Sports Editor

With the college football season officially under way, several Osceola County graduates may play key roles at their Division I schools.

Auburn defensive back T’Sharvan Bell, a redshirt sophomore, has received glowing reviews from the Tigers coaching staff as the team prepares for its opener today against Arkansas State.

“He’s played as good as anybody out there in the secondary,” Coach Gene Chizik told the Opilika-Auburn News after a scrimmage last week. “That leaves some good options with him right now.”

At quarterback, Bell led the Osceola Kowboys to the state title game in 2007, incurring a severe knee injury late in the season.

He had two interceptions for Auburn as a nickel back in the Outback Bowl in January.

Coaches chided Bell for a perceived lack of toughness last season, and Bell has responded.

“I took it personally. I didn’t want anybody thinking I was soft out on the field,” Bell told the News after he pounded receiver Emory Blake in the scrimmage.

“They don’t tell me that anymore,” Bell said.

At Colorado State, Bell’s half brother and OHS teammate, Momo Thomas, has been a starting defensive back since his freshman season in 2008. He played in all 13 games, and saw extensive action again as a sophomore last year.

Now a junior, Thomas  will start for the Rams against Colorado today, and he will have a familiar teammate — freshman Shaquille Bell, another OHS graduate and T’Sharvan’s brother.

Both players have impressed CSU cornerbacks coach Tim Duffie.

“They’re both hard-working guys,” he told The Coloradoan. “You don’t have to beg them to come out and work at their craft, and I think a lot of that has to do with family ties.”

Momo Thomas said he enjoys having his half brother with him in Fort Collins.

“It’s good to be able to go to college with somebody you know, somebody you’re close to, just to show you the way a little bit. That’s all I’m trying to do,” he told The Coloradoan.

James Boone, the former St. Cloud Bulldogs receiver, is a freshman at Colorado  State.

Redshirt sophomore safety Pat Lambert, another 2008 OHS grad from the state team, figures to play extensively for the Cincinnati Bearcats at Fresno State today. Lambert played in all 13 Bearcats games last season, primarily on the special teams.

O’Neill Chambers, entering his junior season at Brigham Young, was the Cougars’ No. 2 receiver last year with 32 catches for 376 yards and one touchdown. He also returned 19 kicks, including a 97-yard return against UNLV. Chambers, who played at Harmony High, will play against Florida State in Tallahassee Sept. 18.

Former OHS defensive back Jansen Watson, a redshirt freshman, is on the  roster at Iowa State and may see action this season on a defense that was depleted by graduation.

With Watson is former St. Cloud receiver Donnie Jennert, the 6-7, 200-pound redshirt freshman. Jennert is pushing the Cyclone starters.

Two more former Kowboys are embarking on D-1 careers.

Freshman safety Marc Deas had 11 tackles at Georgia’s scrimmage last week, and freshman B.J. Butler is a 254-pound defensive end at Louisville.

Many more former Osceola County players are competing for college programs at lower levels.