BROOKSVILLE – On Tuesday night, the Nature Coast Sharks (10-3) rode a strong second half to a 25-6 victory over the Anclote Sharks (3-12) on senior night. Following a scoreless first half for both schools of sharks, the squad in Columbia Blue would go on to convert four out of five drives into points after the break.
Nature Coast Head Coach Ian Wald noted the key change that led to the uptick in productivity. “Offensively, I felt like we were doing well in the first half,” he said. “We just weren’t catching the ball […] The change was they caught the passes. That was the big difference.”
The first half saw both teams fail to make much headway offensively. Nature Coast struggled due to dropped passes and Anclote threw an interception to Junior Gia Valenti. The visitors would also turn the ball over on downs throughout the evening.
This was also due in large part to defensive pressure from Junior Dakota Francesco up the middle. She would log multiple sacks and tipped a critical pass on third down late in the final frame that would lead to a turnover on downs.
“We switched [Francesco] from corner over there because our normal rusher wasn’t here tonight, and I thought she was pretty dynamic off the ball,” assistant coach Jason Deso said. “She reads the play super well. She is football smart […] She kind of diagnoses what the other team is doing quite frequently. So, I figured putting her at the rusher position would solidify the center of our defense, which is where they were really eating us up for most of the evening.”
Nevaeh O’Toole (#5) was up last. She has played the last two years on the varsity flag football team, and she plans to join the Air Force following her matriculation from Nature Coast Tech.
Coming out of the intermission, Coach Wald’s crew held the visitors to a quick three-and-out. Despite punting, Anclote did not help themselves much in the field position battle due to an effective return to the Anclote 27-yard line.
Three plays later, Junior QB Madelyn DePetrillo was rolling to the right for a five-yard touchdown pass to Junior Emma Brown. The extra point play saw the quarterback roll to the right again and loft a perfect pass to O’Toole in the back right corner of the endzone.
To the home team’s chagrin, Anclote scored right back on the opening play of their next drive when Sophomore Leyla Lloyd took a mid-range pass and broke open down the left side of the field for the long touchdown.
Following an empty possession by both teams, Nature Coast used a pair of chunk plays to set them up in the red zone for another five-yard touchdown. This time, DePetrillo kept it herself and evaded tacklers into the endzone.
The following defensive possession saw the home team force four straight incompletions and a turnover on downs, with Francesco’s aforementioned third-down stop coming during this pivotal stretch of the match.
“Defensively, it was kind of finding the right coverage to call for what they were throwing at us,” said Coach Deso. “Honestly, the girls responded really well, and they stepped up when they needed to step up […]”
This turnover was disastrous for the visiting Sharks as it allowed the Columbia Blue to set up shop in the red zone to begin the drive. Four plays later, DePetrillo found Junior Kennedy Rasmussen for a game-icing third touchdown on four possessions. One last defensive stop, a mere four plays later, ended any hope for the visitors, and the home team found paydirt as time expired to bring the game to a close.
Up next is Lecanto. They are the reigning district champions and have already “destroyed” the Sharks both times they have faced off, Coach Wald noted. The Panthers also sport a flag football program that is more than three times older than Nature Coast’s.
They will be a challenging draw for an impressive Sharks squad in the final game of the regular season. Going against a respected coach and an elite quarterback, Coach Wald and company are going to need all hands on deck when they travel to take on the Panthers on Wednesday.
“In all likelihood, we’ll possibly see them next week in districts,” Coach Wald said. “So, we are not trying to put too much into it. We are more focused on ourselves and putting the right foot forward going into districts. We want to be more confident and efficient rolling into districts, not rolling in or limping in. That is the big thing.”
Update:
Coach Wald and the Sharks pounced all over the Panthers in a 27-6 victory at Lecanto. With the final game of the regular season in the books, Nature Coast will officially turn their attention to districts.
