By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

It’s beginning to look like no one, not even Hurricane Sandy, wants to mess with the Osceola Kowboys this football season.

Sandy threw a little rain and wind at the Kowboys in the first quarter of their 7A-6 district game against Liberty Friday at Kowboys field, but the hurricane behaved itself for most of the game as Osceola rolled to a 43-6 homecoming win against the Chargers.

Homecoming King Stafon McCray ran for three touchdowns and 151 yards and Davante Small scored two touchdowns and gained 142 yards on only five carries to lead an OHS offense that totaled 487 yards.

Osceola, 8-0 and 4-0 in the district, won by a running clock for the fifth game in a row. The Kowboys clinched a playoff berth and can take their second straight district championship by beating Gateway next week at Panthers field. Gateway, 7-2 and 3-1, was upended, 15-13, at Harmony, 3-6 and 2-2.

The first half of the Kowboys-Chargers game was marred by 12 penalties that cost the teams a combined 117 yards.

“It was a lot of stupid stuff,” Kowboys offensive lineman Josh Phelps, a member of the homecoming court, said.

McCray said the teams wanted to make a statement early in the game.

“I think both teams came out and got a little too excited,” he said.

A personal foul against the Kowboys cost them six points when Brandon Baker’s 45-yard interception return was nullified, but OHS picked up a touchdown when Liberty committed one of its four first-half personal fouls after the Kowboys misfired on a fourth-and-goal pass play. Given a first-and-goal reprieve at the 1, McCray slammed over on the next play to make it 12-0 late in the opening quarter.

OHS quarterback Daequan Harrison orchestrated a spectacular score on Osceola’s first possession when he raced 20 yards down the sideline before flipping a pitch to Small, who carried the last 10 yards for the touchdown and a 6-0 lead .

“That was a highlight reel play,” OHS Coach Doug Nichols said. “I’m glad he did it, it will keep those guys running in practice. They’re always getting on him because they say he never pitches it, so this will help.”

Small’s 72-yard scoring sprint made it 19-0 late in the first half, just before Baker’s pick-6 was nullified.

Although the Kowboys amassed 227 yards rushing in the first half, the team didn’t look sharp until the third quarter, when McCray scored on 30- and 43-yard runs and Harrison rolled in from the 8 to up the lead to 37-0 with 5:37 left in the period. The only downside to Osceola’s offensive dominance Friday was six failed PAT attempts.

Nichols said the wind and rain may have factored into Osceola’s slow start.

“You could see they (Liberty) were going to put everyone and their uncle in the box, and why wouldn’t they, with the wind whippin’ and blowin’ the way it was,” he said.

Liberty, 1-7 and 1-3, totaled only 15 yards of offense, but junior Markel Brown returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the game, after Osceola quarterback Hunter McGehee scored on a 20-yard run.

The loss eliminated the Chargers from playoff contention.

“Don’t bring this one out to the practice field. Let’s think about winning our last two games,” Chargers Coach David Benson told his team after the game.

Brown’s touchdown return wasn’t the only bad news for Osceola’s defense, which was shooting for its fourth shutout. Sophomore linebacker Riley Nicholson may be lost for the season with a possible broken collarbone, Nichols said.

“We’ll have to see, but it’s possible. That would be a big loss,” Nichols said.

Osceola, No. 6 in the Class 7A poll, can clinch home field advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs by beating Gateway.