By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.
[email protected]
LECANTO – A year ago, the Hernando High flag football team traveled north to Lecanto for a district tournament semifinal and didn’t enjoy the outcome.
The Leopards suffered a season-ending 44-0 loss to the host Panthers that night, after falling 21-0 on that same field in a regular-season meeting.
But on Tuesday evening the tables had turned. Hernando came into a District 2A-8 semifinal at Lecanto as the top seed against the fifth-seeded Panthers and looked the part, cruising to a 26-0 victory.
“Lecanto has been the standard in our district and (the Leopards) came up big tonight,” Hernando head coach Tyson Ellis said.
“We had to overcome a hump and that’s beating Lecanto on their home field at their place. They’ve owned it. They’ve owned districts for years. These girls came out tonight and they came ready to play, and they took care of business tonight.
“I know Lecanto early in the year they didn’t have their quarterback. They had their quarterback back tonight from when we saw them earlier in the year. (The Leopards) adjusted, came out and did their jobs. They executed defensively and offensively.”
Hernando (11-3) had indeed already beaten the Panthers (7-9) 20-6 on Feb. 26, but that game was played in Brooksville. So, this one had a little extra meaning and may be the biggest win in the three-year history of the program, sending the Leopards to Thursday’s district final against Nature Coast back at Lecanto.
“We’re really excited,” Hernando sophomore Alexis Sway said. “We know that’s it not going to be easy, but we’re ready. We’re ready to play.”
Hernando marched down the field on the game’s opening drive and went up 6-0 on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Carlie Grant to Sway. The Leopards needed just two plays to score on their second possession thanks to a short pass from Grant that Sway took 55 yards to the house on the first play of the second quarter.
An interception by Johanna-Star Williams gave Lecanto a chance to get on the scoreboard before the end of the half. The Panthers pushed into Hernando territory but a sack by Skyla McCorts on the final play before halftime left it 12-0. Lecanto also couldn’t cash in on the first drive of the third quarter despite getting across midfield for the only other time in the game.
Late in the third quarter, the Leopards upped their lead on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Grant to Sway, and Ava Montanez-Lehman hauled in the extra point to make it 19-0.
Sway registered her fourth touchdown reception of the day in the fourth quarter, on an 11-yard toss from Grant.
“The offense, we played really well,” Sway said. “There were a lot of gaps and holes and things we can improve on. But I feel like overall we did a really good job.”
“… I’ve known my quarterback since middle school. We’ve played many things together. We practice together. We practice hard. We work hard. We have a connection that, it’s good. It’s good.”
Sway’s impact was also felt on defense, where both she and McCorts recorded two sacks and three hurries.
“Our defense, it was really good. We covered a lot of ground,” Sway said. “But we missed a lot of good plays. We could have had many interceptions. We could have pulled a lot more flags. It was good, but we need to be better.”
Grant completed 14 of 15 passes for 164 yards to go with her four touchdowns to Sway. Annabelle Chamberlain went 6 of 7 passing for 41 yards with an interception.
“Defensively we pulled flag. We didn’t allow the big play on a missed flag. We kept the ball in front of us, we didn’t let anybody behind us,” Ellis said. “Offensively, we executed. I think I might have saw maybe one dropped pass tonight. That executing offensively, taking what they’re giving us, and they did a good job of that tonight. We didn’t try to get greedy. We just took what they gave us and moved the ball down the field.”
The district championship game marked the third meeting between the Leopards and Sharks this season. Hernando won 20-7 on March 10, but lost 24-0 in the county tournament on March 27.
“It’s going to be tough. It’s like I was telling (the players) before, it’s a rubber match,” Ellis said. “Nature Coast, they’re well-coached. They prepare well for us. There’s no surprises. We faced them three times, this will be the third time we’ve faced them this year. There’s no surprises there.”
“We’ve got to come out, we’ve got to execute just like we did tonight. Pull flags, because Nature Coast is going to be ready. They’re well-coached and they’ve got a good quarterback, and they’re going to be ready.”
