By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The talk around Central Florida all season has been about Lakeland’s stingy defense.

Well, guess who else plays pretty good defense? How about the Osceola Kowboys?

The Kowboys, No. 4 in Class 7A, slammed the door on the Dreadnaughts Friday, 16-2, in the 7A-2 regional quarterfinals at Kowboys field.

Osceola (11-0) will host Ridge Community (9-2), a 24-0 winner over Harmony, next Friday at 7:30 p.m.

About 3,000 fans saw the Kowboys break open a scoreless game in the fourth quarter with a dominating defense, a huge special teams play and just enough offense to give Osceola its first victory over Lakeland since 2007, snapping the Dreadnaughts’ five-game winning streak against Osceola. Three of those losses ended Osceola’s seasons in 2008, 2009 and 2011.

“We showed up,” senior defensive tackle Darren Brackbill said, kneeling as the teams finished exchanging handshakes after the game ended. “That’s a good team, they’re tough. Finally, we beat them. I’ve been waiting three years for this.”

The game turned late in the third period when Osceola finally managed to pin Lakeland, which enjoyed good field position in the first half, deep in its territory.

A sack by Kowboys lineman Peter Bailey and Brackbill’s crunching hit on Dreadnaughts running back Robert Smith for a 7-yard loss to the 1 forced Lakeland to punt from its end zone, with OHS taking over at its 37.

Eight plays later, Cristano Nogueras hit a 25-yard field goal with 11:16 left for a 3-0 lead.

Lakeland (9-2 and ranked No. 8) struggled on its next possession, and on fourth-and-13 from the 30, the Kowboys Shayvai Gordon, a sophomore, blocked Caleb Hough’s punt. The loose ball rolled inside the Lakeland 5, where Osceola defensive back Dominic Lee outwrestled a half dozen Dreadnaughts and Kowboys in the end zone for a touchdown.

“We knew it would be there for us. We knew what kind of game it was going to be. We had to come out and play tough,” Lee said.

Gordon said there was no special play called on the block.

“We knew we had to play fast,” he said. “It’s always what we’re looking for all year.”

The PAT failed, but with 10:07 left, the Kowboys were in command, 9-0.

They forced another break on Lakeland’s next possession when Brandon Baker intercepted at the Kowboys 32. Osceola couldn’t move, but Scooter Fagan’s 69-yard punt for a touchback put Lakeland at its 20.

“I’ve kicked it that far in practice,” Fagan, who rushed for 51 yards, said.

The Kowboys defense held again, and after Lakeland punted, Stafon McCray (22-151, 1 TD), the Kowboys workhorse running back, sprinted 61 yards on his 22^nd carry of the night for the clinching touchdown to make it 16-0.

“We finally got the field position switched in the second half. In the first half we couldn’t do it, we had a couple of penalties that hurt us,” Osceola Coach Doug Nichols said. “We told them all week that we’d have to be patient, we’d have to be happy with 3 and 4 yards at a time, and that some bad things were going to happen. We told them that you’ve got to believe in the blue, and they did.”

The Dreadnaughts’ backup quarterback Aaron Johnson moved Lakeland to the OHS 7 with 1:59 to play, but the drive ended when Kowboys linebacker Jose Sanchez stopped Johnson at the 1 on a quarterback draw.

After Fagan took an intentional safety with 43 seconds left to make it 16-2, Sanchez intercepted a pass to punctuate the victory.

“I told the guys at the half that this was the kind of game that you play for, 0-0 at the half. You don’t play to be in games that are 30-0 or 40-0 at the half; you want to be in the 0-0 games,” Nichols said. “This was a great win for our kids. To come out and hang with those guys says something. Our defense played their butts off.”

The Kowboys outgained the Dreadnaughts 228-169, but 70 of Lakeland’s yards came after OHS built the 16-0 advantage.

With one huge hurdle out of the way, the Kowboys must prepare for another slugfest against Ridge Community, which plays defense as well as Lakeland.

“We have to make sure we don’t have a letdown,” Nichols said.

The Kowboys coach also will have to reach deep into his wallet on Thanksgiving when OHS will have its final practice for Ridge Community.

“I always buy them pumpkin Blizzards,” Nichols said. “It costs me about $300, but to beat Lakeland and play Thanksgiving week, I guess it’s worth it.”