By Rick Pedone
Staff Writer

Three Osceola High turnovers led to three Winter Park touchdowns, and that was pretty much all the No. 4 Class 6A Wildcats needed for a 37-10 victory Friday at Kowboys field.

Winter Park improved to 8-0, while Osceola fell to 5-4 after the non-district contest. The Kowboys received a forfeit from St. Cloud Monday because the Bulldogs used an ineligible player during their overtime win against the Kowboys in the season opener.

Wildcats quarterback Sam Richardson was outstanding, hitting 18-of-26 passes for 234 yards and four touchdowns, and Winter Park running back Brandon Brown-Dukes rushed for 117 yards and one TD.

It was the second straight week that the Kowboys lost to a team ranked among the top five in its classification, and they aren’t done yet. Next week, for the regular season final, OHS travels to unbeaten Madison County, No. 2 in Class 2A. The Kowboys fell to No. 3 Class 5A Lakeland last week,

Kowboys Coach Doug Nichols said regardless of the competition, it’s difficult to beat an opponent when you turn the ball over repeatedly.

“You can’t keep giving it away on turnovers, and then there were the penalties, too. We had a nice run (in the third quarter) that gets called back. We’re playing tough teams, but it doesn’t matter how good they are if you are going to give them the ball the way we did tonight,” Nichols said.

The Kowboys, who totaled 201 yards to Winter Park’s 390, drove 68 yards on the first possession of the game and cashed in on Cody Ausherman’s 20-yard field goal to make it 3-0. The Wildcats countered with a 39-yard field goal from Andrew Erwin on their first possession to tie the score with 3:44 left in the first period.

The Wildcats scored a touchdown two minutes later after the Kowboys fumbled at their 19. Two plays later, Richardson hit tight end Austin Shelton from the 7-yard line to make it 10-3 after Erwin’s PAT.

The Wildcats took a 16-3 lead with 21 seconds left in the half following another OHS turnover when Richardson hit Dvario Montgomery from the 11 for his second TD throw of the night. The PAT was wide.

The Wildcats drove 80 yards to open the third quarter, capped by Brown-Dukes’ 17-yard run for a 23-3 lead. The drive was aided when the Kowboys fumbled a punt return at their 25, a play that was questioned by Nichols, who thought the Kowboys punt returner was down by contact before the fumble.

The  Kowboys got back into the game midway in the third quarter when linebacker D.D. Montgomery batted down Richardson’s fourth-down pass at the Kowboys 39. Two plays later, Osceola sophomore running back Steffon McCray broke free on a 50-yard touchdown run to make it 23-10. McCray had just three carries for 57 yards.

Richardson snuffed out Osceola’s comeback by tossing two more TD passes in the fourth quarter, the second after OHS tried a fake punt from their 47 that lost two yards.

Nichols said the losses, though painful, are part of a learning process for his team.

“I would think that kids come here to play because they want to face tough competition,” he said. “This game will make the kids who play in it better, and when they play Madison County next week, and then a playoff game, they’ll be more prepared for next year.”

Last year, Osceola defeated Madison County, 17-16, at Kowboys field.

Senior Frank Thomas led the Kowboys in rushing Friday with 64 yards on 13 carries.

Osceola will reach the regional playoffs for the fourth straight year if Lakeland beats Lakeland George Jenkins next week. Should Jenkins post what would be a major upset, the three district foes would gather for a tie-breaker Nov. 8 that would decide the 5A-4 district championship.