Now that the Osceola County high school football season finally ended (thanks to the OHS Kowboys’ long playoff run) we’ll take a couple of moments today to reflect on what happened.

The Kowboys, 13-1, pushed the season just about as far as they could, ending just one game short of the Class 7A championship game played last night between Tallahassee Lincoln and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

More by happenstance than design, I got a very up close look at the Kowboys in 2012 and ended up seeing 12 of their 14 regular season and playoff games.

I won’t dwell much on Osceola’s talent and performance on the field, because, obviously, when a team wins 13 games in a row it has a lot of good players who are well-coached.

What is more important about Osceola’s success is how it happens, and it is no accident.

Coach Doug Nichols, completing his third season, took over an already successful program in 2010 and not only continued the Kowboys’ winning tradition, he has just about assured that it will continue for some time.

Nichols, an assistant at OHS for 16 years before a three-year stint at Liberty where he formed that program, knows exactly how to run a big-time high school football program.

First, and most important, he makes sure his players are disciplined and respectful. Those that wander, who violate the rules, aren’t permitted to continue. OHS won three playoff games without the services of several starters who violated the rules and were dropped from the team.

He tapped into OHS’s strong booster club to gain the support necessary to foster a successful program. Dozens of volunteers make OHS football happen, and they worked plenty of overtime this year because OHS played four home playoff games, which is beyond rare. And, by the way, no high school team in the state has a better half-time hospitality room than OHS. Jamie “Augie” Todd and his wife, Sharon, put together the best munchies around. Chicken wing soup? Cheeseburger soup? Are you kidding me? You almost have to push the officials out the door for the second half.

But, back to football, the Kowboys’ head coach also is smart and confident enough to bring in the most capable assistant coaches he can find.

Throw in good administrative support, a workaholic athletic director in Jim Bird, and strong parental and student involvement, and you have the ingredients for one of the best high school football programs in Florida.

Schools don’t make the Florida football playoffs 12 times in 14 years and reach the state semifinals four times over that span by accident.

Much of what happens with any high school football team is behind the scenes, but from being there on the OHS sidelines 12 Friday nights this season, I can say that this group of Kowboys acted like champions, displaying good sportsmanship even when they had the opportunity to embarrass overmatched foes. They were excellent representatives of OHS, of Kissimmee and of Osceola County.

And, they were darned good.

The downside of football games is that for every winner there is a loser, and, unfortunately, Liberty High lost more than it won this season. Coach David Benson lost his job this week when Principal Robert Studly decided to make a change.

Studly knows much more about the situation with his football team than anyone from the outside, so you have to trust that he believes he is making his program better by replacing his coach.

Benson had the misfortune of seeing two all-state caliber sophomore quarterbacks transfer to South Florida in 2010 and 2011.

Whether Benson was as effective as he could have been I don’t know, but what I do know about Benson, based on his 13 years in Osceola County at Gateway and Liberty, is that he did his best to make his players successful.

It doesn’t take long to determine whether a coach is in this for himself, or in it for his players. Benson is all about his players. Students at his next stop will benefit from his presence.

Poinciana also is in the market for a new coach after Corey Fleming stepped down this week after two seasons and a 3-17 mark.

I’m running out of space, so a quick congratulations goes to Coach Marlin Roberts, his staff and his team at Gateway for a school-record seven wins and for giving Panthers students a good reason to be excited at the games this fall.

Kudos to Coach Jarred Butler and his staff at Harmony High for taking a team given up for dead at midseason, 0-5, to the playoffs and finishing the season at a respectable 4-7.

And, to Coach Brad Lennox and his St. Cloud Bulldogs, congratulations on persevering through a season where off-field antics caused by a few individuals threatened to derail the team. But, credit the Bulldogs for fighting through the adversity to win three of their last four games, including a stunning victory over Madison County, an eventual Class 3A state finalist, in the season finale.

No space for the Mighty News-Gazette Divine Nine this week. Let’s make Osceola County high school football No. 1 and leave it at that.

The paid professionals:

Jacksonville at Miami (-7): People ask if Alabama could beat the Jags. My question is, why would the Tide waste its time trying? Fins by 4.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans (-3.5): Last-play loss to Philly was a season-killer for the Bucs. And we know how they love those funerals in Na Awlins. Saints by 6.

Green Bay (-3) at Chicago: Those are the Bears playoff hopes exiting stage right. Pack by 5.

Washington at Cleveland (-1): RGIII or no RGIII, Browns are tough at home. Brownies by 3.

Minnesota at St. Louis (-3): Paging Jessie Ponder … or is Adrian Peterson going to have to do the whole offense himself. Rams by 2.

Denver (-2.5) at Baltimore: All signs point to a Peyton Manning passing party, but does anyone see the Ravens losing three in a row?. Blackbirds by 2.

Pittsburgh (-1.5) at Dallas: Steelers are falling apart. Dallas is a tragic mess. And both could make the playoffs. Iron City by 1.

N.Y. Giants at Atlanta (-1.5): Falcons are the most disrespected 11-2 team in NFL history. And it gets worse. G-men by 3.

San Francisco at New England (-3): Two seaside teams, and the Niners are about to get dunked. Pats by 6.

Brian “Big Man” McBride’s Super Sniffer Upset Special: Cowboys by 3.

Tom “Captain” Kirk’s Beam me Up Scotty Prime Time NFL Pick of the Week: Pats over Niners by a dozen.

Last week: Old School (7-2, 97-38) nipped New Wave (6-3, 96-39).