- Hawthorne football, now in Class 1A, will face three top 300 nationally ranked teams, including Miami Northwestern on Sept. 12 at The Villages Charter School.
- The 2025 Hawthorne team went 11-1, with their only loss to Oakleaf, and seeks a fourth state title in five years despite reclassification.
- Quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr. threw for 2,581 yards and 30 touchdowns as a sophomore, while running back Derryek Gillins rushed for 1,016 yards last season.
The Hawthorne football program is used to playing a difficult schedule every year.
Last year, the FHSAA Rural state champions did not play against a Rural classification team until the postseason.
“Scheduling has become very difficult, especially finding local games, so we were kind of forced to look outside our area for opponents,” said Hawthorne Athletics Director Greg Bowie, who is the older brother of head football coach Cornelius Ingram. “Since we typically don’t face teams in our classification until the playoffs, we wanted to create those challenges during the regular season.”
The 2025 schedule included 2A regional quarterfinalist Newberry, 2A regional semifinalist Florida High (Tallahassee), 1A regional finalist University Christian (Jacksonville), and 3A Dunnellon, which won the Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT) championship for 1A-3A.
Hawthorne finished the season 11-1, with their only loss at Oakleaf (Orange Park), which made the Class 6A state playoffs.
But this year, oh boy.
Now in Class 1A, the Hornets will play three schools that are ranked in the top 300 nationally, including Class 3A state runner-up Miami Northwestern, which moves up to 4A this season.
“C.I. and I met with several of our returning players after last season and told them we wanted to play a few ‘bangers,’” said Bowie, who is also the team’s offensive coordinator. “We asked them to give us a list of programs they’d love the opportunity to compete against, and Northwestern was one of the schools that came up. There were a few other schools that expressed interest in playing us, but our open weeks didn’t line up. Fortunately, everything worked out with Northwestern, and we’re excited to have the opportunity.”
The Northwestern game will be played with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 12, at The Range at H.G. Morse Stadium on the campus of The Villages Charter School.
“A great campus with top notch facilities,” Bowie said.
In 2025, the Bulls (13-1) went undefeated all the way to the Class 3A state championship at Pitbull Stadium in Miami, where they lost to Raines (Jacksonville), 23-22, denying them their eighth state title in program history – 1995 (6A), 1998 (6A), 2006 (6A), 2007 (6A), 2017 (6A), 2018 (6A), 2019 (5A), 2024 (3A).
“There’s no question it’s one of the biggest regular-season games in our school’s history,” Bowie said. “Northwestern has been one of the premier programs in Florida for decades, and anytime you have a chance to compete against a program with that tradition, you take it. Our players are excited about the challenge because you want to measure yourself against the best. Those are the types of games that help your program grow.”
Hawthorne, which has been to six straight state championship games, has the talent to repeat and win their fourth title in the last five years despite being in a new classification.
Most of their playmakers were underclassmen last year, including quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr., who helped direct the offense to an average of 34 points per game in 2025.
As a sophomore, Roundtree completed 174-of-266 passes (65.4%) for 2,581 yards with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“I’m looking forward to playing a down south powerhouse team who made the state championship in their class the last few years,” Roundtree said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to showcase our talent versus a team known around the state.”
Running back Derryek Gillins (187 carries for 1,016 yards and 14 TDs) is also back for his junior season.
Gillins, who averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year, went over 1,000 yards for the season in the state championship game and just missed his fifth 100-yard game with 95 yards on 23 carries in the title game against Blountstown.
“I feel like this is a great opportunity for our area to play a down south school, which normally doesn’t happen in the regular season,” he said. “The game will be on a Saturday at The Villages, which will be a great atmosphere.”