Leopards Best Bears in the Trenches in Second Half Blowout

BROOKSVILLE – On a special Monday Night Lights edition of Hernando County football, the Hernando Leopards (2-3) took down the Central Bears (3-3) on the road 41-7. While the home team had been enjoying a solid first half of their season, Head Coach John Scargle and the Leopards’ schedule had gotten off to a rockier start.

Monday night’s game flipped that script. The Purple and Gold came in with a focus on the trenches, and it paid off. After a relatively close first half where Hernando controlled the ball, the visitors wore down the Bears in the second half.

“We knew our offensive line had to step up and start really playing like they are capable of playing, and tonight they did,” Coach Scargle said. “They pretty much took it to the D-Line of Central, opened just some gigantic holes for our running backs and our quarterback. We didn’t have a real great night throwing the ball, but we didn’t need to because we were running the ball so well.”

While no scoring took place in the opening quarter, the Leopards would establish the ground game early on in their first two possessions that drove into Central territory. Both drives ended in turnovers on downs, but Hernando ate up the clock and kept the home team’s defense on the field for long stretches. This would pay off later.

Just over a minute into the second frame, Senior Gabe Sansone would cap off a quick two-play drive with a 60-yard rush to pay dirt. The play was made possible by the hosses up front opening holes for the senior running back to scamper through. His speed did the rest as no one in the secondary would have the angle to catch him.

The Purple and Gold would be given a short 22-yard field on their next drive when Junior FS/CB Michael Brown recovered Junior QB Niko Demos’ sack fumble minutes later. Another two-play possession was finished off with a Sansone score – this time a 12-yard rush around the left side.

The Navy and Silver would make things interesting momentarily early in the second half. After an effective kickoff return by Junior WR Samuel Jackson set them up with good field position at their 43 yard line, the Bears ran a clock-chewing 7:16 drive that heavily featured Freshman RB Jesiah Melvin toting the rock. He would not punch it in, though, as a pass from Demos to Sophomore Josiah Ojeda cut Hernando’s lead in half. From here on out, it would be all Leopards.

“They had a few guys going both ways,” said Coach Scargle. “We could see that they were tired at the end of the first half. So, our plan was just to run the ball, pound the ball down their throats. They did put together a little drive there at the beginning of the third quarter, got a nice pass for a touchdown. Kudos to them. They managed to get an 8-9 play drive there, but then we just responded with running the ball.”

Considering Sansone’s two touchdowns in the first half, fans likely expected to see the senior continue to tote the rock as the game wore on. That would not be the case for long as Coach Scargle and company would begin to feed Freshman Mason Pauliot the ball almost exclusively in the second half. Before this, though, Sansone would log his third touchdown on a 15-yard run up the middle late in the third period.

With the game nearing the final frame, the Bears were running out of steam as Hernando’s offensive line began to open up more and more holes. Pauliot took that as an invitation to hit those holes hard and plow through defenders for two touchdowns of his own.

Their next drive saw the freshman carry the ball on five of six plays as he punched it in on the goal line. Leading 34-7 late in the fourth, Mason would break through the Bears’ wall one last time for his second touchdown with 5.5 seconds left in regulation. This brought his rushing total to 119 yards in the second half alone. It was a fitting exclamation point to a much-needed win for the Leopards.

“He’s a little bit older and wiser than you would think as a freshman,” Hernando’s head coach said. “He’s got a high football IQ and he’s very physical for a freshman. He did a heck of a job reading the holes and, when there was nowhere to run, he lowered his shoulder, covered up the ball and got us a few extra yards.”

Looking ahead, the Central Bears will look to get back on track with a home game against the 4-1 New Smyrna Beach Barracudas on Friday. For the Leopards, they have an inter-county battle with the embattled Pasco Pirates on deck. Coach Scargle and company will have an opportunity to continue improving their fortunes moving into the back half of their 2024 campaign.