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Friday, 08 January 2010 19:00
Jarell Emanuel was impact player for Kowboys defense By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
On balance, you can say that Jarell Emanuel had a pretty good fall.
The Osceola Kowboys’ inside linebacker, a four-year varsity veteran, was the team’s leading tackler (67) and also chipped in offensively with four touchdowns.
On top of that, he was named the school’s homecoming king. He admits, with a laugh, that his social schedule is usually filled.
“Yeah, it’s not bad,” he said.
Of course, he would have been happier if the Kowboys could have played for a few more weeks instead of being eliminated in the regional semifinal round by Lakeland, 30-14.
That concluded a 7-5 season that was at times disappointing, but at others, inspiring.
Emanuel, the Osceola News-Gazette Defensive Player of the Year, said it was a season that was filled with challenges, but ultimately, fell short of the team’s goal.
“It was kind of like, we’re playing all of these big teams and we had a chance of beating them all, but we didn’t,” he said.
Osceola’s schedule was one of the most difficult of the school’s history. Seven opponents qualified for playoffs and another, Harmony, played in a bowl game. Four of those playoff opponents reached at least the regional finals.
On top of that, the Kowboys saw district rival Lakeland, annually one of the state’s premier programs, twice, just as they have for the past three seasons.
“Lakeland, I like playing those games. It’s a fun atmosphere and they’re great games,” Emanuel said. “We don’t look at them as a big team; we look at them as another team that we have to beat, and that’s how we approach them. We see those guys at weightlifting meets, and they’re like, “When we play you guys, we know it’s going to be tough, because you come to play.’”
The Kowboys stayed close to the Dreadnaughts twice this year, tied at 14 of halftime of the regional semifinal, but Lakeland was a little too good for the Kowboys to handle.
“You can say that they were better than us, but I don’t know, we had a chance to win both games, but we didn’t do what we had to do,” he said.
Emanuel was a starter on the Kowboys’ state finalist team of 2007, when he played fullback and defense. He continued to be a versatile, integral part of the Kowboys program throughout his career along with teammates like Marc Deas, Shaquille Bell, B.J. Butler, Akeem Daniels, Big and Little Will Bostic, Anthony Gandy and Rashad Brown.
Rolson said Emanuel has been one of the team’s most talented and dependable players throughout his career.
“I think so, he’s always ready to play and he always gives you his total effort,” Rolson said. “He’s one of those guys that we’ve had in the program four years who really have gotten us to this level.”
The Kowboys made four post-season appearances, and three playoff trips, while Emanuel and his senior teammates were in the program.
Emanuel said he prefers to play linebacker, but that he also enjoyed his role at fullback. He scored a touchdown in the team’s 34-14 regional quarterfinal playoff win at Oviedo on 20-yard run. He also had a 65-yard run last year in a playoff game at Lakeland.
Emanuel said the team’s victory at Oviedo, after learning that afternoon of the crushing news that Big Will Bostic had been arrested on drug charges, was a testimony to the team’s character.
“It was a shock when we heard about it, but Coach gave us a talk and Little Will, his brother, said some things to encourage us, so we were ready to play,” he said.
At 5-11, 205 pounds, and with 4.5 speed in the 40, Emanuel is weighing options for a football scholarship. Several schools are interested, he said.
“They’re looking at me mostly as a strong safety, like Marc at Georgia,” Emanuel said. “I never played safety in high school, but at Sam linebacker sometimes I roll into coverage so it looks like I do.”
Emanuel said he plans to compete for the weightlifting team and the track team.
“Right now I’m taking a little time off and healing up, but I’ll be ready to go,” he said.

Player of the Year: Jarell Emanuel (Sr., OHS).
All-county team: Osceola: Anthony Gandy (Sr.), Marc Deas (Sr.), Shaquille Bell (Sr.), O’Neill Blake (Sr.), Little Will Bostic (Sr.), Jordan Paige (Sr.), Oscar McGee (Jr.).     Gateway: Berlan Henri (Jr.), Angel Benevides (Sr.). St. Cloud: Ray Scavone (Sr.), Keith Mason (Sr.), Jose Devito (Sr.), Eric Meggett (Sr.), Tyler Vaughan (Sr.), Melvin Manning (Jr.). Liberty: Gelvin Harmon (Sr.), Patrice Pierre (Sr.), Ricky Battle (Sr.), Angel Perez (Sr.), Jean Leon (Sr.), Travis Michel (Sr.). Poinciana: Charlie Webb (Sr.), Ronnie Hill (Jr.), Tavarus Alcime (Sr.). Harmony: Austin Gunther (Sr.), Hunter White (Sr.), Nolan Beatty (Sr.).         Celebration: Justin Temple (Jr.), Tyler Osorio (Jr.).
 

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