Nature Coast played its first official game in the post-DeShawn Smith era on Friday night, and had to be pleased with the results.
The Sharks went down to Bradenton-Southeast and left with a season-opening 33-14 victory, in a game where no one on the roster rushed for more than 60 yards, yet five different players carried the ball at least five times for no less than 24 yards.
Meanwhile, quarterback Brian Haygood completed 5-of-10 passes for 108 yards, tossing one touchdown (a 58-yarder to Gilbert Delgado) against one interception.
While those may seem like modest stats, on a team that has long relied heavy on the running game, it was a respectable step toward adding some versatility to the offense. Consider that the senior Haygood never threw more than seven passes in a game last year, and only once surpassed 100 yards.
Of course, the Sharks didn’t need to go to the air too often with Smith rushing for 3,715 yards and scoring 66 touchdowns. But without him, they’ll need players like Haygood to come to the forefront.
“I’ve got big expectations. I don’t like to do a lot of talking. I just want to win the week, that’s it,” Haygood said. “I just want to win, that’s really it. I just want to win.
“I’ve got to step up and be a bigtime player like (Smith) was. We just got to all step up.”
Though he had primarily played quarterback in the past, Haygood began the 2015 season as a wide receiver, while senior Jamison Carnegie returned under center. A few games into the season, the two switched roles, and Haygood ended up completing 21-of-39 passes for 498 yards, with five touchdowns versus four interceptions.
On the ground, he was second to Smith in rushing with 710 yards on 79 attempts – a 9.0 average – and added seven touchdowns.
“The change opened up a lot of stuff for us,” Haygood said. “I was a different quarterback than Jamison, and he was a different receiver than me, and things opened up a lot in the passing game. We felt like after that we could make it work.”
Given all his previous experience as a signal caller at the middle school and junior varsity level, Haygood said the transition back felt natural.
“He hadn’t made plays at receiver, which wasn’t necessarily his fault. We just weren’t where we wanted to be throwing the ball,” Nature Coast head coach Justin Worden said. “He was a little more decisive and got the ball out of his hands quicker. He had growing pains for sure. I thought running the ball he did well. That’s where he kind of made his money.
“Last year throwing the ball, he got dialed in a little bit here and there. We’ve just got to get him to calm down and stick to the easy play.”
During the offseason, Haygood wanted to work on getting “smarter” and spent time studying film, as well as drawing up plays and defenses.
“Nature Coast has been a running team forever, so we’ve still got that style,” Haygood said. “But we’ve still got the athletes to throw the ball and Coach knows when to do it at the right time. I love the offense. It’s a great use of my skills.”
The Sharks need him to continue putting those skills on display if they want to show everyone the program can sustain despite the loss of Smith. Haygood firmly believes Nature Coast can match the high standard it set and knows he’ll have to lead the way.
“We just want him to manage the game at quarterback. When he has the opportunity to throw the ball, make the right read, make the right throw and let the athletes make plays,” Worden said. “Hopefully he makes the right decisions and if he can keep people out of the box, that’d be huge.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.