Nature Coast cruises past Weeki Wachee behind strong defensive performance

The Sharks held the Hornets to less than 60 yards of total offense; running back Christian Cromer scored three touchdowns

WEEKI WACHEE, FLORIDA- Coming off a heartbreaking 17-14 loss to Land O’ Lakes on Friday night, the Nature Coast Sharks were looking to get back on track against Weeki Wachee.

On Monday night, the Sharks leaned upon their defense and fast start on offense to overpower the Hornets. Nature Coast compiled nearly 300 yards of total offense and cruised to a 38-0 win over Weeki Wachee on the road.

It was a beautiful night for high school football on the North Suncoast  / Photo by Andy Villamarzo

With the win, the Sharks improve to 3-3 on the season and the Hornets fall to 1-5. Both teams have quick turnarounds this week as Nature Coast takes the road down to face Anclote and Weeki Wachee will face Hudson.

“Only thing I think I didn’t like was the one time we were inside the 10-yard line and we ended up with a field goal,” Nature Coast head coach Cory Johns said. “That’s what tonight was really all about was executing on offense, executing on defense and doing what were supposed to do.”

The Sharks (3-3) made sure to do what they were supposed to on the offensive end as they opened up the first drive of the game going uptempo and it paid off. A 7-play, 48-yard drive culminated in a 2-yard Christian Cromer touchdown run to put Nature Coast ahead 7-0 in the first quarter.

First score of the game is here on this 2-yard @chriscromer_ touchdown. @coast_fb 7, @WeekiWacheeFB 0, 1st Q 9:45. @SBLiveFL @SBLiveSports @NCTAthletics @FlaHSFootball @HernandoCtyFB @VSNflorida #HSFB pic.twitter.com/hrC0xXurHA

— Andy Villamarzo (@Andy_Villamarzo) October 10, 2022

About five minutes later, place kicker Caiden Mellecker would be called upon to knock down a 22-yard field and that increased the Sharks advantage to 10-0. Nature Coast quarterback Jackson Hoyt finished off the scoring in the first quarter when he took a option keeper and punched it in from eight yards out.

Up 17-0 heading into the second quarter, the Sharks were in full control against a youthful Hornets bunch that struggled to move the ball. Weeki Wachee totaled just 59 yards of offense the entire night, with 55 of that coming via the ground game on 29 attempts.

Weeki Wachee (1-5) was coming off a tough 14-7 overtime loss to Fivay last week, but couldn’t shrug off the loss and bounce back against the Sharks. The shutout loss for the Hornets is the third time they’ve been shutout this season under first-year head coach Jon Malandrucco.

Cromer didn’t have a statistically huge night when it comes to yards as the running back rushed for 43 yards on 11 carries, but he was Johns’ go-to-guy when it came to scoring the Sharks’ touchdowns. The junior tailback scored his second touchdown just before halftime on a 2-yard run to put Nature Coast up 24-0 going into intermission.

.@chriscromer_ with his 2nd touchdown of the night. Cromer has an offer from @GoArmyWestPoint. @coast_fb 24, @WeekiWacheeFB 0, 2nd Q 5:46. @SBLiveSports @SBLiveFL @FlaHSFootball @VSNflorida @HernandoCtyFB @NCTAthletics #HSFB pic.twitter.com/aEB1VE1pyr

— Andy Villamarzo (@Andy_Villamarzo) October 10, 2022

Hoyt had one of his better nights throwing and running the ball for the Sharks as he completed 9-of-15 for 107 yards and rushing for another 54. His main target was tight end Brady Nowlan, who hauled in four passes for 61 yards on the night. The Sharks finished in the rushing department going for 179 yards on 34 attempts.

The Sharks added two more touchdowns in the third quarter, which came via another Cromer run and a 33-yard Allan Ho (nine carries, 67 yards) score.

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.