By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

St. Cloud’s football team endured the loss of its head coach, and then a frustrating 20-17 district defeat to Edgewater, over a span of several hours last Friday.

They got the coach back when Bill Buldini was reinstated Monday by Principal Pamela Tapley. Tapley suspended Buldini when she learned that Buldini provided housing to one of his players in an apparent violation of Florida High School Athletic Association bylaws.

The question is, can the 2-2 Bulldogs shake off the distractions and focus on Orlando Evans, 1-2, which visits Gannarelli Field Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a non-district contest?

Junior quarterback Phillip Steinmetz, who passed (14-32-163) for one touchdown and ran for another against Edgewater, said yes.

“We’re thinking about (Evans) next week. We’ve still got seven more games,” he said. “I think we’re more than mentally prepared for what we’ve got to do.”

Junior running back Irving Huggins, the county’s rushing leader (620 yards), said, “We’ve just got to keep our heads up, keep doing things the right way like Coach Buldini taught us.”

Buldini was suspended by Tapley hours before the Edgewater game last week.

Buldini apologized Tuesday for embarrassing the high school’s students and supporters, and the administrators at the high school and at the Osceola County School District.

“Even though my intentions were honorable, I should have been up front with (Athletic Director) Coach (Chad) Ansbaugh and Mrs. Tapley,” Buldini said. “This situation has brought a lot of unwanted attention to the school, and I want to apologize to Mrs. Tapley and the administration, and (Osceola School District Superintendent) Dr. (Michael) Grego for creating this distraction.”

School District spokeswoman Dana Schafer said Tuesday said that Buldini has not violated any district policies and was not subject to discipline.

Schafer said Buldini, and St. Cloud High, are subject to possible sanctions from the FHSAA, which is looking into the matter.

FHSAA Spokesman Seth Polansky Monday said the association had no further comment on the matter until there is a resolution.

St. Cloud may be forced to forfeit its victories against Osceola and Martin County, and may be subject to a fine, should the FHSAA find that Buldini violated policy.

This is the second football coaching incident at St. Cloud High since June. Buldini accepted the St. Cloud  job when former Coach Mark Jackson was dismissed by Tapley for personal issues.

Offensive coordinator Mike Short acted as the interim head coach Friday. He was prepared to carry on in that capacity until Buldini was reinstated by Tapley.

Assistant coach T.J. Journigan acted as the defensive coordinator, which is Buldini’s job, Friday.

Short said Monday, before Buldini was reinstated, that the team needed to focus on its remaining seven games.

“The best thing we can do for Coach Buldini is to win the games and get back into the playoffs for the third straight year, which is something St. Cloud has never done before,” Short said.

Buldini said that the team responded well when he returned for practice Monday.

“We had a good practice. I think the guys were happy to see me back out there,” he said.

The Bulldogs appeared to have Edgewater beaten in the fourth quarter. St. Cloud led, 17-7, after Alain Moise kicked a 35-yard field goal in the first half, and Steinmetz hit Jordan Reus on an 80-yard TD play early in the third quarter.

After Edgewater scored to cut the lead to 10-7, St. Cloud defensive back Eric Pfeifer recovered a fumble at the Eagle 13 and Steinmetz led a short drive that culminated in his 1-yard TD run that put the Bulldogs ahead by 10.

“I was definitely feeling good about a 17-7 lead,” Short said after the game. “We got punched in the mouth with a couple of fourth-down plays.”

Edgewater’s game-winning drive covered 55 yards. A pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Bulldogs’ 29, but Edgewater’s drive stalled at the 13 when Woodman threw incomplete on third-and-6 from the 13. The Eagles used their last timeout.

Woodman rolled to his right and threw toward Alton Howard, who leaped high to grab the ball and then plowed his way to the goal line.

Steinmetz led St. Cloud from its 20 to the Edgewater 33 when he hit Reus on a 17-yard pass play, but his final four passes failed to find their target and the Eagles took over with 25 seconds left and ran out the clock.

“We were well-prepared for that game. Coach Buldini had talked up Edgewater, it was an important game,” Huggins said.

Short said, under the circumstances, that his team played an outstanding game.

“They really did. I could second guess a few things, maybe we got too conservative toward the end, but (Edgewater Coach) Bill Gierke is one of the best and that is a team with a winning history,” Short said. “We gave up a couple of fourth downs that hurt us, and a bad pass interference penalty that we didn’t have to make because the ball was probably uncatchable, but I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this team.”

The Bulldogs remain in control of their destiny. They can do no worse than be the district runner-up by winning 4A-7 games against East River (Oct. 8), Poinciana (Oct. 22), Liberty (Oct. 29) and Harmony (Nov. 5).

Steinmetz emphatically told his teammates after the Edgewater game that they should be proud of their effort.

“We played a great game and I didn’t want them hanging their heads when they went off the field,” he said. “We have a lot of games to play.”

Evans, 1-2, beat Ocoee in it opener, 30-23, then lost to Oak Ridge and, last week, to Winter Springs, 10-9. It’s game against East River in Week 2 was suspended because of bad weather.