Hornets Cream Citrus in Senior Night Homecoming Game

WEEKI WACHEE — Their regular season was over. Their postseason hopes still were up in the air and relying on help from other teams.

But the Weeki Wachee football team was living squarely in the very pleasant moment after Friday night’s resounding 43-9 victory against Citrus in a homecoming game on Senior Night at the Hornet’s Nest. Players lingered on the field and celebrated the victory long after the game had ended.

“We’re still a long shot to get into the (Class 3A-Region 2) playoffs, but we at least have a chance,” Weeki Wachee coach Justin Bland said. “That’s all we can ask for. If this was the end, it was a great way to end it. I’m so proud of these guys and how far they’ve come. If this is the end, this will give us lots of momentum heading into the offseason.”

The Hornets need help from several teams playing make-up games (postponed by Hurricane Milton) next week. No matter how that plays out, Weeki Wachee’s season already has been a success. A program that never had won more than four games in a season, ran its record to 7-3 while winning for the fifth time in six games. And Bland found a way to showcase his seniors in the final minutes.

“I’m so happy for the seniors,” said Bland, in his first year as the Weeki Wachee head coach. “When they were freshmen, they were part of an 0-10 team. This season gave them an opportunity to have a little fun.”

The Hornets had lots of fun in a game they controlled from start to finish. Citrus (1-9) didn’t score its lone touchdown until the fourth quarter as Weeki Wachee dominated on both sides of the ball all game.

Sophomore defensive end James Nielson recorded two sacks to a new school record with 12 sacks in a season and moved into first place on the school’s all-time sacks list. Junior quarterback Richard Hanshaw seemed to set a new record almost every time he threw a pass, throwing for three touchdowns and 143 yards while also running for two touchdowns.

Junior running back Leelan Wright carried 24 times for 196 yards. Senior lineman Tyler Ciccio even got a chance to play running back late in the game and delivered a touchdown.

“Our running game set up everything,” Hanshaw said. “Their defensive ends and linebackers weren’t very disciplined and we took advantage of that.”

Hanshaw first put the Hornets on the scoreboard with a 21-yard touchdown run with 8:03 left in the first quarter and closed the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown run on a bootleg play with 3:55 left in the game. In between, Hanshaw used his right arm to dominate. He completed 13 of 20 passes and had touchdown strikes to three different receivers — Alex Wilson, Michael Schmidt and Zachary Wolfe.

Hanshaw now has 21 touchdown passes and five touchdown runs on the season.

“This is a great offensive system and (Bland) gives me the freedom to call my own plays at times,” Hanshaw says. “He lets me adjust if I see certain things in the defense.”

Ironically, both Bland and Hanshaw pointed to an early-season loss as the catalyst for Weeki Wachee’s recent surge. On Sept. 13, the Hornets squandered an early lead and lost by a point to rival Central.

“The silence in the locker room after that game is something I’ll never forget,” Hanshaw said. “That was a tough game because we had a lot of injuries and we were down to our fifth-string running back. Losing that one was brutal. But it also turned out to be a good thing. It was a spark for us. After that game, we came out a lot tougher and we didn’t back down from anyone the whole rest of the season.”