Sports Notebook: Tough Week for County Football Teams

For most county football teams, Friday ended up as a night they’d rather forget. While Hernando had an impressive 28-24 win over Lecanto, Central, Nature Coast, Springstead and Weeki Wachee all suffered losses.

The Eagles fell to 6-1 on the season, suffering their first defeat of the season when they dropped a battle of unbeaten squads at Wiregrass Ranch, 14-3.

Meanwhile, the Sharks (4-4) went down at Land O’ Lakes, 42-31. Quarterback Jackson Hoyt completed 13 of 21 passes for 286 yards and threw for three touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 95 yards and a score.

Jacorrion Owens totaled 100 yards receiving on just two receptions and caught a touchdown, as did Grant Lanning, who had five receptions for 101 yards. Jasir Harvin added a rushing touchdown.

The Hornets (5-3) lost 14-6 at Crystal River. Richard Hanshaw threw a touchdown pass and Brock Rosario led the team with 11 tackles. Donovan Roberts added 10 tackles and a fumble recovery, and James Nielson had three tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.

The win for the Pirates assured them at least a share of the District 3A-7 title and dropped both Weeki Wachee and Hernando out of contention. Central (3-6) had already been eliminated prior to a 21-16 loss to Citrus on Friday.

In volleyball, the FHSAA released its regional brackets over the weekend. Hernando, fresh off winning the District 4A-8 Tournament on Thursday, is the fifth seed in Region 2 and travels to Mount Dora for a quarterfinal match on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.

“We just want to play good, pull together, get another win,” Hernando senior outside hitter Kaiya Ward said following the district final. “Maybe get to the Elite 8, maybe win at state. We got it.”

Hernando Christian Academy was upset in the first round of the District 1A-4 Tournament, losing 25-19, 25-18, 25-22 to Seven Rivers Christian on Oct. 14. However, three teams advanced to regionals out of the district, including champion St. John Lutheran and runner-up Meadowbrook Academy.

The Lions (9-4) were the third team and they played at Meadowbrook on Oct. 22 in a Region 4A-1 quarterfinal.

Springstead won its opener in the District 5A-9 Tournament, beating Pasco 25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 21-25, 15-4, on Oct. 16. The next night, the Eagles (9-14) fell to Wesley Chapel, 25-21, 25-18, 25-12.

The Springstead girls cross country team captured the Gulf Coast 8 conference championship on Oct. 17 at Lake McKethan. Lainee Mercer was the individual GC8 meet champion, the freshman running a 18:23.30 to set a new school and conference record.

Olivia Allen was fifth (22:28.50), Alyssa Hoyt was 11th (23:00.00), followed by Aliya Rosario in 12th (23:00.20) and Redmond Kylee in 13th (23:01.80), as the Eagles tallied a 36 team score to beat out Lecanto (42).

It was a near sweep for the Eagles, with the boys coming in second but actually tied Citrus for the lowest team score with 41. The tiebreaker went to the sixth runner for each team and gave the ’Canes the win.

Nature Coast sophomore Noah Carpenter was the individual champion in 16:49.50. He was followed across the finish line by three straight Springstead runners, Collin Mindt (16:56.50), Avery Smith (17:12.20) and Theodore Toler (17:37.80). Gi Rodriguez Gracia was 13th (19:23.40) and John Blair came in 22nd (20:25.20).

Elijah Romero was the sixth runner for the Eagles, placing 28th (20:42.90), but Citrus had both its sixth and seventh runners in 24th and 26th.

The GC8 Girls Golf Championship tournament was held on Oct. 14 at Sherman Hills and Springstead took second. The Eagles posted a 487 team score, well behind Lecanto (362), and were led by freshman Anna Talbot in sixth place with a round of 92.

Weeki Wachee senior Rylie Csont came in second overall, shooting an 82. Hernando’s Katelyn Carlsen (92) and Avery Britton (101) were 7th and 8th respectively, while Weeki Wachee’s Atene Ant came in 9th (105).