New District, New Facilities, Returning Faces for Leopards Football

Hernando

Team Overview:
Head Coach: John Scargle (3rd Season)
Previous Season Record: 4-6
’22-’23 Season Record: 3-7
Spring Jamboree Result:
13-6 Loss to Wildwood
Stadium: Tom Fisher Stadium

Entering his third season and the team’s first season in 3A District 7, Coach Scargle and company are excited for their upcoming schedule. As the prior two years’ games had already been set in stone by the prior coaching staff, this is the first year that the current crew has been able to affect change in the schedule. Coach Scargle is looking forward to playing a collection of more traditional opponents that Hernando had not faced over that span. The Purple and Gold could see an uptick in their record between the new schedule and a plethora of returning players and upperclassmen on both lines of scrimmage.

Another cause for excitement surrounding the program comes down to developments. Hernando has been investing heavily in facilities, including their new weight room and has a roadmap for further upgrades over the next 36 months. The Leopards have been in that weight room preparing hard for their season opener versus the Clearwater Tornadoes but across the board, the athletes are most looking forward to playing Nature Coast to end the year.

Coach Scargle on the schedule:
“Brooksville’s a small town. They are really going to get behind us if we can show some kind of productivity. They want to see us win on the scoreboard. We’ve been making improvements since my first day here. We’re moving in the right direction, but they really want to see a 7-3, 8-2 season, maybe go two-deep into the playoffs. That’s our goal. We want to win a district championship for them. We want to win a regional championship for them. That’s our total focus every day in the weight room, every day on the field.”

Coach Scargle on replacing John Capel III’s rushing production:
“He was a huge part of the offense last year. He was our cowbell, but with our quarterback Mike Saltsman as a sophomore as a starting varsity quarterback, that’s going to help us in our passing game. He’s also going to help pick up a little bit in the run game, but our tailbacks are going to be by committee. We have some young guys: Jerry Brown, Stevontae Hasberry, Gabe Sansone. It’s going to be by committee, so no one person is going to be exhausted, kind of like John was last year almost carrying every single run play. So, it’s going to be by committee. The nice thing is we have a very strong offensive line. A lot of guys returning that played last year.”

Coach Scargle on the new facilities:
“I think not only is the community excited, the players are excited, the administration’s excited. We were able to get the new locker room last year with the NFL-type lockers. This year we got the locker room floor painted. We got a brand-new weight room with five double-sided ten platform racks. We have plans for a field house already in the works. We are meeting with a new scoreboard company for a full digital scoreboard, and we are working on a turf field. So, those are the things we’ve got coming in the next 36 months.”

The staff’s goal was to not only make the players stronger but “smarter” as well. This entailed giving everyone playbooks and emphasizing fundamentals. With leadership from the upperclassmen and better numbers overall (67 athletes in total, roughly 50 at training camp), Coach Scargle and company have high aspirations for 2024.

Leopards 2024 Schedule
8/30 vs. Hollins at 7:30 p.m.
9/13 vs. Crystal River at 7:30 p.m.
9/20 vs. Springstead at 7:30 p.m.
9/27 @ Central at 7:30 p.m.
10/4 @ Pasco at 7:30 p.m.
10/11 vs. Citrus at 7:30 p.m.
10/18 vs. Lecanto at 7:30 p.m.
10/25 @ Weeki Wachee at 7:30 p.m.
11/1 @ Nature Coast Tech at 7:30 p.m.