As scoring updates hit social media from Friday night’s Nature Coast-Hernando game, a few eyebrows surely raised.
For three quarters the visiting Leopards gave the unbeaten Sharks everything they could handle, but in the end couldn’t quite overcome their county and district rivals, as Nature Coast collected a 40-27 victory.
“The penalty discrepancy was very skewed. We got flagged a lot and it killed drives,” Nature Coast head coach Justin Worden said. “We got the looks we wanted. We were blocking pretty well for the most part. We ran the ball pretty well. The penalties just put us behind the 8-ball.
“We did a lot to stop ourselves, and we told the kids, ‘You can’t do that again in two weeks or you’ll be done.’”
In two weeks, the Sharks will host Zephyrhills in a regional quarterfinal. Thanks to a bye in Week 11, they’ll have ample time to prepare for that matchup. They also hope to use the break to heal up some nagging injuries.
Nature Coast finishes the regular season 9-0, undefeated for the second straight year in row. That’s an unprecedented feat in county history.
“It’s something that can never be taken away from the kids,” said Worden, whose team has won 22 straight regular-season tilts. “People can talk about the kids, the coaches, the program as much as they want, but nobody else has done it.”
Once again, it was the ground game that carried the day for the Sharks, who also finished up 6-0 in Class 5A, District 7 action. T.J. Owens rushed 21 times for 311 yards and scored five touchdowns.
After returning from an ankle injury, Owens has combined for 559 rushing yards and 10 scores the past two games. On the season, the senior has run for 1,121 yards and tallied 18 touchdowns in just seven contests.
His last two scores against Hernando (3-5 overall, 2-4 5A-7) in the fourth quarter, from 4 and 21 yards respectively, allowed Nature Coast to pull away in what was a one-score game.
Owens had a pair of 49-yard touchdown runs in the first quarter, getting the Sharks out to a quick 14-0 lead. The Leopards got a 1-yard scoring run from quarterback Scott Bierwiler to cut it to 14-7 at halftime.
Nature Coast quarterback Brian Haygood, who rushed for 78 yards, scored from five yards out and Owens added a 44-yard touchdown sandwiching a 19-yard scoring strike from Bierwiler to Ygenio Booker. But David Hale Bronson made it 28-21 on a 10-yard touchdown in the final minute of the third quarter.
The Sharks finally received some breathing room from Owens, more than enough to withstand Bierwiler’s second touchdown pass to Booker, for five yards, as time expired.
“Our kids played very hard. Nature Coast came out, got a couple on us real quick. We made some defensive adjustments; our defensive staff did a good job of adjusting,” Hernando head coach Bill Vonada said. “We did a decent job of mixing it up after we got the game going.
“Very proud of how our kids battled and responded to a variety of things.”
Matthew Robinson paced the Sharks’ defense with 16 tackles and recovered two fumbles. Zachary Powell added 11 tackles.
The Leopards, who had two games canceled due to hurricanes, announced that they will travel to Ridgewood this coming Friday to conclude their season.
With the win, Nature Coast completed a sweep of county foes. It has won at least a share of the past three county championships.
“It’s big,” Worden said. “That’s our goal every year, to win a county championship and district championship. That’s two years in a row we’ve done both, so that’s big.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.