Kowboys stop Horns - OHS at Jenkins Friday in 5A-4 test

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Kowboys stop Horns - OHS at Jenkins Friday in 5A-4 test

Sports

Wednesday, 06 October 2010 18:37

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
The celebrations and frustrations to this point of Osceola High’s football season were a prelude to what happens Friday, when the Kowboys visit Lakeland George Jenkins at 7 p.m. for their first 5A District 4 game.
The winner takes charge of the three-team district. The loser must beat Lakeland, No. 3 in Class 5A, later this month to stay in contention.
“This is definitely going to be a tough one. They’re good,” Kowboys Coach Doug Nichols said.
Osceola, 2-3, won its second straight game last week with a 14-7 decision over Harmony, 3-1.
The Kowboys’ Frank Thomas ran 5 yards for the tying touchdown, and Reggie Hall raced 50 yards for the game winner, both in the third period.
Terrance Tatume’s 40-yard punt return early in the third quarter seemed to spark OHS, which trailed 7-0 at halftime and showed little spark.
After Tatume’s punt return, Hall (13-144, 1 TD) ran 32 yards to the 3, and after a 5-yard penalty, Thomas scored with 8:03 to play in the third quarter. Cody Ausherman’s kick tied the score at 7.
Hall’s touchdown run on Osceola’s next possession made it 14-7 after Ausherman’s kick.
Harmony dominated the second quarter, holding the ball for all but eight plays. Quarterback Adam Harvey led the team on an eight-minute, 83-yard drive that reached the OHS 1 before Harvey was stopped on fourth-and-goal.
But, after forcing OHS to punt, Harvey (2-8-34, 1 TD) found tight end Brad Foulke wide open for a 32-yard touchdown pass with 1:17 left in the half. Chris Spanglo’s PAT made it 7-0.
The Longhorns outgained OHS 118-52 in the first half, but those numbers reversed after the half when the Kowboys rushed for 171 yards and held the Longhorns to just 54.
Most of the Kowboys’ yardage came from Hall, who also had a 58-yard run in the fourth quarter that Harmony safety Dan Foshee stopped at the Horns’ 32.
“My quad started to tighten up on that one,” Hall, a junior, said. “I’m hurting in a lot of places, my muscles are aching a lot.”
He looked fine during his weaving 50-yard TD sprint through the Longhorns defense.
“Yeah, nothing was bothering me on that one,” he said.
Nichols said Tatume’s punt return was a turning point.
“I don’t know what it is, but if these kids make a big play on their first possession of a half, it seems to pick them up and they go right down the field. They even did that at Dr. Phillips,” Kowboys Coach Doug Nichols said. “We were just lethargic in the first half. We needed a spark to get us going, and that was what Terrance’s punt return did for us.”
Tatume, a senior, said he wanted to make a play to shake up the Kowboys.
“We talked about it at the half. I knew I needed to do something to get us going,” he said.
Osceola offensive lineman Adam Stickle, a junior, said the team picked up the tempo after the half.
“We started getting our blocks. We had to work harder and start hitting people,” he said.
Osceola defensive back/ running back Steffon McCray left the game with a sprained ankle, and defensive back Brandon Baker left because of a broken finger, Nichols said. Baker is out this week; McCray is questionable.
“That was a nice win for us. Harmony is good. Coach Brown always has his team prepared. That’s as well-coached a team as we’ll see this year,” Nichols said.
The Kowboys defense got standout efforts from linemen Darvin Daniels (13 tackles) and Bobby Jones (9 tackles) along with linebackers Randy Brown (10 tackles), D.D. Montgomery (12 tackles) and Akeem Francis (11 tackles).
Jenkins, 2-3, lost to Class 4A power Kathleen, 49-26, last week. Jenkins played without starting quarterback Jadrian Clark, who passed for 810 yards and 11 touchdowns in four games, due to an injury.
Nichols isn’t sure if Clark will play Friday.
“He’s a heck of an athlete. He can throw it and run it,” Nichols said. “When he’s in there, they run the spread. When the other kid (Jaucody Rutledge) is in there, it’s mostly Wildcat.”
Rutledge, who filled in at QB last week, is the the Eagles leading receiver with 260 yards and six TD receptions. Jenkins averages 35.8 points per game.
Jenkins has a new coach in Matt Thompson from Wildwood.
“They’ve got some good athletes, and they’re doing a great job,” Nichols said.