FOOTBALL STATE SEMIFINALS
In high school football, teams rarely get to avenge a loss from earlier in the season.
But that’s exactly the opportunity the Osceola Kowboys (10-3) have Friday when they travel to Lakeland’s Bryant Stadium to face the Dreadnaughts (12-0) in the FHSAA Class 4S state semifinals. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
The game will be a rematch of Sept. 16 contest won by Lakeland, 25-22, that was played in a driving first-half rainstorm. Each team turned the ball over four times that night, but the Kowboys only scored seven points off Lakeland’s miscues. In addition, they also turned the ball over on downs three times and shanked two punts during the mistake-filled loss.
Neither team left the field that night believing the contest was a true reflection of its abilities – with Osceola lamenting the fact that turnovers, penalties and special teams errors cost them a chance to win the game; Lakeland left the field believing the margin of victory should have been bigger.
More than bragging rights are at stake. Friday’s winner will travel to Fort Lauderdale next week to face the winner of Venice– Gainesville Bucholz for the state championship.
“This is the reason we scheduled the way we,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said, noting OHS’ schedule included eight 2022 playoff teams — including Lakeland. “We are playing a great opponent with a storied history on the road for a chance to get to the state championship and that will present a great challenge to us. The good news is that Lakeland is not going to be able to throw anything new at us. We know what they are about because we played them this season.”
Lakeland’s playoff has been marked by three games where they faced little resistance, outscoring their opponents 137-20 in beating Lake Gibson (490), Mitchell (47-10) and Lake Minneola (41-10). Osceola had nail-biters in the first two rounds, defeating DeLand (30-28) and Treasure Coast (107) before racing past Vero Beach (31-7) on Friday night.
To win Friday, Osceola will need to play mistake-free football this time around. The Dreadnaughts have been dominant this season – especially after the close win over Osceola. Since then, no team has stayed within 28 points of Lakeland, with their margin of victory in those last nine games being almost 40 points per game. Osceola and Lakewood Ranch are the only two teams to score 20 points against the Dreadnaughts all season, and the Kowboys are the only team that Lakeland has not beaten by double digits.
One of the big keys to Lakeland’s success is a tough, athletic defense that has allowed just 7.5 points per game while racking up 132 tackles-for-loss and 56.5 quarterback sacks. The Lakeland defense has stars all over the field including defensive linemen Larry Jones III (21 TFL, 14 sacks), Jack Proctor (17 TFL, 8.5 sacks), Guerlyn Milfort (10 TFL, 4 sacks) and Idris King (21.5 TFL, 11 sacks); linebacker RJ Kelly (8.5 TFL) and defensive backs Michael Singleton (three combined interceptions). McClain, a Miami Hurricane commit and a 5-star recruit, is considered the nation’s top high school defensive back. All but Proctor are seniors.
The Dreadnaught offense is also potent as they are averaging 42 points a game. Senior quarterback Zach Pleuss doesn’t throw the ball a lot (90-for-133, 1,390 yards), but is extremely accurate (67.7% completion percentage) and has 12 touchdowns and just four picks. His top target is senior Tyler Williams (25 catches, 373 yards, 6 TDs).
Lakeland relies on three players to spark a very good running game that is averaging more than 200 yards a game — senior Don’Ares Johnson (67583-7 TD); and juniors Markell Johnson (69-559-8 TD) and D’marius Rucker (80-864-11 TD). Three of Johnson’s touchdowns came in the first half of the Osceola game. Collectively they are averaging nine yards a carry.
“They are outstanding on both sides of the ball and frankly what happened in the first game does not matter,” Pinellas said. “Good teams get better as the season progresses and I am sure they are a better version of themselves than they were when we played in September. But, I think we are a lot better version of ourselves too.”
Pinellas says the key to the game will be to play fast, establish the running game and limit turnovers. “Through turnovers we spotted them a 14-0 lead in that game, you can’t do that against a quality team,” Pinellas said. “Ideally I would like to score first and make them play from behind. In addition we need to play smart on defense. They run a lot of counter plays, so we must maintain lane integrity and not get out of position.”
