HAINES CITY — Kamari Smith and Daniel James are at Lake Wales, Deonte Fielder is at Lakeland, others have graduated. They all have moved on. The starters, including top players from a talented sophomore class, of the Hornets’ 2024 district championship team have all moved on in one way or another — well, almost all.
Blake Herrington is the lone starter from 2024. What he thought he and his teammates could build on after winning the school’s first football district title in 25 years since his dad, Pat Herrington, took over as head coach in 2021 evaporated when there was an exodus of top players via transfer or graduation following the ’24 season. The Hornets crashed to a 2-8 season to begin yet another rebuilding project.
One year later, Blake is leading Haines City into one of the biggest games in his career as the Hornets (4-3, 3-0) play host to Poinciana (5-2, 3-0) with the Class 6A, District 9 title on the line. The winner won’t officially clinch the district title but will be in a commanding position.
For Blake, the game is up there with the district-clinching game against Ridge two years ago, but he noted for most of his teammates, this is likely their biggest game.
“We don't got the same guys that were there for the. district title,” he said. “I feel like for them, it’s a big game. So if it's a big game for them, it's a big game for me because it's something we have to win. Every time we out here we say respect the City because people don't respect it (Haines City) anymore. Everybody left. We had a bad season last year, so I feel like i’ts definitely as big as it was my sophomore year when we played Ridge and George Jenkins.”
Blake is back in the same role he had in 2024 but, but he also has another. He’s one of the top wide receivers in the county — when he can play the position. With starting quarterback sustaining an injury two games ago against Auburndale, Blake stepped back into the role at quarterback, a position he has played on and off since his freshman year, including most of his sophomore season.
Last year when he was able to stay at wide receiver most of the time, he caught 41 passes for 409 yards. He was the Hornets’ most prolific offensive player. This season, he is the Hornets’ leading receiver with 12 catches as they were breaking in a new starting quarterback in Yomar Lopez. With Lopez getting hurt, Blake has returned to quarterack.
“We've got to win,” Blake said. “We got to win. I don't want to go out without going to the playoffs. I actually want to make a run. So if moving tot quarterback is what I got to do to win, it's what I got to do.”
Herrington won’t necessarily carry the offense with his arm or legs. One of his great strengths is his football IQ — he’s the coach’s son, after all — and his job is to run the offense, make the right decisions, hand off to Franc Guillaume and others in the backfield then sneak in the occasianal pass for, hopefully, a big play.
That was the formula in last week’s win over Winter Haven. Guillaume was the workhorse, rushing for 172 yard as the Hornets finished with 282 yards on the ground as a team. Herrington threw just three passes, completed two including a 65-yard touchdown strike to Dylan Kennedy.
Athletically, Blake is something of a late-bloomer. He was in the shadow of teammates like Smith, Fielder and James growing up — they all played together since they were 4 — but being competitive never was an issue. His older brothers played football Pat Jr. at Haines City where he is now an assistant coach and Beau at Ridge. Beau rushed for more than 1,400 yards his senior in 2021.
“He always wanted to be with Beau, and Beau was always mean to him,” Pat Herrington said with a laugh. “He always wanted to be with Beau, wanted to follow Beau, and everything Beau did, Blake did. Beau was the same with Pat. He wanted to do everything Pat did, but all three have a great relationship.”
And during his formative years growing up, Blake, who also plays defensive back, soaked up knowledge of the game.
“He's very smart,” Pat Herrington said. “Ever since they were small, every Friday we used to have football tests. Every Friday during the summer, it was always about football. They would have to draw up a 4-3 defense. They would have to draw up Cover 2. So that doing that for 10, 15 years, it's ingrained in him now. So his strength is his IQ, football IQ.”
Pat coached his 14-and-under team that included Fielder, Smith and James that won the Super Bowl and it was about the middle of the season when Blake began to stand out.
“I was like Blake got a little something right now,” Pat recalled. “He’s got a little something. If we can just tweak it a little bit more, he can be pretty, decent. He was right there with Deonte and all those guys.”
Blake has the chance to graduate with a winning record in three of his four high school seasons, something that hasn’t been accomplished at Haines City and about a quarter century. That freshman class Blake was a part got things going under Pat Herrington, going 6-5 with a bowl loss before winning the district title in 2024, again going 6-5. It was only the second time since 2001 that Haines City had winning records in back-to-back seasons.
With the players leaving, the Hornets weren’t able to build on that last year.
“It was very tough,” Blake said. “We had a really good team. My freshman class was great. Them guys are doing good wherever they at, but that was really tough. So I feel like this year I feel like everybody just bought in. Everybody is really locked in.”
Haines City got some players in from Alabama along with younger players. Pat said he spend the summer teaching, spending a lot of time in the classroom with the new players, teaching the game, preparing them. Blake said by the time the season started, he felt a lot of energy with the team.
Haines City should be favored in its final two games against Davenport and Poinciana, giving the Hornets a strong chance for another six-win season. Beating Poinciana and giving the Hornets a chance at another district title and a seven-win season would make this season even more special for Blake.
“That would mean a whole bunch knowing that before I got here and all the other group of guys before we got here, Haines City was 0-10 in back-to-back seasons,” Blake said. “That would mean a lot, having the winning trend to keep going up for the future.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Blake Herrington, lone starter from 2024, leads Haines City football