Throughout the first quarter during Friday night’s homecoming game against Weeki Wachee, something may have seemed amiss about the Nature Coast offense. Not that it showed in the results. The Sharks moved the ball with ease for one touchdown, and were a yard away from another when the period ended. Yet senior running back DeShawn Smith, with 1,399 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground coming in, stood on the sideline, decked out in full uniform but never taking the field.
When asked later why his star player sat out the first 12 minutes, Nature Coast head coach Justin Worden simply responded “team rules,” the stock answer for any prep mentor in such situations. Not that it took long for Smith to leave his imprint on the game. He came in on the first play of the second quarter and immediately recorded a 1-yard touchdown.
On his second carry, he went 51 yards to the end zone. On his third, he dashed 45 yards to the house, and added a 2-point conversion run. He was finally taken down on his fourth rush, but on his fifth he put together a head-shaking 49-yard touchdown run, shedding several tackles before finding open field down the left sideline.
Those five carries for 149 yards and four scores were the only five plays the Sharks ran in the quarter. They held a 36-14 halftime lead and went on to a 58-14 victory in a Class 5A, District 7 matchup. “I’m not in a good mood, really,” said Smith when asked if he had extra motivation after the first-quarter benching. “Nothing cocky, it’s just the usual. The line blocked, I finished. We’ve all got a little deal. They block, I score.”
“We knew we couldn’t stop him, we were just trying to find a way to slow him down,” Weeki Wachee head coach Mark Lee said. “We felt as if, ‘OK, we’re going to have to make it a daggone video game score.’ It looked like it was heading that way. We had some opportunities and misfired on a few things. We’ve got to do a much better job,” explained Lee.
He continued, “They’re a pretty daggone good football team. Offensively with DeShawn, and it’s not just him; they’ve got a lot of weapons. But DeShawn, he had a lot of runs that were ESPN top 10 worthy.” It’s been that kind of year for Smith, but Nature Coast (6-0 overall, 3-0 5A-7) had others step up. While Smith ran 11 times for 186 yards with his four scores (he also completed a 2-point conversion pass), quarterback Brian Haygood had 10 carries for 154 yards and three touchdowns, while Willie Coffey had 113 yards on nine rushes and a score. On just 39 carries, the Sharks totaled 501 yards, a startling average of 12.8 yards.
“They gave us a couple looks defensively on film we thought we could take advantage of, and we got what we expected,” Worden said. “Any time you get what you worked on, what you expected, it’s just a matter of executing. We executed really well to start the game. Then they made some adjustments, we made ours.” The Hornets (3-3 overall, 2-1 5A-7) scored on a 62-yard touchdown pass from Alec Cromie to Jacob Tinch, and a 4-yard run by Montae Bostick.
“Throwing the ball wise, it looked like we had a lot of things open,” Lee said. “We misfired on a couple of things. We had some wrong routes that we ran. They crowded the box. They weren’t going to let us run up the middle. We tried to get on the perimeter, do some counters and throw the ball. We didn’t execute the way I felt we should have… I told them, ‘Watch this film and when you get done watching the film it’s over with.’ You can’t change it. Move on to the next one, that’s Hernando. We’ve never beaten Hernando in varsity. We still control our own destiny. If we win out, we still get to go to the playoffs. It’s there. It’s not an easy road to get there, but we’re still in the driver’s seat,” said Lee.
While one Smith continued to pile up the numbers, another did the same on Friday. Central junior De’Vonta Smith ran for 238 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, though it wasn’t enough as the Bears fell at Citrus, 48-33. Entering that contest, De’Vonta Smith had compiled 1,241 yards and 11 scores to pace Central (2-5 overall, 0-4 5A-7).
While Springstead had the week off, Hernando dropped a home game against Ocala-Forest, 38-7. Scott Bierwiler threw for a 76-yard touchdown to Tyler Quigley for the Leopards (1-6).
The regular season is winding down in volleyball, with district tournaments starting next week. Weeki Wachee traveled to Hernando on Thursday for the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Lady Hornets (18-7) won their 12th match in a row, and swept the season series with Hernando (11-8), 25-16, 25-21, 16-25, 25-20. Miranda Werkmeister had 16 kills and Nicole Diaz added 14, while Zoe Murchio notched 41 digs and Sarah Asbury 41 assists.
On Oct. 2-3, Weeki Wachee competed in The Big House High School Volleyball Championship in Tavares, going 5-0 while dropping just one set. The Lady Hornets will carry that momentum into the 5A-7 Tournament at their own gym, as the second seed, while the two-time defending district champ Lady Leopards are the third seed.
Springstead (9-9) collected two wins on the week, against Citrus on Monday, 27-25, 25-23, 25-19, and at Land O’ Lakes on Tuesday, 25-22, 25-16, 11-25, 25-16. Jennifer Aten posted 11 kills apiece in both matches. Delaney Anderson had 30 assists versus Land O’ Lakes.
Nature Coast’s boys golf team completed an unbeaten 14-0-1 regular season on Thursday with a 190-235 win over Seven Rivers Christian at Silverthorn. Eric Forrest paced the Sharks with a nine-hole 43.
On that same course a day earlier, Nature Coast defeated Springstead, 176-207. Tyler Bismarck shot a 37 for the Sharks and Chris Felts a 43, while the Eagles were led by Cameron McMurray’s 47.
Silverthorn will play host to the 2A-13 Tournament, starting 12:20 p.m. on Monday. The girls tournament will be at Hernando Oaks, also on Monday, starting at 9 a.m.
Allen Keister of Springstead ran a fourth-place 17:14.06 at Saturday’s Whispering Pines Invitational in Inverness, leading the Eagles’ cross country squad to a third-place showing (117). Nature Coast’s Amelia Schmit came in seventh (21:21.22) as the Lady Sharks finished fourth (102).