“The Game,” Harmony district opener part of Week 6
( Editor’s Note: as of our press time Tuesday, these games are now tentatively scheduled to be played on Monday with schools closed through Friday. All info will be updated at AroundOsceola.com.)
Regardless of recent results, it’s still one of the oldest football rivalries in both the state and nation, it still means a lot to Osceola County residents and it’s still called “The Game” to those who have spent any time in the county.
For the 99th time since 1925 (they took one year off for World War II in 1944), Osceola will line up against St. Cloud – this time on Monday at 6 p.m. at Tom Gannarelli Field. It’s the fifth-longest active annual rivalry in the state of Florida.
“It’s a district game this year so it’s important,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “We may have gotten the best of this rivalry for the past couple of years, but our players also understand their dads and their grandfathers played in this game and it means a lot to them. Nobody wants to be on the team to see the current streak end.”
Osceola has dominated of late, winning every game on the field since St. Cloud took a thrilling 41-35 win in 2010. But that game was later forfeited over a player eligibility issue and Bulldogs’ last official wins were back-to-back victories by nearly identical 28-24 and 27-24 scores in 200405. Osceola won 56-0 last year and has won the last 11 games by an average of 31 points. Overall, the Kowboys lead the all-time series, 67-27-4.
“A rivalry sort of implies closely contested games and that certainly has not been the case of late,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “Still, it is one of the oldest series in the state and it still means a lot to the players, students, alumni, coaches and fans.”
Osceola (2-2) is coming off its most impressive showing of the season, having gone on the road where its shellacked undefeated Rockledge, 307. Osceola did not give up an offensive touchdown; Derrick Leblanc led the defense with four quarterback sacks. Offensively, the Kowboys also had their best passing game of the season as David Buggs threw three touchdown passes and Taevion Swint rushed for 144 yards. Rockledge came in to the game as the number one ranked team in state in the Suburban 3 Class.
“We challenged our defense to get physical this week and they responded,” Pinellas said. “Our front four dominated the game.”
St. Cloud (3-2) comes into the contest on a high note after a 38-16 Homecoming win over Winter Springs last Thursday. Joseph Clukey was one of several standouts for Bulldogs as he scored a pair of touchdowns on a 40-yard run and a 73-yard punt return. Noah Carr played well defensively and also scored a touchdown and quarterback Logan King tossed a pair of touchdown passes in the win.
Perhaps the most interesting game of the week takes place 10 miles east of The Game, where Harmony (3-1) takes on Melbourne (3-2) in the District 4S-11 opener for the Longhorns. The Longhorns dropped their first game of the season last week, losing a hard-fought 28-13 decision on the road to undefeated Eau Gallie (5-0).
If Harmony is to win, it will have to get their offense on track. Last week against Eau Gallie, the Longhorns only managed a pair of Alex Tuyo field goals in three trips to the red zone. Joshua Moss scored the only touchdown for Harmony, returning an interception 26 yards for a score. Harmony has not scored an offensive touchdown in the last two games.
“We had to move some players around on the offensive line, but that really isn’t an excuse. We need to find a way to put the ball in the end zone,” Harmony coach Don Simon said.
He added that while his defense played fairly well, some sloppy tackling on a few plays and some key penalties hurt his team. “We kept two of their drives alive with silly penalties and the early fumble basically resulted in 21 of their 28 points. Our defense played well for 75 percent of the game but when you play good teams, 75 percent effort is not good enough.”
Behind record-setting freshman quarterback Sabby Meassick, Tohopekaliga (4-0) will be heavy favorites to defeat Celebration (0-5) on the road in a District 4S-10 game. Meassick upped his season totals to 1,431 yards, 25 touchdowns and a season completion percentage of 74.5.
He was 33-of-50 passing night for 433 yards and seven touchdowns in a 47-6 win over Space Coast last week. Nick Rawls caught 13 passes for 184 yards and a score, Julian Nasco had 10 catches for 118 yards and two scores; while running back Churandy Duval rushed for 154 yards on just 11 carries in the win.
Celebration dropped a 40-16 decision to Winter Haven, and just like the Storm will be against Tohopekaliga, Gateway (1-2) will be looking for its first district win when they host Liberty (0-5) in a District 3S-8 matchup. The Panthers lost 26-0 to Ocala West Port on Friday; while Liberty dropped a 44-6 decision to Deltona.
Poinciana (3-2) is above .500 for the first time this late in the season since 2000 and just the second time in the school’s 31-year history as it heads into their bye week. The team won for the third time with a 20-2 win over Tenoroc, where the defense did not allow a score. Senior quarterback De’kwan Bradley completed 11 of 22 passes for two touchdowns in the game, both of which went to Perry Garrett, who had seven receptions for 72 yards.
