By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.
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A little over a week after losing its head coach, the Hernando High football team dropped its spring classic game on Thursday night.
Fivay connected on four long touchdown passes in the first half to take a commanding lead over the visiting Leopards, who suffered a 48-14 defeat in the exhibition contest just eight days after head coach John Scargle surprisingly stepped down to take a job at a college in Western Pennsylvania.
“We had some kids that really stepped up,” Hernando interim head coach Wyndell “Chop” Alexander said. “It’s hard to climb over that adversity knowing that your coach stepped down and another coach is stepping up, and them having to buy in to a different way of doing things.”
“But for the most part I felt like our kids did fight. We fought pretty much the whole game. We had a couple kids step up offensively, a few kids step up defensively. But there’s always things we could work on. We’ve got to polish up a lot of the fundamentals, blocking and tackling.”
“We missed a lot of tackles tonight, we missed a lot of blocks. Our snaps tonight were very off, a lot of timing stuff. But that’s all stuff that can be fixed and hammered out, and I’ll go over and discuss with the coaches. If they pull the trigger on giving me the head coaching job, then that’s one of my plans to try to build more toward the future.”
The future is definitely in flux for the Leopards, coming off a 6-4 season in 2024. Fivay is likewise dealing with a coaching change, having to replace Tyrone Hendrix who resigned after the team went 7-3 last year to take a college coaching position.
Defensive coordinator Anthoy Egan was promoted to the top spot back in February and his unofficial debut as head coach was a rousing success. The Falcons scored two touchdowns late in the first quarter to take a 13-0 lead. The first score came on a 36-yard pass from Dante Moretti to Odell Brown, then a 44-yard strike when Clarence Walker took a toss from Moretti and threw it downfield to Josh Little.
Moretti connected with Antwon Brown on a 56-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to push the advantage to 20-0 with 8:54 to play in the first half, and the two combined for a second scoring strike for 45 yards at the 2:39 mark of the second quarter.
With six seconds remaining before halftime, Hernando finally reached the end zone on Kamoni Dotson’s 14-yard quarterback keeper around right end. The first snap of the second half deflected off a receiver in motion, but Dotson was able to pick the ball up off the ground and turn the broken play into a 70-yard sprint down the right sideline to
cut the deficit to 27-14.
“He has very good field vision. He has good spatial awareness, especially when running the ball between the tackles,” Alexander said. “But we’ve just got to do a better job getting the ball to him. We snapped the ball low, snapped it high, snapped it all over the place. That’s just something we’re going to work on. We’re going to work on that timing and that’s something that can be fixed.”
“… As far as athletic ability, he’s the fastest on our team. He can see things that most people can’t see. If we can keep him healthy and he gets stronger in the offseason, and he’s able to learn the system and grow and develop as a leader, there’s no telling how far he can go. He has a very high upside.”
Fivay tacked on from there, with Moretti scoring on a 1-yard run up the middle in the third quarter. Kavion Brown added a 3-yard rushing touchdown and Antwon Brown collected his third touchdown on a 34-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Aside from Dotson, Alexander praised the work of Mason Pauliot on both sides of the ball, carrying the football while also recording a few sacks and tackles for a loss. Nose tackle Evan Richards, running back Jerry Brown and offensive lineman Wiley Blair also performed well.
“Once we watch the film, we’ll be able to see if other kids stepped up and who needs to be developed a little bit more,” Alexander said. “I felt like (the coaching change) might have been on their minds a little bit, but I think for the most part they were focused. They really had bought into me and bought into what we have going on now, so that’s a good thing.
“We didn’t change anything as far as the coaches go. We had the same offense, I kind of tweaked the defense a little bit. They were shocked in the beginning, but they’re starting to transition forward.”
The question remains who will be the coach the Leopards transition to in the offseason.
Scargle publicly endorsed Alexander, who he had brought in as defensive coordinator just five weeks ago after he filled that same position under Bill Vonada at Crystal River last season.
Alexander was head coach at Lecanto for three seasons from 2020-22, leading the Panthers to a 16-14 record and their first playoff victory in 2022.
“There’s a lot to work out as far as the Xs and Os go, but as far as the buying in with the discipline, there was a lot of chirping back and forth. I thought our kids did a good job of not retaliating,” Alexander said. “We’ve made major moves as far as discipline. I’m doing a better job tracking grades and making sure the kids are there for attendance. Kids are being very receptive to all these things because they all want to play.”
“Let’s focus on the foundation. I feel like that’s the foundation right now and everything else is going to come. We’re going to start putting together and polishing the scheme. We’re going to get together as coaches over the summer, we’re going to polish everything up and we’re going to be way more cohesive in the fall if they decide to make that move.”
“… Once the kids understand the system and understand what I’m asking for them to do, it’ll fall into place. Rome wasn’t built in a day and we’re not going to be a world-beating football team in three weeks of spring. It’s going to take time, and I’m willing to step in and put the time in. I don’t shy away from hard work, and I guarantee if they do decide to make the move there’s not going to be any team that’s going to work harder than these young men.”
