By Andy Villamarzo
Hernando Sun sports reporter
The regular season for prep football in Hernando County heads into Week 10 action and last week’s Week 9 helped bring a little bit more clarity to the playoff picture moving forward. Nature Coast clinches themselves a district championship by defeating Inverness Citrus while undefeated Springstead went on the road to upend Groveland South Lake. All five of Hernando County’s squads will be back in action this week and teams will be that much closer to completing the season after this Friday. We take a closer look at all of the Week 10 regular season matchups on tap for Friday night.
Springstead (8-0) at Lake Minneola (5-3): No more warms up or tests, it’s time for the real deal when Springstead hits the road to face Lake Minneola for the Class 6A, District 5 championship game. This has been a long awaited matchup between these two clubs since the district was created and both teams have been on a roll as of late. For the Eagles, they will live and die by the run game and running back Anthony Alexis will lead the way. Quarterback Max O’Rourke has played well in a game manager role and has played well throwing and running the ball in every contest. Linebacker Adrian Cabrera should see a role on both sides of the ball in this huge district tilt.
Nature Coast (5-4) at Hernando (4-5): Once left for dead, Nature Coast has fully recovered from what was looking to be a lost season. The Sharks have rebounded from losses against Wiregrass Ranch, Springstead and New Port Richey River Ridge and now are the Class 5A, District 7 champions once again. Nature Coast was able to upend Inverness Citrus in what was a de facto district championship game last week and the Sharks were able to dominate 34-19. Nature Coast can now look ahead to finish off the season with a potential momentum builder when they face an old adversary in Hernando. The Leopards are playing for pride and after cruising past Central last week, Hernando hopes to even its season at 5-5. Expect a very physical matchup between these two teams.
Central (3-5) at Weeki Wachee (1-7): Both Central and Weeki Wachee have tried to get themselves to respectability the entire season, but are getting to the finish line hoping to end on a good note. The Bears started off the 2019 campaign with one of the most promising beginnings, as Central began the season at 3-0 behind the running theatrics of tailback Contae Cason. Cason has led or been in the top categories rushing the football in the state of Florida and will look to have another big day against the Hornets’ front seven. Weeki Wachee looks to pickup win No. 2 when they host the Bears, with Chris Cook’s club lone victory against Holiday Anclote. Though there may not be any kind of playoff implications tied to this game, the Bears and Hornets have played tough all year and a win at this point is a good note heading into a long off-season.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
