FOOTBALL RIVALRY WEEK
And, just like that, Week 11 —the final week of the football regular season — is upon us, and the schedule features two traditional rivalries, along with an intriguing game that could affect the playoff picture.
Although it may not be the oldest rivalry in the county – that will forever be St. Cloud-Osceola – the St. Cloud-Harmony game has developed into the best rivalry among county schools. The two will meet Friday at Harmony the 18th edition of the Soldier City Classic to play for the Brass Bugle. “We may have played Osceola pretty much since the beginning of time,” former Bulldogs Head Coach and current Athletic Director Bryan Smart said. “But to be honest, when one team dominates a series, it may still have tradition but it just hasn’t been that much of a rivalry.
“St. Cloud and Harmony is way different. Their players and ours have been competing with and against each other all the way back to youth sports. Historically, the series has been pretty even and I know there is a lot of pride on both sides when these two teams get together. It’s the one game on the schedule every year that everyone points to and gets excited about regardless of what the records are.” Last year’s game made that clear — Harmony came in as heavy favorites against St. Cloud but gave up 24 first-half points before falling 31-30 in the what was later named the News Gazette’s Game of the Year. That upset gave St. Cloud the trophy for a third consecutive year, and the Bulldogs a 9-8 lead in the all-time series.
St. Cloud (6-3) comes in winners of four of its last five games, including a 32-6 district win last week against Celebration. Logan King (1 pass, 1 run) and Terrance Griffin (2 runs) accounted for two touchdowns each, and Yadiel Rivera returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. “There’s not a lot of mystery here, we know their players and they know ours,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “The phrase, ‘You can throw the team’s records out the window,’ may be an over-used cliché, but I really don’t think it is in this case. To be honest about it, Harmony probably had a better team than we did last year and our kids somehow found a way to hold on and win. That is indicative of what a great rivalry can be.” The Longhorns are 5-4 after a disappointing 35-3 loss to Heritage that essentially knocked them out the playoffs. “We certainly did not play well in any phase of the game,” Harmony Coach Don Simon said. “I guess the most disappointing part of that is still had a shot at making the playoffs and just came out and laid an egg.” Simon noted that his team would have to avoid mistakes to end its rivalry losing streak. “The last two games have been decided by a total of five points and in both of those games we didn’t take care of the football and made some crucial mistakes that basically cost us a chance to win the game,” he said.
Like “The Soldier City Classic,” the “Battle of the Boulevard” between Liberty and Poinciana has also been played with high emotions and intensity —but has lacked competitiveness. The schools are just a couple of miles apart and since Liberty opened in 2007 the Chargers have won 15 previous editions, outscoring the Eagles 668-186 in the process.
Poinciana (7-2) should be in line to get its first victory in the series. The Eagles have won six of their last seven, including a 42-0 win over Winter Haven’s Ambassador’s Christian Academy on Friday, and a 49-14 win at Hardee (16) on Monday, a makeup game from Hurricane Ian week. Friday, the Eagles scored two defensive touchdowns on a 70-yard “pick-six” by Perry Garrett and a 50-yard fumble return by Michael Centeno. De’Kwan Bradley threw two touchdown passes to Donald Cummings and Dav’rell Cohn rushed for a pair of touchdowns. The Eagles have now assured themselves their second winning season, and the best season in the school’s 31-year-old history.
Liberty (0-9), coming off a 39-6 loss to Lake Region, has struggled this season and has scored just two touchdowns all season. Still, Poinciana Coach Randy Beeken is taking nothing for granted. “Although they have struggled this year, I’m sure Liberty will be fired up for this game,” he said. “I honestly thought we had the personnel to compete and win last year, and we got beat 48-0. I can promise that we are not going to be over-confident going into the game – because we have no reason to be.”
The only county game with post-season implications will occur at Markus Paul Stadium, where Osceola ( 6- 3), ranked No. 2 in Region 4S-3, hosts West Orange, who took a 5-3 record into a Tuesday district make-up game with Ocoee. Last year the teams were in the same district and met twice, with Warriors winning in the regular season and the regional semifinals of the playoffs.
Now as a non-district game, it still has huge significance, as the Warriors are ranked No. 3 in their Metro region. The winner could go to No. 1 in their region. “They are a great program and a really talented team,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said about West Orange. “We are not looking at this as any sort of revenge game. We prefer to look ahead, not backwards. This is a chance to get better and keep our momentum moving into the post-season. Right now we are playing our best football of the season and we want to keep trending upwards.”
The Kowboys won their fourth straight game and clinched their 12th consecutive district title a 62-7 blowout of Tohopekaliga Friday. Osceola has outscored those four opponents 193-16, with most of the opposing team’s points coming late in the game as the Osceola reserves.
“We are getting close to where I want to be,” Pinellas said. “Our defense is stepping up and our passing game continues to get better every week. Friday will be another good test for us.”
Celebration, Gateway and Tohopekaliga will also close out their regular seasons on Friday. The Storm (1-8) will look for their second win of the season when they travel to Lake Region (4-5). Falling to 2-6 after a 38-16 loss to Davenport, the Panthers will travel to Lyman (6-3). And Tohopekaliga (5-4) will attempt to break a four-game losing streak when they host the Haines City Hornets (4-3) on Friday.
