HAWTHORNE — The bread and butter for Hawthorne football is simple, especially at home:
Run the ball and play defense.
With the talented and experienced Richard Roundtree behind center, the Hornets have strayed away from that more this season.
Roundtree, though, suffered a bone bruise in last week’s win over Branford. Coach Cornelius Ingram needed the team to return to the norm and run the rock with Derryek Gillins vs. Williston.
Legendary Williston coach Robby Pruitt knew Gillins would get the ball nearly every play, and the sophomore still proved unstoppable.
Gillins ran for 100 yards and four touchdowns as the Hornets continued their long home win streak with a 30-8 thrashing, ending the Red Devils season for the third year in a row.
HHS still hasn’t lost a home game since Gadsden County in November 2019 and moved a win away from the squad’s sixth straight trip to the state championship game.
The win continues a remarkable playoff trend for the Hornets. Since 2023, Hawthorne has hosted seven playoff games. It has held opponents to single digits in all but one — 15 allowed to Lafayette in last season’s region final.
Ingram credited the jump in the players challenging each other. Hawthorne has enough of a tradition that this year’s team doesn’t want to be the one to disrupt that trend.
“They come into my PE class, and they want to watch film immediately. We make corrections the next day,” Ingram said. “These kids are almost like college athletes, and we’re pressed for time, so we wish we could do more.”
The preparation, combined with the freakish athleticism of Hawthorne’s players, makes them nearly impossible to beat. Pruitt is a coaching icon with seven state championships to his name, and his season has ended to the GSO boys for three years in a row.
“They got so much speed. They can just run everywhere,” Pruitt said. “They’re really good on defense because they can get right in your face and load the box, and Gillins wears you down.”
Ingram said Roundtree practiced in very limited fashion all week, but the sophomore QB told his coach there was “no way” he was missing this game.
“When you have your leader on the field, it gives your team hope,” Ingram said. “We knew he wasn’t 100 percent, but for him to come out and make some throws says a lot about who he is.”
Roundtree operated as the quintessential game manager. He threw 142 yards and no touchdowns, but he also didn’t turn the ball over.
In a game where two interceptions proved turning points, that was massive.
Williston QB John Jazikoff delivered two back-breaking interceptions. The first came in the second quarter down 12-0. One play after a long run placed the Red Devils in the red zone, Jazikoff threw an end-zone interception.
The second came early in the fourth, down 24-0. Williston ran a perfect trick play that RB Omarion Walker dropped the well-thrown WR pass. Jazikoff threw a pick on the next play.
“We had our chances. We just didn’t make plays,” Pruitt said. “We dropped passes, we threw interceptions, we jumped offsides. You can’t make mistakes like that against this team.”
Pruitt, who immediately after the game expects he’ll return next season, hopes his team will take lessons from this game. To be the best, you need to beat the best, and Williston can’t do that right now.
“They are one of the best, so you got to tip your hat to them” Pruitt said.
Chiefland is the next squad to take the bite at the apple. The Indians lost QB Matt Goodale to a torn ACL before the game, but they crushed Baker 49-19 behind over 100 rushing yards and 110 yards passing and two touchdowns from safety Jolan Doty.
CHS hasn’t lost since Baker County in August, and its defense — led by Louisville commit Jon Adams — is one of the best in Rural. The Hornets will study during the best week of the season — Thanksgiving. It’s a time honored tradition in Eastern Alachua County.
“I had a coach joke he’s tired of seeing us play on Thanksgiving,” Ingram said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a player miss the last seven years of Thanksgiving week, so it’s truly a blessing.”
Kickoff from Annie Mae Phillips Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Hawthorne football continues home playoff mystique in win over Williston
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
