Nature Coast senior running back DeShawn Smith, who led the nation in both rushing yards and touchdowns last fall, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with burglary.
According to the arrest report filed by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, Smith, 18, and three juveniles were involved in a break-in at a residence located at 11260 Claymore St. in Spring Hill on Tuesday afternoon.
As the Nature Coast boys basketball team celebrated with its district championship trophy Friday night, the school’s girls weightlifting coach, Sharon Elliott, was among the faculty members filing out of the stands. Noticeably hanging from her neck was a silver medal, a reminder of what her own squad had accomplished just a few hours earlier. Yes, it was a good day to be a Shark.
Nature Coast Technical High School's Senior running back DeShawn Smith has been named the 2015 Florida Dairy Farmers Mr. Football. Smith has already been selected Class 5A Player of the Year.
In a testament to the sheer volume of DeShawn Smith’s 2015 statistics, Friday night’s Class 5A, Region II final at Green Cove Springs-Clay technically ranks as his worst rushing performance of the season. This happened on a night when the Nature Coast senior still ran 19 times for 131 yards and scored twice, not to mention he caught two passes for 110 yards and a third touchdown – in a third-round playoff game.
If anyone doubted whether DeShawn Smith could continue at his mind-boggling pace against presumably stiffer postseason competition, well they were correct. The Nature Coast senior running back hasn’t matched his county-record production from the regular season. Somehow, he’s actually gotten better.
It was a Friday night at Shark Tank Stadium that will forever be embedded into the history of Hernando County prep football. Nature Coast earning its first playoff win? That happened. A county team reaching 11-0 for the first time? Yep, check that one off the list, too. How about a player breaking a state record? How about two? It was that kind of night, in that kind of season for the Sharks, as they bounced Zephyrhills from the postseason with a through 42-13 shellacking in a Class 5A, Region II quarterfinal.
Coming into Friday night’s game at the Bears’ Den, Nature Coast running back DeShawn Smith had already strung together three superb performances. The senior ran for 154 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1 against Bradenton-Southeast, only to top that with 224 yards and four scores at Hudson. Then came last week’s home game versus county-rival Springstead. Smith rushed for 296 yards and five touchdowns. Assuredly, he couldn’t continue on such a monumental upward trend. Well, Friday in a 53-18 win at Central, somehow he managed. Boy, did he manage.
Two weeks into the prep football season, one thing has already become apparent. DeShawn Smith came ready to play. In Friday night’s 46-21 win at Hudson, Smith needed just 13 carries to accumulate 224 yards and four touchdowns.
