'A culture shock:' How new Hawthorne QB Adrian Curtis has adjusted before showdown vs Newberry

Adrian Curtis doesn't need the reminders.

He knows what folks around North-Central Florida have said about him. In his three years as a starter, he’s never beaten Newberry.

He threw for just 72 yards and three interceptions as a sophomore at PK Yonge in a 42-14 loss. The next year, as a junior at Eastside, he went for 59 yards and an interception in a 38-0 defeat.

Now, the senior found a new home in Hawthorne where the next step awaits him.

COMPLETE LOCAL HS FOOTBALL CONTENT HERE: High school football in North-Central Florida: Complete coverage from the 2024 season

“Better opportunity for me”

Curtis’ time at Eastside was nothing to shy away from.

He threw for over 1,800 yards last season. Gator Hoskins transformed him into a stable pocket passer, and the Rams won a playoff game.

Curtis called Hoskins “one of the smartest coaches” he’s ever spoken to.

“In terms of knowledge of the game, it don’t get much better than him,” Curtis said. “He taught me reads and made it second nature.”

With all this praise for the Rams staff, why transfer?

Because, when a state-title winning program sits 12 miles down the road, you don’t pass up that opportunity.

“It's a great program that Coach Ingram and all these coaches have been building,” Curtis said. “When I got here, it was a culture shock.”

The quarterback admits he didn’t have a favorable impression of the school. It was your classic mix of hatred combined with a little bit of jealousy. He now feels nothing but love from the coaches, and the feeling is mutual. Coach Cornelius Ingram observed Curtis from afar and was impressed.

He remembered Curtis crying when Hawthorne beat PK Yonge his sophomore year.

“I went over and told him ‘You’re going to be fine, man,’” Ingram said. “Because even as a youngster, he had some great throws.”

Filling a void

Curtis brings a certain leadership presence, Ingram said; one the Hornets would have missed.

Some of you might be reading this and wondering: What happened to CJ Ingram?

Ingram committed to Florida for basketball earlier in August and decided to sit out this season for football.

That left a massive void for the Hornets. Not only was Ingram a two-time defending state champion, but he was also an excellent quarterback and the Class 1R Player of the Year in 2023.

Ingram, who’s coached CJ for the last eight years, admitted it’s been weird without his son.

He was the point guard of the offense.

“It was second nature for him,” Ingram said. “A lot of times at the end of games, guys are fatigued, the crowd is yelling, they might misunderstand the play. CJ was always the guy in the huddle, calming everyone down.”

Ingram can tell, though, that Curtis possesses the same quality.

“He’s able to talk to the coaches and help us, and CJ was doing the exact same thing,” Ingram said. “To have a veteran guy plug in right away, he’s huge for us already.”

A new, more traditional offense

Curtis also brings a new dimension to the offense. CJ is, by nature, not a quarterback – he’s an athlete. In fact, when Florida offered him a football scholarship in January, it was at wide receiver.

Curtis is a true pocket passer and can’t run as much. That isn’t an issue for the Hornets since they have Keenon Johnson in the backfield. Johnson rushed for 1,594 yards in 2023 (23rd in Florida and 3rd in Class 1R).

“We won’t have to rely on Adrian running as much with Keenon,” Offensive Coordinator Greg Bowie said. “Now that gives Adrian a chance to get the ball out to those three, four receivers.”

Curtis called Johnson the best back in Florida. The quarterback thinks he deserves more attention for his blocking.

“His blocking ability is unmatched,” Curtis said. “I remember a block he made. We threw a screen pass, and he just laid the corner out. I was like ‘Oh my God.”’

Johnson’s presence allows Bowie to call his true style of offense – more of a ground and pound as opposed to the high-flying nature we saw last season with CJ and receivers like Alvon Isaac.

“We want to control the clock, and it starts with Keenon Johnson,” Bowie said. “Up front, we got some young guys that CI challenges every day, and they respond. As an offensive coordinator, that gives me a lot of confidence.”

That offensive line will be needed vs the Panthers this Friday. Newberry has two Power 4 commits on its defensive line in Miami’s Mykah Newton and Ohio State’s Jarquez Carter.

“Those guys are playmakers, and we know they’re coming,” Curtis said. “But we have the best coaching staff in America, and we’re going to play around them and contain them.”

Kickoff from Hawthorne is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday. In their two matchups last season, the Hornets won both by a combined score of 67-17.

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: 'A culture shock:' How new Hawthorne QB Adrian Curtis has adjusted before showdown vs Newberry