- Hawthorne won 8-0 against Newberry, extending their home winning streak to 42 games and remaining undefeated at home since 2019.
- Hawthorne scored a safety and a touchdown in the second half, while Newberry had two touchdowns nullified due to penalties.
- Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram praised Newberry's physical play but emphasized the need for his team to improve despite the win.
The streak is still alive for the Hawthorne football team.
It wasn’t easy, but the defending FHSAA Rural state champion Hornets held on to beat Class 2A Newberry, 8-0, in a defensive slugfest on Friday, winning their 42nd straight game at home.
It took a safety and a touchdown in the second half, but Hawthorne still has not lost a game on their home field since 2019.
“Shout out to Newberry,” said Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram. “They were more physical than us. I felt like they deserved to win the game more than we did.”
And rightfully so.
The visiting Panthers (0-2) had two touchdowns called back, one on offense and one on defense, because of penalties.
“I think it was great competition,” said Newberry coach Ed Johnson, whose team came up just short in overtime two years ago at Hawthorne. “Both teams played really hard. We didn’t execute as much probably on both sides as we wanted to, but it’s early in the season. We want to see kids compete for 48 minutes, and I think that’s what we got.”
The first score to be eliminated by a penalty came with 8:11 to play in the first quarter, when Newberry junior free safety Javeon Long recorded a 21-yard pick-6.
However, the Panthers had two penalties on the play, including a roughing the passer, which not only took points off the board but gave Hawthorne the ball again.
“Yeah, that was an early energy boost for us,” Johnson said. “Something we saw on film. We thought we could make a play, and Jay’s a great player on both sides of the ball. This is his first start at safety for us, and he did really, really well. The roughing the passer and the block in the back, that was big. That was a big momentum breaker. We’ve got to overcome those things.”
Hawthorne (2-0) consumed over five minutes off the clock on their first offensive possession, but once they got to midfield, the drive stalled.
There were two false-start penalties and a holding call on a pass play inside the Newberry 30-yard line that contributed to the punt.
“The penalties hurt us,” Ingram said. “It seemed like every time we had some momentum, we had a big play, it was coming back for something. We’ve got to figure it out because we’re a lot better than that…Now our defense, they were lights out, but we didn’t do anything on offense, so it’s unfortunate.”
A few possessions later, Newberry reached the Hawthorne 39-yard line, but Williston transfer Maverick Jones celebrated his birthday with the first of two interceptions, helping keep the game scoreless.
The Hornets then drove from their own 27-yard line to the Newberry 32-yard line as Hawthorne junior quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr. completed six passes for 51 yards on the drive.
However, he was pressured on a fourth-down play and threw an incomplete pass as the Hornets turned it over on downs and the half ended in a 0-0 tie.
Hawthorne, which won the coin toss but deferred to the second half, began the first possession of the second half at its own 26-yard line. They got down to the Newberry 10-yard line and came close to scoring, but Roundtree’s pass to Jones was caught out of bounds on the left side of the end zone.
Then, on fourth-and-goal at the 6-yard line, Roundtree’s pass was incomplete and Hawthorne turned it over on downs.
“I think our defense has a chance to be really, really good,” Johnson said. “We’ve still got so far to go, but they competed tonight. You know, that was a big stop…we challenged our guys to get a stop, and they did.”
On the very next play, Newberry quarterback Zach Chong-You had a short pitch inside to senior wide receiver Keyondre Williams, who had a highlight-reel 90-yard touchdown run after the catch.
It was called back for holding.
“I can’t wait to see that on film; I need to see it,” Johnson said. “We call him Scooby. Scoob, man, he’s electric with the ball in his hands. He did that last week, took a long one. You know, he had some really good punt returns tonight too, so we’ve got to find ways to get him the ball more.”
The Hornets had the Panthers backed up, and after a false start took the ball back to the 4-yard line; Hawthorne scored what proved to be the game-winner.
Senior Cortlyn Mack recorded a sack in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead with 4:46 to play in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff from the 20-yard line, Hawthorne junior Leveon Harris received the kick at the 30-yard line and raced down the left sidelines for a 71-yard return before stepping out of bounds at the 9-yard line.
“That was huge, and he also had a toss play, where I think he probably picked up like 15 yards, but he’s one of those guys who is constantly doing the right things on and off the field,” Ingram said. “I moved the returner on that play and put him back there. I felt like he deserved a chance. We’ll continue to put some more stuff in for him, but he’s doing a lot of things on and off the field the right way, and the football gods are just blessing him. But it was a crucial play.”
Following consecutive incompletions, Newberry was flagged for pass interference, which moved the ball half the distance to the goal line. On the next play, junior running back Derryek Gillins scored the only touchdown of the game, a 4-yard run with 4:14 left in the quarter.
The 2-point conversion run failed, but Hawthorne was able to carry an 8-0 lead into the final quarter.
Hawthorne had another chance wiped out when a roughing-the-passer penalty erased Treston Jones’ interception at the Newberry 32
After the punt gave Hawthorne the ball at its own 23-yard line with 3:55 left, another Newberry mistake proved costly.
On a fourth-down punt, Newberry was flagged for having too many players on the field and the Hornets retained possession at their own 42-yard line with 2:36 remaining. They were able to run another two minutes off the clock to preserve the victory.
“At the end of the day, you always want to be in the win column,” said Ingram, whose team will host Hernando (Brooksville) next Friday. “I knew this wasn’t gonna be the same Newberry team from last week…I feel like they played well enough to win the game, and we did not. When you get an opportunity to get a win against a great opponent, well-coached team, you have to take it. But again, we’ve got to get better, and that starts with me.”
On Friday, Newberry will host Class 2A semifinalist Cocoa, who defeated Newberry, 42-13, in last year’s regional quarterfinals.
Johnson said there are no moral victories, “a loss is a loss.”
“We’re 0-2, but hopefully, we can learn from it,” he said. “That’s the point of every game, right? Every game you play, you want to learn from it. I think we learned that we can compete for 48 minutes against a really good team who is a state championship contender at their home, so hopefully we bring that into Monday. We told them the intensity we played with tonight, we’ve got to play with on Monday.”
High School Football
Thursday, Aug. 27
Forest (Ocala) 39, Eastside 15
Friday, Aug. 28
Bell 13, Interlachen 7
Buchholz 43, Gainesville 6
Bradford (Starke) 16, Baker County (Glen St. Mary) 9
Branford 49, Wewahitchka 20
Columbia (Lake City) 24, Lakewood (St. Pete) 6
Cornerstone Classical Academy (Jacksonville) 42, Bronson 12
Dixie County (Cross City) 20, Trenton 19
Fort White 61, Chiefland 19
Hawthorne 8, Newberry 0
Keystone Heights 33, P.K. Yonge 8
Oak Hall School 36, Bishop Snyder (Jacksonville) 6
Palatka 28, Union County (Lake Butler) 15
Saint Francis Catholic Academy 45, St. John Lutheran (Ocala) 6
Santa Fe (Alachua) 51, Zarapheth Academy (Jacksonville) 6
South Sumter (Bushnell) 14, Williston 0
Suwannee (Live Oak) 38, Lafayette (Mayo) 6
