By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

St. Cloud’s stunning 41-35 overtime win Friday at Gannarelli Field over arch-rival Osceola rates Instant Classic status.

Ask any of the 3,000 or so in attendance.

The teams combined for 830 total yards and four scoring plays of 77 yards or more, with all of those big plays coming in the last 15 minutes of the game.

He had plenty of help.

The heroes for both teams form a long line, but Steinmetz leads the list after throwing for 228 yards and three touchdowns, and rushing for 100 yards and the winning TD, a 1-yard plunge in overtime.

“Exhilarating,” was how Steinmetz described the win moments after it was over. “It was a team effort. Body of one.”

St. Cloud Coach Bill Buldini, making his debut after spending the past two seasons on the OHS sideline as an assistant, lauded his players and the coaching staff.

“We couldn’t have done this without (offensive coordinator) Mike Short,” he said in the locker room. “He made us believe. When you love your teammates and push through, great things can happen.”

The game, sloppy at times, gained momentum late in the third period. OHS led, 14-6, thanks primarily to a strong ground game featuring senior fullback Frank Thomas (13-115, 1 TD). The Kowboys rushed for 293 of their 347 total yards. Reggie Hall ran 26 yards for a TD in the first half.  The Bulldogs totaled 483 yards.

The fireworks got underway when St. Cloud’s Irving Huggins (13-158, 2 TDs)  ran untouched 85 yards with 2:51 left in the third quarter, making it 14-12. Steinmetz hit Brett Biller for two points to tie the score.

The lead lasted 16 seconds, when Osceola sophomore Steffon McCray took the kickoff at his 20, eased toward the middle of the field and then sprinted up the middle 80 yards for a score. Cody Asherman, who hit all five PATs, made it 21-14.

The Bulldogs looked ready to tie it after OHS fumbled on its 15 three plays later, but linebacker Brandon Jones sat on a Bulldogs’ slant pattern and intercepted in the end zone to stop the threat.

The resilient Dogs came back, driving 70 yards on a drive kept alive by Louis Page’s fourth-and-9 reception at the OHS 15. Three plays later from the 6-yard line, Steinmetz hooked up with  Biller for the touchdown, the first of two TD grabs for the St. Cloud junior.

Alain Moise added the PAT to tie it at 21.

But, once again, OHS came back in one play, this time on sophomore quarterback Kieron Williams’ 77-yard dash with 5:55 to play, making it 28-21 after Ausherman’s kick.

Were the Dogs’ frustrated?

“Yeah, a little,” Steinmetz said. “It mentally was tough.”

On the next play from scrimmage, he fixed that by finding Jordan Reus on an 80-yard scoring strike. Moise again tied it at 28 with a PAT.

The Kowboys, fortunate in the first half when they recovered three of their own fumbles, didn’t have the same luck in the fourth quarter and overtime, losing three of them.

They fumbled again on the next series, and Steinmetz found Biller for a 14-yard TD play to give St. Cloud its first lead, 35-28 with just 2:51 left.

But, the Kowboys came back.

Stuck at the Bulldogs 31 and facing fourth-and-1, Coach Doug Nichols rolled the dice and called for an option pass. Freshman Dwight Fagan found Terrance Tatume open at the 5, and Tatume coasted in to make it 35-34 with 36 seconds left. Ausherman delivered the tying PAT, setting up OT.

“We put in a trick play every week. This one worked out and got us back into it,”  Nichols said.

But Osceola, many of its players cramping in the hot, still evening air, made one more mistake, a fumble on its first possession in overtime.

St. Cloud lineman Erol Muratovic fell on the ball.

“My linebackers, Jeff Spelman and Eric Pfeifer, tore it loose. That’s how I got it,” he said.

Steinmetz, who earlier in the game ran through the OHS defense 15 yards for a crucial first down, bulled 9 yards on the Dogs first play of overtime, and he wrapped it up on the next play, pushing in from the 1.

Osceola’s Nichols said it was his fault that his team came up a few points short in one of the most exciting games in the 85-year history of the series. The Kowboys lead, 55-28-4.

“I take the blame for this. The cramping up, that was my fault for not having them prepared better,” he said. “We’re young. In a back and forth game like this, with the game on the line, you can’t make the turnovers and get away with it. It’s something we have to learn.”

St. Cloud’s Buldini said he didn’t doubt his team’s resilience.

“The kids never got down. When Osceola would score, they’d be like, ‘OK, it’s our turn now,’” he said. “I used to get all uptight in games like this, but I’ve learned to enjoy it. It’s exciting, it’s fun. I’m so happy for the kids. We prayed for this, and The Lord let it happen.”

The last time there was an overtime in the series was 1995, the final game played at the outdoor Silver Spurs Arena, when St. Cloud won, 29-28.

It was the season opener for both teams. St. Cloud, 1-0, goes to Key West next week. Osceola, 0-1, travels to Dr. Phillips.

Also Friday: Liberty quarterback Greg Hankerson threw two touchdown passes to Randy Gil, and Jalen  Benn and J.J. Elisis each ran for TDs in the Chargers 27-20 win at Tenoroc. The Chargers defense held at their 1 as time expired ... Harmony surprised Lake Nona with an option offense led by quarterback Christian Acevedo and routed the Lions, 50-17. C.J. Clayton rushed for 222 yards in the first half, including a 58-yard TD run, as the Longhorns amassed over 300 rushing yards in the opening half. ... Celebration came up short against Mountain Vista, Colo., 37-19, at ESPN's Wide World of Sports.