Gateway-St. Cloud Friday; OHS goes to Jones Monday
Hurricane Ian sent high school sports to a crashing halt last week. Friday’s football games were forced to Monday, then postponed again when Osceola County canceled school to Tuesday. Coaches and athletic directors at seven of the eight county schools scheduled to play important district games were left scrambling to reschedule those games.
“We thought COVID-19 created a lot of chaos and uncertainty,” said Gateway coach Marlin Roberts, whose district game with Liberty was rescheduled or Monday at 7 p.m. at Gateway. “Between lightning delays, postponements and now this hurricane it has been crazy. We are starting our seventh week and barely have gotten three games in.”
Other district games that were postponed but will need to be made up were the 99th playing of “The Game” between Osceola and St. Cloud, now scheduled for Oct. 17 at St. Cloud. Melbourne at Harmony will be made up on Tuesday, Oct. 17; while a new date for the postponed Tohopekaliga at Celebration game has not been determined.
Even the Week 7 schedule needed to be adjusted when Sarasota Riverview backed out of Friday’s home game with Osceola.
“They called us and flat out said they needed to cancel the game,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “They said it was because of hurricane issues so we will leave it at that.”
Not wanting to go 20 day without playing, Pinellas jumped on phone and found an opponent in state power Jones, an Orlando power despite a 2-2 record. The two will play Monday. The Tigers have lost to Duncanville, Texas (4-0) and Edgewater (5-0).
“A team with a great tradition and great athletes,” Pinellas said. “Certainly will be one of the toughest opponents on our schedule.”
After the Jones game, Osceola will get really busy as they will play a district game with Celebration next Thursday and play the make-up district game with St. Cloud the following Monday to give them three games in eight days.
One of the more intriguing contests this week is a non-district game between Hagerty (4-0) and Harmony (3-1). The home game, scheduled for Friday night at “The Ranch,” will give the Longhorns a chance to get back on the winning track after suffering its first loss of the season at Eau Gallie on Sept. 23.
It will not be an easy task. Led by quarterback Anthony Benjiza (10 total touchdowns), Hagerty features a veteran team that can run and throw the ball. “They are really balanced,” Harmony Coach Don Simon said. “They are big and physical and (Benjiza) is a stud. Their offensive line is tremendous.”
If the Longhorns are to get back on track, Simon believes first down plays will be the key.
“We can’t get behind the chains this week and we need to pick up five or six yards on first down. We need to keep possession and most importantly, we need to finish off drives with touchdowns.” Harmony has failed to score an offensive touchdown in their last two games.
Tohopekaliga will be favored to remain undefeated when they host Wesley Chapel on Friday night. It will be the second game in five days for Wesley (0-4), who was scheduled to play a make-up game Oct. 3 with Zephyrhills.
“Don’t know much about Wesley Chapel, as I have never faced them in my coaching career,” Tigers coach Anthony Paradiso said. “I have to assume they will be fundamentally sound and well coached. But my main concern right now is for my kids and their families. A few of them faced flooding issues and were displaced after the storm. We are just hoping to have our entire team intact by the end of the week.”
It’s another opportunity for Tigers freshman quarterback Sabby Meassick to impress. He has been nominated for SBLIVE’s “National Freshman Pl aye r of the Year” award. Scoreboardlive.com, a website that covers national high school sports, has identified Meassick as one of 20 nominees for the award. In four games, Meassick has thrown for 1,400 yards, completed 76% of his passes for 24 touchdowns and just one interception.
St. Cloud (3-2) will play at Gateway (1-2) in what is turning into a pretty good rivalry for both schools. The Bulldogs have won the last three games but the Panthers have won three of previous five games before that.
“It seems like every rezone, we either lose or gain some kids from Gateway’s zone, so there is some crossover,” St. Cloud head coach Mike Short said. “I have worked on the same staff with Coach Roberts before and we’re all pretty good friends. It’s intense but it is also a fun game for both sides.”
Perhaps the best job of scheduling came at Poinciana, who had its bye week during the storm. The Eagles (3-2) quest for the first winning season in school history will face a challenge this week on the road with Davenport (1-2).
The Broncos, in their second year, defeated Poinciana last year, 20-8, on their way to a respectable 4-5 mark in their first year.
“Because of their close proximity to our school and the fact that some of their coaches worked here, this is becoming a good rivalry game for us,” Poinciana Coach Randy Beeken said. “They have some good athletes and our offense is going to have to play better than it has in the last two weeks in order for us to win.”
That offense, led by quarterback De’kwan Bradley (191 yards per game, 10 total touchdowns) and receivers Donald Cummings and Perry Garrett (5 receiving touchdowns) have totaled just two offensive touchdowns in the last two games. The Eagles defense will also have to contend with Davenport running back Aiden George, who is averaging more than 11 yards per carry.
Celebration (0-5) and Liberty (0-5) have scheduled byes this week.
