'We’ll pick ourselves up': Turnovers doom upstart Lake Weir football program
Lake Weir (4-3) has run into a mountain of adversity this season. A Cancellation from one scheduled opponent and a practice being canceled because of severe weather are the latest to affect the team. Zeraphath Academy (4-4) took advantage of a complicated week, leaving the Hurricanes with a 34-17 loss.
The overall score wasn’t an accurate depiction of the game. While the Eagles did find success through the air, six Hurricane turnovers gifted them a short field on several drives.
“We tried to fight on defense, and I thought we did pretty well sticking to it, but turnovers will eventually break your back if you continue to make them,” Lake Weir head coach Jason Roberts said. “As for the reschedule in the middle of the week, it’s hard then when the weather comes in, the county has no practice at all on Thursday… It was a rough week for us. We’ll pick ourselves up, dust it off, and move forward.”
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The loss breaks a two-game winning streak, but Lake Weir has already passed its win total from the last three seasons combined. Like Roberts told his team during the postgame speech, they’re leaving the old Lake Weir behind.
With a young team, old habits rear their head in pressure situations. In their three losses, they’ve beaten themselves with turnovers and penalties.
For the senior class, the success is putting them on the map. Seniors Hunter Root and Trenton Woods recently landed offers from St. Andrews University, an NAIA program in North Carolina.
Opportunities like this point to the rebirth of Lake Weir football. They’ll have a chance to cement the change in two weeks when the Sunshine State Athletic Association begins their postseason.
“These guys have been working all four years, so they’ve just been under the radar a little bit,” Roberts said. “Now they’re starting to shine a little bit more. They play key sports for us as well, so that helps.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Adversity strikes Lake Weir during homecoming game
