By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Osceola completed one of the most successful regular seasons in the football team’s 96-year history with a resounding 71-17 win over South Lake Friday at Kowboys stadium.

The Kowboys, 10-0, finished unbeaten for the fourth time in 13 years (also in 1999, 2001 and 2007) and served notice that they are well-prepared for their sixth consecutive regional playoff appearance next week against Lakeland.

Senior Stafon McCray led a prodigious Kowboys offense, carrying 11 times for 204 yards and four touchdowns. He scored on runs of 3, 45, 76 and 55 yards as Osceola totaled 589 yards of offense.

“Everybody’s worked hard for this. Scooter (Fagan) had big blocks on a couple of those runs,” McCray said.

Fagan, one of the Kowboys’ most versatile players, scored on a 14-yard run and returned a punt 40 yards to set up another touchdown. He also punts and he is effective at throwing a pass off the halfback option play.

“Whatever the coaches need, that’s what I do,” the junior said.

Quarterback Daequan Harrison ran 1 yard for the Kowboys first touchdown and passed 22 yards to Davante Small for another. Small (6-101, 1 TD) raced 62 yards on a counter play for the Kowboys second touchdown.

Defensive back Hassan Childs highlighted an effective performance by the Kowboys defense with two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Despite the lopsided final score, the game was competitive through most of the first half because South Lake’s Anthony Miller returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. After the Kowboys equaled the score at 7 on Harrison’s 1-yard sneak, Miller capped a 75-yard drive by scoring on a 14-yard run to make it 14-7.

Small came right back with his long touchdown run on the Kowboys next possession to tie it again, then Childs first interception led to McCray’s 3-yard TD run and a 21-14 Kowboys lead.

South Lake, 4-6, was driving again, but Childs’ second interception, off a deflection by James Farley, put OHS in scoring position again and McCray dashed 45 yards for another touchdown. Dominic Lee’s 2-point conversion made it 29-14.

South Lake pulled closer on a field goal, 29-17, but with just 20 seconds left in the first half, McCray bolted off-tackle for his 76-yard TD and a 36-17 halftime advantage.

“We started off a little shaky, but I was proud of the guys for the way they fought back from a little adversity,” Kowboys Coach Doug Nichols said. “They played hard.”

Osceola rolled up 309 yards rushing in the first half. The teams combined for 510 yards in the first two quarters.

The Kowboys quickly delivered three knockout blows early in the third quarter on McCray’s 55-yard run (his final carry of the night), Harrison’s TD pass to Small and Fagan’s 14-yard run, making it 58-17.

For the sixth time this season, Osceola won via a running clock.

Laderrien Wilson (32 yards) and Yashua Dockery (66 yards) wrapped up the scoring for the Kowboys.

Farley had a fumble recovery for OHS, which limited South Lake to 44 yards of offense in the second half.

Childs said the Kowboys showed their resilience by countering South Lake’s fast start.

“I think we’re smarter than most teams, and we have all kind of athletes here,” he said. “In the first quarter, we came out a little rusty, but we got through that. You have to be strong.”

Nichols said he thought his offense would be effective against South Lake, which surrendered 56 points to East Ridge last week.

“Did I see 71? No, I never would have guessed that,” he said. “I think they had a couple of different kids on defense. But, we played well.”

Lakeland and Osceola have met in the playoffs since 2007, except for 2010, so it is no surprise that the Kowboys can’t wait for next Friday’s playoff game at Kowboys field.

The Dreadnaughts, 9-1, edged rival Kathleen, 28-27, in overtime Friday.

“We feel like as team that we are more athletic, more flexible in what we can do offensively,” Fagan said. “We’re hyped.”