Osceola running back Taevion Swint, who piled up mind-boggling stats in his senior year against some of the best teams in Florida, is the 2024 Osceola News Gazette’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Despite fighting through a shoulder injury much of the season, Swint was simply unstoppable in leading the Kowboys to a 12-3 record and to a spot in the Class 6A state championship game.
The UCF signee played a major role, rushing for 791 yards and eight touchdowns on 81 carries (9.7 yards per carry) in the postseason. Those totals included 147 yards and two touchdowns in regional final road win at Armwood; as well as 199 yards in a state semifinal road win over Buchholz.
He rushed for 1,915 yards in 15 games, scoring 28 total touchdowns and averaging 127.7 yards per game. Those totals are more impressive considering Osceola faced nine playoff opponents in their 10-game regular season and Swint averaged just 11 carries in those games.
“It’s a great honor to be recognized as player of the year, but I have to share it with all my teammates,” Swint said. “Without those guys up front opening holes, it would have been a lot tougher. Having Jeff (Sinophat), Elijah (Hickson) and Camren (West) in the backfield meant teams could not just key on me, because anyone of those guys was capable to taking it to the house on any play.
“The defense certainly played a factor in it, they came up with stops and turnovers and put the ball back in our offense’s hands all year.”
He had 12 100-yard rushing games, including two carries for 140 against St. Cloud, nine for 172 against Durant and 16 for 179 against Apopka—and that was after suffering a shoulder injury in Week 2 on Aug. 30 against Lake Mary.
“We wanted to limit his work load during the regular season but he still was able to produce huge numbers for us,” Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We rode him a little more in the playoffs and against great competition he led us to a state title game. There’s no question he belongs on the list of greatest running backs in both Osceola and county history.”
Although he appeared in only parts of six games his junior year because of injuries, Swint finishes his career with 4,795 rushing yards, 6,120 all-purpose yards and 70 career touchdowns.
The ONG selection at quarterback is Poinciana’s Cameron Brown. The dualthreat senior threw for 2,300 yards, rushed for 923 yards and accounted for 36 touchdowns in leading the Eagles to a school record-tying eight wins, including a win over East River in a bowl game.
For the first time in school history, Poinciana went 5-0 against county opposition— recording first-ever wins over St. Cloud and beating Harmony for the first time since 2004.
“Without question, I felt Cameron was the best quarterback in the county,” one rival county coach said. “Running, throwing, his composure … he really had all the elements you want to see in a quarterback.”
Swint and Brown are joined in the News Gazette’s All-County backfield by Osceola’s Jeff Sinophat, Gateway’s Nydrell Thigpen and Tohopekaliga’s Jaxson Hardnett. Running opposite of Swint, Sinophat averaged almost eight yards a carry and scored nine touchdowns and gained 917 yards. Hardnett posted three 100yard games and ran for 886 yards and added 255 yards. Panther freshman Thigpen tallied 661 yards and five touchdowns.
St. Cloud’s Alex Springs headlines the ONG selections at wide receiver. He went over the 1,000-yard mark (57-1,098) and added nine touchdowns. A basketball standout and a strong candidate for ONG’s Athlete of the Year, Springs also played defensive back for the Bulldogs. He is joined by Tohopekaliga receivers Tre Punter (79-9719 TD) and Emanuel Theagene (43-652-6), and Poinciana’s Chance Frazier (40-845-12). The offensive line is anchored by Osceola’s Connor Howse.
The ability to line-up in multiple positions is an important aspect in almost every level of football and Osceola County had several players that deserved recognition. Our athlete/hybrid players on offense are St. Cloud’s TJ Griffin and Poinciana’s Will Nezeus. Griffin rushed for 408 yards and caught 711 yards in passes—scoring five touchdowns. Nezeus totaled 12 touchdowns rushing and receiving.
All-County Football Offense
Player of the Year: Taevion Swint, Sr., Osceola
All-County Offensive Team:
Poinciana: Cameron Brown, Sr., Chance Frazier, So., Will Nezeus, Sr.
Osceola: Jeff Sinophat, Jr., Connor Howse, Sr., David Ashman, Sr., Kamden Jones, Sr., Alijah Jenkins, Jr., Adrian Gonzalez, Sr.
Tohopekaliga: Jaxson Hardett, Jr., Emanuel Theagene, Jr., Tre Punter, Jr., Wade Cordell, Jr.
Harmony: Kaleb Johnson, Sr.
St. Cloud: Alex Springs, Sr., Owen Sullivan, So., TJ Griffin, Sr., Brian Morales, Sr.
Gateway: Nydrell Thigpen, Fr., Josh Fuller, Soph., Gustavo Gallardo, Sr.
