Kowboys standout had 8 interceptions for regional champs

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Hassan Childs is known as “Hot” by his Osceola High coaches and teammates, and that nickname was appropriate.

Childs scorched quarterbacks with eight interceptions this season and had perhaps his best game against Tallahassee Lincoln in the Class 7A state semifinal game at Kowboys field.

In that game, a 24-17 OHS loss, Childs had punt and kickoff returns of 53 and 62 yards, the kickoff return setting up Osceola’s second touchdown.

But, his main job that night was to keep Lincoln’s 6-4 wide receiver, Taj Williams, quiet.

Williams, a D-I recruit coveted by Alabama, had a church mouse-like three catches for a net 17 yards.

“They put it in my head from Day One, the weekend before that game, I was going to be on him all night, no matter where he lined up,” Childs said. “I was hearing that he was tall, athletic and quick. Well, I’m tall, athletic and quick, so I didn’t have any problem with it. I watched a lot of film. I knew I could handle it.”

Coach Doug Nichols said the state semifinal was Childs’ best game of the season.

“He really shut down Williams, who is very good. He’s one of those guys you can put on an island and know that he can take care of it,” Nichols said.

Childs, the Osceola News-Gazette Football Defensive Player of the Year, is one of several potential D-1 players in the OHS secondary along with senior Brandon Baker and junior James Farley. They combined for 14 interceptions in  2012, when OHS finished 13-1 for one of its best seasons ever.

That Childs, 6-1, 180, is an excellent defensive back should come as no surprise. His cousin is T’Sharvan Bell, the former Kowboys standout who is wrapping up his career at Auburn, where he won a national championship after the 2010 season. An uncle is Tito Paul, another OHS standout who played cornerback at Ohio State in the early-90s and won a Super Bowl championship ring with the Denver Broncos in 1999.

But, until he was a sophomore at OHS, Childs said he played offense.

“I was a running back when I was a freshman,” he said. “When Coach Nick came in (in 2010), I was a defensive back. I wasn’t sure what I was doing.”

Although Childs was a preseason D-I recruit by North Carolina State, he admits that there were times when he didn’t play well during his sophomore and junior years.

“I’d let guys get behind me for touchdowns,” he said. “That bothered me, because I knew I was better than that.”

Childs said lots of practice with Kowboys assistant Coach C.J. Santiago helped him turn his game around.

“He told me to keep my hand on (the receiver’s hip) and get my head around to look in the backfield,” Childs said. “He helped me a lot.”

Stafon McCray, the Kowboys leading rusher and the News-Gazette’s Offensive Player of the Year, said he saw a dramatic improvement in Childs’ play this season.

“Yeah, Hot made a big 360 degree change from last year, he was a lot better,” McCray said. “The special teams needed him to make big plays, too, and he did.”

Childs said the key to Osceola’s success in 2012 was that the players liked one another.

“We had good chemistry,” he said. “We got along because we’ve been playing together for so long.”

Childs said that his status with North Carolina State changed after the university fired its coaching staff.

He is looking at MAC power Miami of Ohio among other schools for his college career.

His versatility makes him a valuable player, Nichols said.

“He can play receiver, he is great on special teams, he’s become a really good player,” Nichols said. “He’s one of those guys that can take away a part of the field for you, and that’s not too common.”

There were many excellent candidates to be the county’s defensive player of the year, including several of Childs’ OHS teammates.

Linebackers Mikeice Adams, a junior, and senior Jose Sanchez were roadblocks all season.

Senior defensive end Peter Bailey had 10 sacks and disrupted opposing offenses throughout the Kowboys playoff run, and senior lineman Darren Brackbill was a hub of the OHS defense during the regular season before injuring his knee in the playoffs. He returned for the Lincoln game.

At Harmony, junior linebacker Colton Keene led the county in tackles (137) and junior defensive back Chase Fields created six turnovers and was perhaps the team’s most improved defensive player.

Linebackers Ian Stevens, a senior, and junior Jaquan Owens were big reasons for Gateway’s seven-win season, the best in the program’s history.