Nature Coast Tech football wins two at spring jamboree in St. Petersburg

Nature Coast Tech left St. Petersburg with two spring wins, a sharper read on its new quarterback and enough physical play to keep Brooksville-area fans watching closely for fall.

At St. Petersburg High School on Wednesday, May 20, the Sharks handled a three-team jamboree that split the night into half-game matchups against East Lake High School and the host Green Devils. St. Petersburg opened by beating East Lake 14-9, then Nature Coast followed with a 14-3 win over East Lake and closed the evening by shutting out St. Petersburg 14-0.

For head coach Chris Hawley, the night was as much about evaluation as results. Hawley said the Sharks played hard and physical, but still have room to sharpen their execution before the regular season. That matters for a Nature Coast team that entered the spring after a 10-3 season in 2025 and a run to the Class 3A Elite Eight, because spring games are less about the scoreboard than about identifying who can carry the program into the fall.

The biggest signs came from the players who are likely to shape the Sharks’ identity. Kayden Berton intercepted a pass on the second play against East Lake, setting the tone for a defense that looked quick to the football. On offense, new quarterback Christian Garrett connected with Jackson DePetrillo on a 36-yard pass that helped set up an early score, an encouraging start for a position group Hawley wanted to test against quality competition. R.J. Jones then finished the drive and later added another interception, showing why the sophomore remains one of Hernando County’s most important returning playmakers after rushing for 1,384 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2025.

That kind of two-way impact gives Nature Coast a clear early-season storyline. Jones is still the kind of back who can change a game in one snap, while Garrett’s first real work in the offense offered a first glimpse of how the Sharks may move the ball when defenses load up against the run. The offensive line will be under the same kind of scrutiny, since Hawley said he wanted to see what that unit could do against a playoff-caliber opponent like East Lake.

Hawley arrived at Nature Coast in March 2025 for his first head coaching job after four seasons as a running backs coach at Wheaton College and earlier stops at Florida Atlantic, Wisconsin Lutheran, Methodist, North Carolina and East Lake High School. He grew up in Pinellas County and attended Indian Rocks Christian, and he has said he wants his teams to be “tough and well-coached.”

That formula was on display in St. Petersburg, even if the details were still rough around the edges. The Florida High School Athletic Association’s football manual allows overtime to be waived in jamborees or preseason classics with host-school approval and unanimous agreement from the participating schools, a reminder that this was a true preseason evaluation. Nature Coast still looked like a program built to compete, and Hernando County has reason to expect the Sharks to matter again when Friday nights count.