It was business as usual for Cornelius Ingram and the Hawthorne football team.

With a 36-6 win over Chiefland on Friday in the FHSAA Rural state semifinals, the No. 2 seed Hornets are heading to their sixth straight state championship appearance and will face No. 1 seed Blountstown on Friday, Dec. 5, at The Villages Charter School.

“I’m happy for these players because we’re pretty young,” Ingram said. “A lot of the talk is these guys are too young to take that next step to do this or do that, and they came out every single week and prepared the right way.”

Hawthorne’s defense was clutch, recording seven takeaways while also forcing a missed field goal. Five takeaways came in the second half, with corner Nathan Jennings having three interceptions.

Safety Willie Sutton also had a pair of interceptions.

Five of the takeaways came in plus territory as 124 yards on two rushes from Chiefland running back Demorri Sweet ended in zero points.

A 54-yard run from Sweet to open Chiefland’s second drive ended with a missed field goal, while a drive headlined by a 70-yard run in the third quarter ended with the Indians fumbling on third-and-goal at Hawthorne’s 1-yard line.

Hawthorne linebacker Kyler Ingram also housed a backwards pass, ruled a fumble, for a long touchdown in the second quarter with Chiefland on Hawthorne’s 33-yard line, which gave the Hornets a 12-0 lead.

“Great heads up play by Kyler,” Ingram said of his son’s touchdown. “Man, he’s been lights out all year… He’s my kid, so I’m a little bit more emotional and a little bit more excited, but a great heads-up play at a crucial moment for us.”

Quarterback Richard Roundtree, Jr., was just as clutch with four touchdowns, three of which came in the second half.

A one-yard run in the first quarter put the Hornets up 6-0, and he added a 34-yard pass to Dominick Harvey on the first play of the third quarter, a 26-yard run with eight minutes left, and a 26-yard pass to Raheem Moore with 5:49 left to end the scoring.

“Gutsy,” Ingram said of Roundtree’s performance. “… I think he’s taken that next step. I know for a fact, I’ve seen it at a very high level. He can make any throw on the field, and he’s a very confident kid, but he’s taken that next step where he’s the man in the huddle.”

Chiefland’s lone touchdown came on a one-yard run by quarterback Jolan Doty in the third quarter.

Now set to appear in its sixth-straight state championship game, the Hornets will look to win their first title since going back-to-back across the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

“A lot of people, a lot of coaches don’t get this opportunity. A lot of players don’t get this opportunity,” Ingram said. “For our program to continue these long postseasons and compete for a state championship, we’re building something special here.”

FHSAA football playoffs – Friday, Nov. 28

Class Rural State Semifinals
2 Hawthorne 36, 3 Chiefland 6

Class 2A-Region 2 Final
3 Cocoa 17, 1 Bradford (Starke) 10

Class 6A-Region 1 Final
1 Buchholz 27, 2 Mandarin (Jacksonville) 20