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Hernando Today

Future arrives as Delaine delights

FOOTBALL

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Leopard junior halfback Alvin "Chubbs" Delaine III rushed for a school-record 324 yards on 23 carries and scored four times in Friday night's 55-6 win over archrival Central.

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By TONY CASTRO SPORTS EDITOR

Hernando Today

Published: November 14, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - How tough has the last decade been for the Hernando High football program?
It had been 11 years since the Leopards captured their final game of the season.
It was also the same year – 1998 – when the Leopards last scored 55 or more points on the road. That streak lasted until Friday night's 20th meeting against the archrival Central Bears at the Bears' Den.
Showing no signs of sluggishness after emotional losses last Friday against Nature Coast and again Monday night against the Sharks, Hernando (7-3 overall, 1-2 county) whipped Central (1-9 overall, 0-3 county), 55-6.
HHS rewind
The win completed the Purple and Gold's best campaign in 10 years.
More importantly, junior halfback Alvin "Chubbs" Delaine III eclipsed the 1992 school record for most rushing yards in a game by Jermaine Green (315 yards) with a sensational 23-carry, 324-yard effort.
Delaine, who came in with a county-best 24 touchdowns, added four more end zone trips (68, 1, 51, 38 yards).
Delaine's 28 touchdowns this season stand second all-time to ex-University of Florida standout Dwayne Mobley's incredible 36-touchdown total across 11 games in 1991.
Though Delaine finished with a gaudy 176 points this season, the feat also ranks second all-time at HHS behind Mobley's 222-point total in 1991.
The much improved Purple and Gold offensive line (Joe Bristol, Justin Bland, Jordan Walker, Kenny Brown, William Aldermann and tight ends Robert Huggins and Matt Johnson) resembled bulldozers.
HHS compiled a season-high 474 rushing yards on 52 attempts, or 9.12 yards per snap, as 12 different players carried the rock.
Senior quarterback Kall Daniel engineered a mistake-free offense that ravaged the Bears for 500 yards of total offense on 57 plays, or 8.77 yards per snap.
The Bears' defense which permitted 53 touchdowns, allowed eight more, by five different ball carriers.
But as he has been all season, Delaine was the epicenter of the attack.
Delaine quickly credited his hogs up front for his record-setting performance.
"Give the O-line all the credit," declared the 17-year-old Delaine. "Everything I get goes through them. The guys told me before the game they'd get me 300 yards and man, they did it."
How disappointed is Delaine that Friday was his last game this season?
"Sure, it's disappointing. But when you look over the last few years, going 7-3 is pretty good," said Delaine. "We wanted our seniors to go out with a winning season and we did that. Sure, I'm like everybody else, I'd love to be playing in the playoffs, but we had our chances. We came out hard (last week), but it didn't happen."
Other heroes
Besides Delaine, Chad Woods, C.J. Clark, L'Tevin Williams and Tyrail Hawkins each scored for the visitors. For Woods, Clark and Hawkins its was their first-ever varsity touchdowns.
Sophomore placekicker Andres Pinzon also sparkled behind a perfect 7-for-7 effort on point-after kicks and two touchbacks.
Despite his best-ever game, Pinzon pointed out who was the star of the evening.
"Delaine is really an amazing player," quipped the 16-year-old Pinzon. "He's so quick. And I am so glad to be on a winning team."
How disappointed is Pinzon about Hernando's last game?
"We fought well, but our turn will be next year," predicted Pinzon.
Defensively, with the Leopards ahead 28-0 in the first half, the Bears countered with their lone score, a 62-yard scoring jaunt by junior tight end-turned-fullback Mike Bailey. Bailey had the most success for the hosts with seven carries for a team-high 88 yards.
The HHS defense restricted the Central offense to a net 130 yards on 34 plays and forced two turnovers featuring an interception by Corey Thomas and a fumble recovery by Robert Hill Bronson.
One of the Leopard leaders on defense was its leading tackler, sophomore Zach Pritz.
"We came out a little flat," described the 15-year-old Pritz. "But after they scored we picked up the intensity. We didn't want to see them score again."
How pivotal was the season-ending win?
"It's a great win because we went 3-7 last year. We did a complete opposite," noted Pritz. "This is crazy. Most of us will be back next year. We're only gonna get better. We've got some awesome players coming up from the JVs."
Second-year Leopard Head Coach John Palmer watched his record even at 10-10 at HHS, including a 2-0 mark against CHS.
"Our O-line was the difference tonight," indicated Palmer. "And Alvin (Delaine) has a special relationship with that group. Even when things weren't going great for us this year, he was always encouraging those guys. That relationship tends to make people want to work harder for you."
And special teams?
"Andres (Pinzon) was on point tonight," smiled Coach Palmer. "His kickoffs were excellent and everything he did clicked. Not bad for a guy who showed up three days before our first game without ever playing football before."
What about Central?
"That Bailey kid hurt us a couple times," replied Palmer. "And (Central Head Coach) Cliff (Lohrey) has a done a job of keeping that crew together and fighting hard."
Biggest positive?
"It was our effort," Palmer said. "We kept warning the kids about showing up here unmotivated. Give credit to the kids for not getting lulled to sleep. They heeded the coaches' warnings (about complacency).
"Right now, our future is strong," added Palmer. "We've got to replace big parts of our O-line and replace a quarterback, who showed us how to win."

Hernando 55, Central 6
Qtr. Scoring 1 2 3 4
HER 21 14 20 0 --55
CEN 0 6 0 0 --6

Individual Scoring:
HER - Delaine 68 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - L. Williams 2 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - Clark 2 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - Woods 4 run (Pinzon kick).
CEN - Bailey 62 run (Colon kick fails).
HER - Delaine 1 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - Delaine 51 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - Delaine 38 run (Pinzon kick).
HER - Hawkins 6 run (Townsend pass fails).

HER CEN
First Downs 16 4
Atts./Rushing Yds. 52-474 27-109
Comp./Pass Atts./Int. 2-5-0 3-7-1
Passing Yds. 26 21
Total Offense 57-500 34-130
Fumbles/Lost 1-0 3-1
Return Yards 4-41 7-125
Punts/Avg. 0 6-28.8
Penalties 5-39 3-25

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

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