By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Liberty’s bid for the 5A District 6 lead ended quickly last week against Osceola, but the Chargers still have much to play for Friday when they host Celebration at 7:30 p.m. for their district finale.

Liberty, 2-6 and 2-2, still is in playoff contention even after the 50-21 loss to OHS if it gets help from Harmony, which must beat St. Cloud Friday.

But Liberty Coach David Benson said it is more important for his team to focus on successfully concluding the season against the Storm, and, on Nov. 10, against rival Poinciana.

“As disappointing as this loss was, I’m happy because I know the future is so bright here,” Benson said.

Osceola jumped to a 28-0 lead Friday as the Chargers, playing without several injured starters, made special teams errors and turned the ball over against the Kowboys, 7-1, who clinched the district championship.

“There was a lot on the line Friday and the Osceola kids have been there before and they know how to handle those situations. Give credit to them,” Benson said.

“We’re playing a lot of young kids who are still learning how to play in those big games. We’ve had a big two-game stretch against St. Cloud and then Osceola, and I believe, with all the young players we have, that we are where Osceola was last year at this time when they were going through a similar learning situation.”

Terrell Bonds threw for a pair of touchdowns to Ameer Thompson (25 yards) and Perrion Hopkinson (18 yards).

Justin Winkler ran 10 yards for a TD.

Although the Kowboys rushed for more than 300 yards, Benson said his defense played hard.

“We gave up a lot of yardage, but I thought our defense played hard,” Benson said. “The important thing is that they never gave up, they were playing hard ‘til the end, and I’m proud of them.”

The Chargers played without defensive back Demetrious Taylor (deep bone bruise), who also is one of the team’s best receivers. Jalen Benn, the team’s rushing leader through the first part of the season, was lost for the year a month ago to a knee injury.

“Everybody has injuries, that’s part of it, and the guys did a nice job adjusting after Jalen went out, but you have a situation where you are now trying to get two or three backs to do the job of one,” Benson said. “Meat (Taylor) is like our all-everything guy – offense, defense, special teams – he does it all. He would have been out there if he could, but you could tell in warmups that it was just too painful for him.”

Celebration, 0-9 and 0-4, lost against St. Cloud, 55-7, last week and will conclude its season Friday.