By Andy Villamarzo
Hernando Sun sports reporter
The regular season for prep football in Hernando County heads into Week 3 action and Week 2 brought upon some surprises. Nature Coast was shut out by South Sumter 33-0 and Central is off to a 2-0 start. All five of Hernando County’s squads will be back in action this week and teams will be 30 percent through the season after this Friday. We take a closer look at all of the Week 3 regular season matchups on tap for Friday night.
Springstead (2-0) at Nature Coast (1-1): This is likely the top game of the year when it comes to Hernando vs. Hernando opponents. With Hernando looking like it’s on a down year and Central is on the come up, this game will take the cake. The Sharks are coming off a 33-0 shellacking of a loss to Bushnell South Sumter. Springstead is riding high after back-to-back shutouts over Sunlake and Weeki Wachee. It will be up to the Sharks’ defense to slow down the Eagles’ ground-oriented attack. Expect a good mixup between quarterbacks Fabian Burnett and Vaughn Sykora.
Central (2-0) at Belleview (1-1): Surprise, surprise. Central is 2-0 just like everyone predicted before the season ever started and the only people not amazed at this start are the ones within Central’s locker room. All the success starts with the state’s leading rusher in running back Contae Cason. The junior runner has amassed 449 yards in two games and is showing no signs of stopping. Belleview provides the Bears with another winnable game and to think Central could be 3-0 was nearly unfathomable at the end of last season.
Lake Weir (0-2) at Hernando (0-2): The Leopards saw victory snatched away from them in the final moments against Eau Gallie last week. The final score was 13-7 with a box score that shows 7-7 in the fourth. The Leopards now must regroup for a matchup against winless Lake Weir. Hernando sees its best chance to pick up win No. 1 and Rob Kazmier’s group needs it in a bad way. Starting off the season 0-3 is something no one could’ve imagined after such a successful year No. 1 for Kazmier.
Weeki Wachee (0-2) at Lecanto (0-2): It seems like the Hornets are right there. Literally right there. Both games have seen Weeki Wachee compete but not producing points is going to be a problem for the Hornets. This week is a very winnable game for Chris Cook and crew when they make the short drive over to Lecanto. The Hornets should be able to pickup win No. 1 against the Panthers.
Top Performers From Week 2
Contae Cason, RB, Central: Cason was back at it again against New Port Richey Gulf and he might of actually out-done himself. The junior tailback rushes for 203 yards and scored six touchdowns in the Bears’ 45-8 win over the Buccaneers.
Kaleb Morrison, LB/RB, Central: Now Cason wasn’t alone when it came to being a standout performer against New Port Richey Gulf. Fellow teammate Kaleb Morrison also had himself a night, with the 2-way standout recording nine tackles and 39 yards rushing.
Toby Rahman, RB, Springstead: Springstead was able to dispatch Weeki Wachee 21-0 and got help from everywhere on the ground. Rahman led all rushers with 75 yards on 13 carries and one touchdown. Rahman will be a keyplayer heading into this week’s massive matchup against Nature Coast.
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Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
