Springstead shows progress with 26-7 spring win over Central

Springstead’s final two-quarter work at Bears Den Stadium said more about its direction than the scoreboard alone. After opening the Varsity Football Spring Jamboree against East Ridge, the Eagles answered with a 26-7 win over host Central on Thursday night and finished with 166 rushing yards in a showing that looked cleaner and more physical than their first spring test.

The jamboree, held at Central High School and listed by the Hernando County School District as the Varsity Football Spring Jamboree featuring Central, Springstead and East Ridge, gave three programs a first hard look at where they stand heading into fall. East Ridge, which went 6-5 in 2025, opened by beating Springstead 14-6 and then handled Central 24-6, forcing the Eagles into a tougher early matchup before they settled in against the Bears.

That mattered because East Ridge came in with more proven pieces. Mike Garofano said the Clermont program returned all of its skill players and brought back quarterback Karon Palmer, who threw for more than 2,000 yards with 27 touchdowns and three interceptions last season. Hernando Sun also noted that East Ridge carried five Division I-caliber players and used speed and no-huddle tempo to disrupt Springstead early.

Springstead still found a way to show it could respond. William Figueroa scored the Eagles’ touchdown against East Ridge on a 1-yard run before a failed two-point try after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Against Central, the ground game set the tone from the start, with Amon Grimes powering 41 yards on three carries on the opening drive before J.T. Harvey kept it himself on a quarterback sneak for the score.

For a program that went 4-5 in 2025, the bigger takeaway was not the spring score but the way Springstead played into contact. After a 54-14 spring jamboree win over Central a year ago, this year’s 26-7 result was a smaller margin, but it came against a first opponent that stressed the Eagles and a second opponent they controlled more convincingly. That is the kind of progression a losing season needs to see.

The district ticketing page for the May 14 event listed standard spring rules, including no refunds unless Central High School canceled the game, along with no pets, no outside food or drink, and no coolers. Springstead also beat a 4-6 Central team that is trying to reset its own fall identity, and both Hernando County programs left Brooksville with clearer film, clearer questions and a better sense of what still has to be fixed before August.