With district play beginning this week in prep football, Springstead shook off a loss to county-rival Nature Coast the previous week for an impressive 33-7 victory over Mitchell on Friday night.
Randy Morgan and Demetrius Barry both ran for a pair of touchdowns as the host Eagles (2-1) bounced the defending champions in Class 6A, District 6.
Quarterback Jordan Wright also had a scoring run for Springstead, who built a 26-0 lead before the Mustangs (2-1) finally got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles have a week off before another key district battle at Sunlake on Sept. 30.
At Weeki Wachee, the Hornets hosted Jacksonville-First Coast in a game thrown together days earlier to replace Week 2 contests lost to Hurricane Hermine.
Against the perennially playoff-bound Buccaneers, Weeki Wachee led 7-0 early and trailed only 14-7 at halftime, before fading in the second half and falling, 46-14.
“They had more guys than we did and had some speed, too. We wore down in the second half,” Weeki Wachee head coach Mark Lee said. “We had 27 to their 65 guys. That made it rough as the game got going.
“I’m real happy with how we played defensively in the first half. We tackled well and created turnovers. Then offensively, we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities the defense gave us.”
Alec Cromie’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Eli Mendoza gave the Hornets (0-3) that early first-quarter edge. Cromie added a 6-yard scoring strike to Elvis Espinal midway through the fourth.
“I like it that we played a team that was very fast going into district play,” Lee said. “We’re not going to see anybody with the overall team speed that First Coast had.”
Spring Hill Christian’s Coltin Suizdak scored seven touchdowns in a 7-on-7 football triumph, 54-29 over Merritt Island-Ambassador Christian on Friday.
In volleyball, Hernando notched a pair of three-game sweeps over 6A-7 opponents, blanking Citrus on Tuesday, 25-14, 25-16, 25-18, and Central on Thursday, 25-10, 25-9, 25-9.
On Friday and Saturday, the Lady Leopards (9-2 overall, 5-1 6A-7) participated the Bishop McLaughlin Invitational, going 3-1. They beat Pasco (25-17, 25-15) and Wesley Chapel (25-19, 25-19) the first day, then lost to Academy at the Lakes (25-20, 20-25, 16-14) and defeated Nature Coast (25-13, 25-21) the second day.
Weeki Wachee (6-6 overall, 3-2 6A-7) won at Lecanto on Wednesday, 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-21, in its only match of the week.
Nature Coast (7-4 overall, 3-2 6A-7) downed district foes Central on Tuesday, 25-10, 25-16, 25-19, and Citrus on Thursday, 21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 26-24.
At Bishop McLaughlin, the Lady Sharks beat Indian Rocks Christian on Friday, 13-25, 25-20, 15-13. On Saturday, they topped Citrus again, 25-22, 15-25, 16-14, then lost to Hernando but bested Academy at the Lakes, 25-22, 25-21.
Hernando junior cross country runner Trevor Foley earned a first-place finish in Thursday’s Central High Bear Run in a time of 17:52.76. Springstead’s Matt Levonick came in second at 18:08.05, pacing the Eagles to a county-best fourth-place finish (129).
Central freshman Rayna King led all county girls with a third-place 21:47.96. Nature Coast, with Leah Marville in sixth (22:18.88), placed third overall (85).
Springstead’s swim team traveled to Citrus County to take on Crystal River Thursday in a meeting of two of the top contenders in 2A-7.
The Springstead boys, who edged the Pirates for the district title last season, fell by the slimmest of margins in this one, 84-83. Kyler Gray tied for first in the 50-yard freestyle for the Eagles (26.53) and A.J. Borg took the 500 free (1:03.12). D.J Lemke won the 100 breaststroke (1:14.60). In the 200-medley relay, Zack Starz, Lemke, Borg and Ryan Lue combined for a first-place 1:58.29.
Crystal River’s girls defeated the Lady Eagles, 94-76. Victoria Cleto captured two races for the visitors, the 100 butterfly (1:07.64) and 100 backstroke (1:10.48). Faith Appleton added a first in the 50 free (29.02) and Dakotah-Rae Chanthachoumpha did the same in the 100 breast (1:27.80). Appleton, Chanthachoumpha, Cleto and Kendall Tucker teamed for the top time in the 200 medley (2:12.32).
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.