Hawthorne looked like classic Hawthorne in Friday’s state quarterfinals against Williston.

A stout Hornets defense, which pitched a shutout for over 47 minutes of game time, combined with five rushing touchdowns offensively, paved the way for a Hawthorne 30-8 win over the Red Devils in the Rural-Region 4 Final, as the Hornets punched their tickets to the state semifinals for the sixth-straight season.

“I’m proud of my guys,” said Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram. “I’m proud of the defense, the way they came out. We ran the ball well. We made some throws… So happy for our crowd and definitely proud of my team.”

Sophomore running back Derryek Gillins scored four of Hawthorne’s five touchdowns as the Hornets went heavy on the run, a result of last week’s leg injury to quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr., who played on Friday but was limited.

Gillins now has six touchdowns this postseason.

“Not bad at all,” Ingram said of Gillins. “To be able to get four touchdowns in a playoff game as a sophomore with a young offensive line, it just says a lot about our kids just believing in each other. We have a special group.”

Gillins scored his first touchdown on the Hornets’ opening drive with a 3-yard run, set up by long completions from Roundtree Jr. to Raheem Moore and Darian Bowie. Nathan Jennings added a touchdown a drive later to put Hawthorne up 12-0 near the end of the first quarter.

After a defensive slugfest in the second quarter, Gillins found the end zone twice in the third quarter with a 9-yard run with 9:32 left and a 17-yard run with 15 seconds left in the quarter.

He added a 7-yard score in the final minutes of the game to give Hawthorne a 30-0 lead.

Hawthorne’s defense pitched a shutout until 12 seconds left as Williston quarterback John Jazikoff hit Ramey Webb for a short touchdown, followed by a two-point conversion. 

Until that point, the Hornets intercepted two passes, including one by Willie Sutton in the end zone in the second quarter and another by Dakarai Wiggins early in the fourth. Hawthorne also got a pair of fourth-down stops with one on their own 4-yard line in the second quarter and another midway through the fourth quarter off a fumbled exchange by Williston.

Hawthorne will now turn its attention to Chiefland for next week’s state semifinal. The Indians are coming off a blowout win, 49-19, over Baker.

“They have some great players over there,” Ingram said. “They play extremely hard. They play for each other. I’m just happy to be able to coach another week.”

Football scores

Area teams in bold

FHSAA Football

Thursday, Nov. 20

Rural Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT)

1 Fort White 59, 9 Wildwood 0
3 Holmes County (Bonifay) 28, 6 Union County (Lake Butler) 14

Friday, Nov. 21

Regional Finals

Class Rural-Region 3
3 Chiefland 49, 6 Baker 19

Class Rural-Region 4
2 Hawthorne 30, 7 Williston 8

Regional Semifinals

Class 2A-Region 2
1 Bradford (Starke) 24, 5 Berkeley Prep (Tampa) 14

Class 3A-Region 21Bishop Moore (Orlando) 36, 4 Eastside 8

Class 4A-Region 12 Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach) 27, 3 Columbia (Lake City) 20

Class 6A-Region 1
1 Buchholz 29, 4 Nease (Ponte Vedra) 17

SSAA Playoffs

Saturday, Nov. 22

11-man 3A Championship
Oak Hall 27, Cambridge Christian (Tampa) 10

8-man 1A Championship

All Saints’ Academy (Winter Haven) 36, Saint Francis Catholic Academy 22