Bulldogs top Lake Region, 45-6; Tigers claw Lake Howell, 49-9
St. Cloud and Tohopekaliga will be two of the few Florida football teams to finish their seasons with a victory, winning their postseason bowl games Wednesday.
The Bulldogs debuted their new $2 million artificial turf field with a bang, as Logan King fired a 62-yard touchdown pass to Alex Springs on the first play from scrimmage and his teammates were never challenged during a 45-6 win over Lake Region in the Prescriptions Unlimited Bowl.
The Tigers also played on a carpet Wednesday in Winter Park and used a 35-point second quarter to dominate Lake Howell, 49-9, in the Heroes Bowl, which honored first responders.
The Bulldogs (8-3) and Tigers (6-5) are the only Osceola County teams to finish the 2023 season with winning records.
“Great finish to a great season,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “It was a phenomenal job by the kids. We led the county in wins, beat our arch-rivals in Harmony and won a bowl game. I was really happy for our seniors, as they finally got to play a true home game this season on the new turf.”
In winning eight games for the first time since 2009, St. Cloud finished with a six-game winning streak. The Bulldogs recorded four shutouts and out-scored their opponents 222-24 during the streak.
After the King-Springs connection put St. Cloud up 8-0, running back TJ Griffin made it 15-0 three minutes later on a 52-yard touchdown run. After forcing a punt, St. Cloud pushed the lead to 21-0 as King hit Springs on his second touchdown pass from 32 yards out.
St. Cloud closed out first quarter scoring on a nifty 4-yard behind-the-back touchdown pass from King to Owen Conner. After Adrian Gonzalez’s 25-yard field goal, Conner’s second touchdown reception at the 4:29 mark of the second quarter made it 38-0 and forced a running clock for the entire second half.
King, who finished the game 9-for-17 passing for 188 yards, concluded the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown pass to freshman Owen Sullivan in the third quarter to finish with five touchdown passes. He had a sixth touchdown pass, a 52-yard pass to Springs --called back by penalty in the fourth quarter.
Springs finished with three catches for 81 yards, and Griffin had 62 rushing yards on just three carries. St. Cloud had 268 yards of total offense and scored six touchdowns on just 24 plays. While its offense was dominating, the Bulldog defense put up a strong front, as Jacob Hernandez, Jian Walls and Stacy Taylor all intercepted passes. The defense also recovered a fumble, came up with three fourth down stops and held Lake Region to just 161 yards of total offense – with 81 of those yards coming against the reserves in the fourth quarter.
Jonathan Morales, St. Cloud’s diminutive running back who finished his senior season with 400 rushing yards and four touchdowns, said the game was a perfect ending to his career.
“As a senior we finally got to play a true home game. To play it on this beautiful field and go out with a win made the wait worth it,” Morales said after St. Cloud was forced to split their first five home games between Austin Tindall Park and Hickory Tree Field.
Although St. Cloud loses nine seniors, Smart said the future is bright.
“We lose a few impact players, but we return 10 of 11 starters on offense and eight of 11 on defense. We finished with the six straight wins and are going to take a lot of momentum into the spring and our summer off-season program.”
After a slow first quarter, Tohopekaliga also turned their game into a blowout in the first half. Trailing 3-0, senior running back Churandy Duval gave the Tigers a lead they’d never lose, capping a 69-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, the first of his four scores in the game. Fellow senior Julian Nasco followed by recovering an onside kick, then caught a 22-yard pass from Sabby Meassick (26-for-37, 286 yards) to set up Duval’s next score from 12 yards out.
After stopping the Silver Hawks on fourth down, Toho quickly made it 21-3 on a 36-yard Meassick-to-Nasco touchdown connection. Naeem Woulard’s interception and return on the next drive set up Duval to score from four yards out with 1:34 left in the half – plenty of time for the Tigers to score again. They did just that when Kevin Mendez recovered another onside kick, and it set up a 5-yard touchdown screen pass from Meassick to Delvin Pryer, another senior, to make it 35-3 at the half.
After the Tigers opened the third quarter by recovering another onside kick, and Duval’s final touchdown set that game to a running clock. Sophomore running back Jaxson Hardnett gave a glimpse of the future, capping the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Duval carried 18 times for 111 yards. Even with the running clock in the second half the Tigers managed 63 snaps for 420 yards, while holding the Silver Hawks to 91 yards on 35 snaps. Only 10 yards came in the second quarter as Andrew Hines, Anthony Paradiso, Jr. and Keniel Martinez recorded sacks.
“This was the best way to go out, with a win like this,” said Nasco, who finished with 10 receptions for 175 yards. “I’m going to play in college, but it was great getting to suit up with these seniors again for one more game.”
Coach Anthony Paradiso, Sr. said Nasco is one of a number of seniors he and the Tigers will miss.
“We’ll take the holidays and focus on family and then get after it for next year, but it’s always great to get one more time to get out and compete, a lot of teams hung ‘em up last week.”
