HAINES CITY — Sixth-year Haines City head football coach Pat Herrington knows a thing or two about what it takes to have a successful season.
After all, four of the last five seasons the Hornets have finished .500 or better and three of the last five the program has had a winning record. But last year didn’t exactly scream continuity since there were 18 transfers jockeying for position, and many of those individuals didn’t have the body type.
Still, it’s a new year, and the No. 1 priority for Herrington was to teach the game of football to his players. So, ahead of the new 2026 season for 20 weeks, coaches sat down with players and taught the players the game of football in a classroom. And players had tests to pass.
Another test was the spring football game, which was a chance to iron out any wrinkles ahead of the new campaign. And that’s what Haines City did Friday as the Hornets in a Jamboree style format lost to Treasure Coach 14-7 but won the second game 14-0 over University High School.
Haines City quarterback Yomar Lopez was 7-for-8 for 90 yards and a touchdown, while rushing three times for 45 yards and a score. Joseph Parker registered four rushes for 42 yards, while Jamie James had three rushes for 25 yards and a touchdown; Franc Guillaume put up one rush for 50 yards; and Blake Herrington caught two passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.
“I got a little nervous at first. (But) we balled out,” Lopez said.
Herrington said it was about the offensive line.
“We didn’t make a lot of mistakes on the offensive line, which is huge. If we don’t make a lot of mistakes on the offensive line, then we got a chance. We bring back three offensive linemen from last year. They are a year older and a year stronger. And the offensive line is going to be our strength,” Herrington said.
Offensive line dominates in second game
And the strength showed up early in the second game, as there wasn’t a lot of throwing in this game because there wasn’t a need to do that. Haines City executed some great push to the point of manhandling Treasure Coast, which eventually culminated in a 10-yard touchdown for Lopez.
Classroom learning transalates to field
But it wasn’t just about the scoring. It was obvious that the offense really understood the defense, including what the calls and checks were. An example of this was Lopez’ 61-yard touchdown pass to Herrington in the second quarter of the second game, which was executed after the signal-caller audibled into the new play.
“That’s something we went over on the board. If he saw this certain look, I (gave) him the freedom to make this check to check out of the play we had, and he scored, so IQ man. That’s the biggest thing,” Herrington said.
Defense steps up
Defense is also a big thing. As University High was moving the ball down the field, Haines City eventually stepped up and made a fourth down stop in the end zone thanks to sophomore corner Jessee Clark’s interception.
But in order for this to happen, the defensive line, which features nose guard Landon Brown, left end Chris Brown and right end Owen Faustin, played like some hungry dogs, getting after the quarterback, forcing a bad decision and errant throw on that play.
Next up for Haines City is getting free physicals June 5 at Davenport High School.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Three takeaways from Haines City football spring games
Reporting by Robert Magobet, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
