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Hernando Today

Bears: House of Horrors Continues

Staff photo by DAVE CASEY

Central High defender Steven Read (7) tackles Hernando sophomore tailback Alvin Delaine from behind. Despie the effort, Delaine posted a career-high 24 carries for 137 yards and scored twice (1,16 yards) to pace the upset win Friday night at Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium.

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By TONY CASTRO SPORTS EDITOR

Hernando Today

Published: September 6, 2008

Updated: 09/06/2008 01:04 am

BROOKSVILLE - Go figure, Hernando High alumnus John Palmer returned to the Bell Ave. campus with a shiny resume and a State Championship ring from 2005.
Yet, since 1995 one item had always eluded Palmer at his coaching stops at Bronson, Eustis and Port St. Joe – an opening-game win.
That's nothing; no HHS mentor had captured his opening game since 1985 when Vernon Turner made his debut on Sept. 13 with a 28-27 win at Gulf.
Fortunately for Coach Palmer and the Purple and Gold alumni and fans, both streaks concluded Friday night at Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium.
Hernando rode a turnover-free offense led by sophomore tailback Alvin "Chubbs" Delaine's career-high 24 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns (1,16 yards) to derail the two-time defending Hernando County Champions from Central High, 16-7.
"We came out unreal," commented the former Parrott Middle School standout Delaine, who scored twice last season in 10 games. "Right now, I love my O-line. They did the job. Give them all the credit."
What was the difference?
"All week long, the Central guys were talking trash," recalled the 16-year-old Delaine. "That's alright. We did our talking tonight. We all worked real hard all summer (to turn things around), so no way are we going 2-8 again. We've worked too hard."
"Offensively, we executed," explained HHS' All-County right tackle David Hines. "All those extra sprints after practice paid off humongously. Defensively, we were definitely into this game. We knew we had to stop No. 22 (Austin Forte). Our linebackers were going crazy."
How big was the win?
"I've never beaten Central before, so this was the first time for me," shared the 18-year-old, 6-foot-5, 270-pound Hines. This isn't the same team as before. We've got a new motto: SOS. That stands for swarm, offend and suffocate. We did that tonight."

Bye, bye monkey

"It's great to have the first win," smiled Coach Palmer, a 1983 Hernando High graduate. "The monkey's finally off my back.
"The biggest positive we had was the win," he added. "We made mistakes, but we have the potential to improve. Tonight, it meant something for our guys to play hard."
From the visiting sideline, Hernando County's two-time Coach of the Year, Central's Cliff Lohrey dipped to 1-2 lifetime against the Purple and Gold, including a 0-2 slate at HHS.
"Tonight, we were our own worst enemy," summed up Lohrey. "That's what I told the team. You can't expect to win at home, on the road, anywhere when you commit the turnovers (4) and have so many ill-timed penalties."
Positives?
"We showed we can control the football and we can stop people," replied Lohrey, who dipped to 14-8 lifetime at CHS. "But what we're lacking right now is consistency on both sides of the ball. But you know I have faith in these kids. We'll get back to work (Monday), and get better. We'll rebound."

Other Leopard heroes

On special teams, last year's leading scorer, HHS place-kicker Josh Harvey, added an extra point, plus a key, second-quarter 37-yard field goal and blasted two kickoffs out of the end zone.
Defensively, Palmer's defense led by linebacker Josh Parnell and Sam Adams, collected four fumbles recoveries (two by James Stephens, another by Matthew Johnson and William Alderman) to improve to 10-9 lifetime against the Bears.
"We wanted to do this (win) for coach and the community," remarked the 18-year-old Stephens. "A win like this gets us back on the map."
What were the keys?
"The coaches had us ready for this game all week," added Stephens. "And our D-line caused the fumbles."

Bear stats

Central, which had beaten Hernando four of the last five meetings, outgained HHS in total offense, 233-191.
CHS senior quarterback Dallas Waugh had a mixed report card in his first-ever varsity start.
Waugh connected on 13-of-16 passes for a game-high 127 yards, but was dropped four times for a minus-20 yards and lost two fumbles.
Bear senior tailback Austin Forte accounted for 73 percent of Central's total offense.
Forte paced CHS with 25 carries for a career-high 125 yards and one touchdown (7 yards) and snared six passes for 44 yards offsetting his two lost fumbles.
Central had collected five county wins in a row since their last loss -- a shocking 25-3 setback featuring six turnovers in their last visit to Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium in 2006.

Hernando 16, Central 7
Qtr. Scoring     1   2   3   4
Central            0   7   0   0 --7
Hernando         7   3   0   6 --16
Individual Scoring:
HER – Delaine 1 run (J. Harvey kick)
HER – J. Harvey 37 FG
CEN – Forte 7 run (Rosario kick)
HER – Delaine 16 run (Ross run fails)
  
    CEN HER
First Downs   13   12
Atts./Rushing Yds.  36-106   38-189
Comp./Pass Atts./Int.  13-16-0 1-4-0
Passing Yds.   127   2
Total Offense   52-233   42-191
Fumbles/Lost   5-4   0-0
Return Yards   3-82   2-50
Punts/Avg.   2-25.5   2-38.5
Penalties   7-46   8-47
 
 

Sports Editor Tony Castro can be reached at (352) 544-5278 or online at acastro@hernandotoday.com.

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