By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

A No. 9 ranking in the Class 7A state football poll wasn’t good enough for Osceola.

The Kowboys wanted more than that, they wanted respect.

They earned it Friday with a pounding, pulsating 14-7 win against Palm Bay at Kowboys field in front of 2,000 fans and a state-wide Bright House Networks TV audience.

Quarterback Daequan Harrison flipped a 5-yard scoring toss to tight end Santiago Hoffman to cap a 75-yard drive with 2:53 to play.

“When we had the ball at the 50 and there were like seven minutes left, I told the offense, ‘This is the stuff you’ll be talking about all your life, driving in the last few minutes to beat Palm Bay,” OHS Coach Doug Nichols said. “I told them, ‘This is where champions are made.’ I thought we played as bad as we could at times, but when it was on the line, we took it.’”

Harrison, who threw only five passes in the game and completed two for 13 yards, both on the game-winning drive, said his instructions from the coaches after a timeout on a third-and-3 play from the Palm Bay 5 was to be careful with the ball.

“Coach told me that unless he (Hoffman) was five yards behind the guy, don’t throw it,” Harrison said.

He put the throw on the money, and the Kowboys, 3-0, earned their biggest regular-season win since a crucial district victory at Lakeland Jenkins two years ago that put OHS in the playoffs.

The winning touchdown drive followed a big play by Kowboys defensive back Brandon Baker, who knocked a potential TD catch from the grasp of Palm Bay receiver Derylton Hill. Hill scored Palm Bay’s only touchdown on a 64-yard fumble return in the second quarter, but Baker, a senior, turned the tables when he knocked the ball from Hill just as he was about to cross the goal line.

“That was my assignment. I saw that the tight end was on top. We were in a special defense where I was playing safety, and that was my man,” he said.

Osceola defensive coordinator Scott Spencer said Baker’s play was one of many good ones from his defense.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a bunch play so well so long,” Spencer said. “They just kept at it, all night. They’d still be going if they had to. I’m so proud of them.”

The Kowboys limited Palm Bay, 1-2, to 159 total yards, just 55 in the second half, and zero points.

The Osceola offense, despite losing three turnovers and having a long TD run called back by a penalty, seemed to gain strength in the fourth quarter.

The Kowboys had 149 yards in the second half and 100 of those came in the fourth period as Stafon McCray (22-120, 1 TD), Davante Small (15-71) and Scooter Fagan (4-31) rotated carries behind the offensive line of Carlos Maxwell, Malik Howard, Kevin Mendez, Tyler Evans and Josh Phelps that was dominating during the winning drive.

“Coach told us when we were at the 50 that we had to play like we wanted to be champions,” Mendez, a 225-pound junior tackle said. “We’re taught to play hard and to give our best effort, and if we do that, then we can do anything.”

The defenses dominated during the first half, when the teams combined for five punts and three turnovers.

OHS drove 65 yards to take the lead in the second quarter. McCray, whose 31-yard run to the Palm Bay 22 was the big play, capped the drive with a 1-yard run. Cristano Nogueras added the PAT to make it 7-0.

The Kowboys were at the Pirates 34 on their next possession with a chance to expand the lead before Hill stripped a Kowboys ball carrier and stunned the large OHS crowd with his return for a TD to tie the score.

Kowboys defensive back Hassan Childs kept the Pirates out of the end zone late in the first half when he picked off quarterback Brian Fallace (6-16-67-1) at the goal line with less than a minute to play.

The Kowboys outgained Palm Bay 250-159, but more importantly, they let everyone know that Osceola is serious about potentially winning its second state championship, they said.

“It was a physical game, but that’s the kind of game we like to play,” Brandon Baker said. “That’s what we wanted to do, to let people know about how the Kowboys play football.”

Mendez said the Kowboys weren’t happy to learn that they were underdogs to Palm Bay before the game.

“I feel like we made a statement that the Kowboys are back, and that we’re going back to the Citrus Bowl to the state championship,” he said.

Coach Nichols isn’t ready to say that, but he was pleased to see OHS end a long losing streak to Palm Bay.

“My dad said to me the other day, ‘Are you going to beat them this time? You haven’t as long as you’ve been there,’” Nichols, who was an assistant at OHS for 16 years before becoming the head coach two years ago, said. “I had never thought about it before, but I never had won this game, so it feels good.”

Palm Bay, which lost to state-ranked Class 8A Fort Pierce Central, 14-12, on Monday, has won two state championships and made 17 straight playoff appearances, so not many teams can make a living by beating the Pirates.

“We lost to this team last year, and we didn’t want that again,” Daequan Harrison said. “We’re real close to being where we want to be.”

The Kowboys go to 0-3 Celebration, a 52-0 loser to Lake Minneola, next Friday.