By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Harmony, the two-time defending Orange Belt Conference flag football champion, cleared its biggest hurdle in making it a three-peat.

The Longhorns suffocated Osceola, its main county rival, allowing just four first downs in a 12-0 win at Kowboys field  Tuesday.

While it took quarterback Kaylee Horn a bit to shake off some spring break rust and get her timing down with her receivers, Harmony’s defense maintained control, allowing the Kowgirls to cross midfield just once.

The Longhorns are now 4-0, with all the wins against OBC and District 8 opponents.

HHS Coach Paul Strauch said the team practiced a couple of days during spring break, but Monday’s workout was rained out, leaving him pensive about Tuesday’s game.

“This was our first real test, and I was nervous going in,” he said. “I always am against Osceola, you know they’re going to come prepared. We started slow and had some early dropped passes, but on defense I felt like we had the upper hand the whole game.”

The Longhorns got both of their scores in the second quarter, during a stretch where Horn hit on six straight passes. One was a short touchdown pass to Tori Keelean that made it 6-0. The Longhorns threatened to score again on their next drive, but Osceola’s Maria Lopez made a tip-drill interception near the goal line.

But, two plays later, Marie Gilbert returned the favor, picking off a pass and taking two steps into the end zone to make it a two-score game. From there, the Longhorns turned up the defensive heat. Four of Liane Montalvo’s five flag pulls were behind the line of scrimmage Tuesday, as were two of Kaley Ward’s four pulls.

Osceola (3-1) had a few moments – Lopez caught five passes from quarterback Brooke Hancock, three for first downs – but Coach Brian Lambert said Harmony simply made more plays.

“Hey, they’re good, and today they were a little better,” he said. “But it’s OK. All we can do now is worry about beating Gateway (Tuesday). If all goes well, we’ll get another chance at (Harmony) in the district tournament.”

The top four teams in the district standings qualify for the tournament. Harmony can lock up a spot in the event with a win today at St. Cloud at 7 p.m.

“That’s the goal, that’s always the goal, to move on,” Strauch said. “One more for the tournament and two more to take the OBC again.”

St. Cloud moved to 3-0 on Tuesday with a 24-7 win at home over Poinciana.