When the first FHSAA Rural football rankings came out earlier this season, Hawthorne was ranked ninth because of its strength of schedule, which was surprisingly just under 1.00.

By season’s end, the Hornets had moved up to a No. 2 seed and finished with a 4.12 strength of schedule.

Their only loss was on the road at Class 6A regional quarterfinalist Oakleaf (Orange Park), and they had wins at 2A regional quarterfinalist Newberry, 1A regional semifinalist Melbourne Central Catholic, 1A region finalist University Christian (Jacksonville), and at home against 2A regional semifinalist Florida High (Tallahassee)

“We try to schedule that way, just to have our guys prepared for the playoffs again,” said Hawthorne coach Cornelius Ingram. “When I got into coaching, I had so much respect for probably every coach who’s ever coached high school football because it’s a tough task, but especially schools like Pahokee and Madison County. We were chasing them. They were winning state championships. We wanted to be on their level, so we had to schedule tougher opponents…our kids definitely love the competition. We love to go out and compete every single Friday, and it helps us to get better week in and week out.”

The Hornets didn’t play their first Rural opponent until a 42-0 win against Branford in the first round of the state playoffs.

Defending state champion Madison County, which lost at top seed Blountstown, 33-32, last week, also didn’t play a Rural team during the regular season.

The Cowboys (6-6) had wins this year against 7A Apopka, 4A Lecanto, and Florida High, and they only lost by one, 21-20, against 7A region finalist DeLand and by two, 20-18, to 6A regional semifinalist Pace.

Ingram, who won his 100th game in the regular season finale at MCC, has long been an ambassador for the smallest classification.

“We get left out so much,” he said. “There’s so much that goes into our preparation…a lot of people think because of our class, we might not watch film, or because of what class we’re in, we might not still be lifting weights during the year to keep our bodies in shape, but we try to do everything necessary that the big programs or college programs are doing to help our kids succeed.”

He said that includes schools like Williston, Chiefland, and Blountstown, which will host No. 4 seed Pahokee in the other state semifinal.

“There’s so many 1A teams or smaller class programs that run a Grade A program from top to bottom, and a lot of them reside in the 1A class, so hats off to all the 1A (Rural) coaches,” Ingram said. “That’s no knock against any upper class programs because, of course, you guys do a fine job as well, but I know for a fact 1A/Rural gets left out a lot, so shout out to all the coaches, and not only just the head coaches, assistant coaches as well, just the way we prepare and have our kids ready to go on Friday night.”

Despite losing a lot of key seniors, like Keenon Johnson, Decarion Debose, Naziy Gent, and Leland Johnson, just to name a few from last year’s state runner-up team, the Hornets are back in the thick of the championship race.

“I think we develop our kids as much as possible,” Ingram said. “This amazing coaching staff that I have around me, and then we have young players that we throw in the fire early, a lot of them had an opportunity to play, maybe start, but definitely played some last year, so they played in big games. They’ve had big moments, so they’re kind of used to it.”

Ingram said that’s one of the advantages they have at Hawthorne.

“Sometimes, if you’re good enough as a middle schooler, you might have an opportunity to play a varsity sport, but definitely as a freshman,” he said. “A lot of these guys have played a lot of football…so you know, their mistakes, we use them as experiences.”

Quarterback Richard Roundtree Jr. is a good example. He played as a freshman when senior Adrian Curtis got hurt and earned some valuable playing time, throwing for 548 yards and five touchdowns.

He’s had a big sophomore season, completing 66.4% of his passes for 2,242 yards with 26 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

“He trusts his teammates,” Ingram said. “All of his teammates love playing with him. He’s a locker room guy, very, very confident kid, so he has a very bright future, man, I’m blessed to be able to coach a kid like Roundtree again. He reads the defense…we have some playmakers on the outside. I think he does an unbelievable job with spreading the ball around.”

Senior Darian Bowie leads the team with 56 catches for 862 yards and nine touchdowns.

Losing Johnson (1,764 yards & 22 TDs rushing) in the backfield was big, but sophomore Derryek Gillins (10 carries for 80 yards as a freshman) has filled the void.

Gillins has 143 carries for 826 yards (5.8 yards per carry) with 13 touchdowns. He had four touchdowns in last week’s 30-8 win at home against Williston.

“Derryek stepped into a position with a lot of expectations, and for a sophomore, he’s shown tremendous poise and growth,” said offensive coordinator Greg Bowie, who is Ingram’s older brother. “He’s been consistent, he’s been coachable, and he’s handled the moment every time we’ve asked him to. He carved out his own identity this season. I’m proud of the way he’s matured week after week.”

Offensively, Hawthorne is averaging 34.8 points per game and they continue to play championship defense, allowing just 12.2 points per game.

On Friday night, No. 2 seed Hawthorne (9-1) will host No. 3 seed Chiefland (11-1) in the FHSAA Rural state semifinals. That meant practice on Thanksgiving Day, which has become a tradition for the Hornets, who are one game shy of playing in their sixth straight state championship game.

“Practicing on Thanksgiving is something we never take for granted,” Bowie said. “It means we’re still playing meaningful football deep into November, and that’s a blessing. It speaks to the commitment of our players, our coaches, and our community. This run didn’t happen by accident—our kids work for it.”

Bowie said every year is special, and this year is no different.

“Our players and coaches sacrifice family time to be with our football family, and that says a lot about the bond we have,” he said. “It’s special, and it’s something we never take for granted.”

The winner advances to next week’s FHSAA Rural State Championship Game at The Range at H. G. Morse Stadium on the campus of The Villages Charter School.

But first, Hawthorne will have to defeat a Chiefland team that is averaging 37.6 points and 203.2 yards rushing per game.

The Indians have won 10 in a row and are giving up just 12.2 points per game on defense.

“Chiefland is athletic, disciplined, and they fly to the football,” Bowie said. “They’re physical up front and they don’t give you anything easy. We know we’ll have to execute at a high level, take care of the ball, and win the battle at the line of scrimmage. They’re a well-coached group, and we respect what they do on that side of the ball.”

Chiefland is seeking its first state title game appearance since winning the Class 2A state title in 1997. They have lost seven in a row against Hawthorne, although the two teams have not played since COVID-19, when Hawthorne defeated Chiefland, 40-0, in the 2020 FHSAA Class 1A Quarterfinals.

Hawthorne hasn’t lost at home since 2019, a 17-10 loss to Gadsden County (Havana) in the regular season finale.

“I try not to keep up with that stuff, but of course, you know our fans, some players, the former players, they know how important taking care of home is, and we’ve been able to do that over four or five years, and hopefully we can continue that going forward,” Ingram said.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. You can listen to the game online at Mainstreet Daily News with Cam Parker (Play-by-play) and Alex Washburn (Color) calling the action beginning at 7:15 p.m.