playoffs and won a game. Then we won another game and set expectations a lot higher than just competing for a playoff spot.’”
That standard from a year ago was a 12-1 record, a district championship and a trip to the Elite Eight, where the Sharks fell to Green Cove Springs-Clay, 40-28.
Smith rushed for 3,715 rushing yards and scored a state-record 66 touchdowns. While it’s unrealistic to expect the Sharks can come close to matching that kind of production, the cupboard is far from bare.
The top returning rusher is actually the quarterback, senior Brian Haygood. In Nature Coast’s run-heavy offense, he went just 21-of-39 passing for 498 yards, with five touchdowns against four interceptions. But he totaled 710 rushing yards – averaging 9.0 yards per carry – and seven scores on the ground.
He’ll be joined in the backfield by junior Willie Coffey, who as Smith’s primary backup tallied 394 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Michael Weston, who had limited carries last season.
Also in the mix is a transfer from Springstead, senior T.J. Owens. A year ago he rushed for 409 yards and nine touchdowns, and added 149 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions.
“He’s an electric athlete,” Worden said of Owens, also a safety. “He sticks his foot in the ground and goes as fast as anyone I’ve seen. He brings a dynamic aspect in our run game. … I think he’ll definitely be a good change of pace for us and he’s as underrated as anyone defensively.”
On the offensive line, two stalwarts graduated in Cass Cole and Hunter Rhineberger, so senior guard Nico Devito will take the lead role, with sophomore tackle Jesus Torres also returning. Another senior, Gilbert Delgado, should see an increased role at wide receiver.
“I think we’ve just got to have a little more cohesiveness on the offensive line,” Worden said. “We’ve got to be able to get the ball in space to people throwing the ball. That’ll make us a lot more difficult out in the playoffs.”
Senior middle linebacker Matthew Robinson has recorded 113 and 142 tackles respectively the past two seasons, and has a chance to set a school record.
Defensive lineman Trent Gamble, who had 69 tackles and a team-high six sacks as a junior, anchors the defensive front. Haygood compiled 78 tackles and three interceptions as a defensive back last year.
The Sharks showed some inconsistency on that side of the ball in 2015, permitting 252 points over 13 games, though improving as the season went on. Of course the defense didn’t tend to get much rest on the sidelines thanks to Smith’s penchant for breaking off long touchdown runs early in drives.
Across the board, coaches from other teams in Class 5A, District 7 consider Nature Coast the favorite to repeat as champion until proven otherwise. Central, Citrus, Crystal River, Hernando, Lecanto and Weeki Wachee have yet to find consistent success in recent seasons, so the chances of the Sharks returning to the postseason remain strong.
But they have their eyes on more far-ranging goals now, and are eager to prove they weren’t the product of one player’s unprecedented dominance. They’ll open up with a road contest at Bradenton-Southeast this Friday, fresh off a solid 27-7 preseason triumph over Wiregrass Ranch last week.
“We’ve got to be better on defense than we were last year,” Worden said. “We’ve got to keep finding our spots and pounding the ball on people offensively. We tell the kids, ‘Do the job one week at a time.’ As long as we do that and stay focused, I think we have a chance to make some noise again.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.