By Andy Villamarzo
Hernando Sun sports writer
BROOKSVILLE- When folks around the Tampa Bay area talk about the best running backs in the area, it’s hard not to mention the name Contae Cason.
At one point, Cason led the nation in touchdowns scored. If one thing is for certain moving forward, however, it’s that Cason won’t be entering the endzone in a Central uniform any longer. Cason told the Hernando Sun that he is no longer at Central High School and will be transferring to another school.
Cason did not exactly specify which school he would be transferring to immediately. He said he would be making his own announcement about his decision of where he will be going via social media. The former Bear rushed for 1,758 yards and scored 21 touchdowns in the 2019 season. Central went 3-7 last season.
The game that brought a lot of attention to Cason’s time at Central was last season when the Bears hosted New Port Richey Gulf at home. Cason rushed for 203 yards and scored seven touchdowns in a 45-8 victory over the Buccaneers. The victory helped catapult Cason’s name onto the scene and the buzz started to build up at Central surrounding the fleet footed running back.
With Cason transferring out of Central, it leaves a huge void on offense for the Bears, who relied on the junior tailback. Now minus Cason’s 1,758 yards on the ground, it’s going to be back to the drawing board for the Bears on offense, as they enter the second season under head coach Rob Walden. Walden took over at Central for John Warren, who went 0-10 on his only season at the helm.
Walden accepted the job back in the summer of 2019 and was tasked with turning around a downtrodden Bears program that has not seen a winning season since 2016 when Central went 6-4 under the direction of Chris Sands, who is now the head coach at Eau Gallie High School. Walden has tackled the job head on and now has a tougher road getting the Bears on track to turn things around.
Rumors will fly around on where Cason might end up landing, as the running back could theoretically end up contributing to any neighboring Hernando County school. Nature Coast, Springstead, Weeki Wachee and Hernando are all run-first teams. The latter school, Hernando, is currently in the midst of searching for a head coach after Rob Kazmier stepped down as the Leopards’ lead man.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
