By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

St. Cloud and Gateway had to settle for partial results at their spring games Friday due to inclement weather.

The Bulldogs lost to Olympia, 21-0, at Gannarelli Field in a game called because of lightning with 47 seconds to play in the first half.

Gateway barely got in a quarter against Lake Nona before storms arrived and Coach Marlin Roberts was unable to reschedule the game. Lake Nona was ahead, 7-0, when the teams left the field.

St. Cloud Coach Mike Short said he saw enough action to identify what worked and what needs to be fixed over the summer.

“We got some stuff on film against another team, so that’s good,” he said. “If we could have played the second half, there were a few players I wanted to see in certain situations to see if they were capable of handling a varsity job. (Receiver) Brett Biller did that last year. He won a job after the way he played in the spring game.”

The score appears lopsided because Olympia struck for TDs on a pair of big plays in the second period – a 94-yard run by running back John Armstrong after St. Cloud drove to the Olympia 3, and a 30-yard interception return by Julian Grant late in the second period.

“I thought our defense came out and played awesome. They stuck it to them  on the first series,” Short said. “If we had won the jump ball in the end zone (on the Titans’ first TD, a 25-yard pass play from Colby Brown to Joe Gallagher) and we score when we had the ball on fourth-and-goal, you’re looking at a 14-7 game. Of course, a lot of things could have happened, but that was a possibility.”

The Bulldogs drove from their 30 to the Titans 3 in 10 plays in the second period, the big play a 30-yard connection from quarterback Phillip Steinmetz to Atubel Mackendy to the Olympia 11. A penalty moved the ball to the 5, but three plays later the Bulldogs faced a fourth-and-goal from the 3. Steinmetz tried to sneak it over but was stuffed by Olympia lineman James Hamilton.

“That big 55 kid (Hamilton), who played both ways for them, was a beast. We couldn’t block him with our best guys out there,” Short said. “We had heard before the game that they only had two defensive starters back, but that’s a school with 4,000 kids. They are going to have some people who can step in and play. They’re going to have a good team.”

On the next play after Steinmetz was stopped, Armstrong slipped through a Bulldogs blitz for his long touchdown run and a 14-0 lead with 9:50 left in the half.

The teams exchanged turnovers on four of the next six possessions. St. Cloud’s Dan Brown recovered a fumble at the Olympia 43, but a muffed snap led to a 17-yard loss on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage.

Eric Pfeifer intercepted a deflected pass after St. Cloud punted, but the Bulldogs turned it over on the next play.

Short said Mackendy’s catch was a highlight for the Bulldogs.

“Last year he had a hard time holding onto the ball, but he took a real shot on that long pass and came up with it,” Short said. “(Running back E.J.) McKenzie did a good job out of the backfield for us, and he absolutely nailed a kid who was coming in on Phillip. I can see him helping us a lot next season.”

Steinmetz hit 10-of-28 for 93 yards but was picked off three times.

There was no live kicking during the game.

Short expects several injured players, like receiver Jordan Reus (stress fracture), to be ready to go when practice resumes Aug. 8.

“I thought the defensive line looked great, and the offensive line I’d say 80 percent of the time everybody did things right,” Short said. “The problem was, it was someone different missing an assignment the other 20 percent, but those are things we’ll get worked out.”

Gateway’s Marlin Roberts said he did not see enough Friday to form an opinion of where his team stands as the summer workouts begin.

“That’s the disappointing part. There were players I wanted to get in there to see how they would react, and we weren’t able to do that,” he said. “We made the one huge defensive mistake that let them keep their (scoring) drive alive, but we didn’t get much of a chance to do anything.”

The Lions converted a third-and-30, Roberts said.

“It’s one of those plays where you just wonder what the kids are thinking,” Roberts said. “But, if we had played the whole game, it might have been one of those things that you forget about because other things happen. We had made some adjustments and we felt pretty good about what we were going to do. We felt like we had the advantage athletically.”

Roberts tried to get the balance of the game moved to Saturday or Tuesday, but the Lake Nona coaching staff did not want to make the change.

“They said they probably wouldn’t have enough kids to play Saturday, and that they had a big athletic banquet on Tuesday,” Roberts said.

The Panthers coach said the team will participate in several 7-on-7 tournaments over the summer, several against St. Cloud and other county teams.

Roberts said his team did show good things during the spring workouts.

“We definitely have some players who were impressive. It’s frustrating that we didn’t get the chance to see them in the game Friday, but what can you do?” he said.

Poinciana Coach Michael Timpson said his team remains a work in progress after its contest against Orange City University High Thursday, a 35-6 loss.

“The rebuilding continues,” he said. “We need to continue to work hard to get better.”

Osceola High Coach Doug Nichols said that after watching the tape of his team’s 21-14 win over Lake Gibson Thursday, he was impressed by the blocking of the split ends, and of the hustle from the defensive line.

“The ‘D’ ran to the ball well,” he said.

Nichols said the entire team needs to improve on its play assignments, and he wants to see Osceola move the ball more efficiently through the air.

Kowboys QB Kieron Williams completed 1 of 4 passes for 12 yards, but his 53-yard third-quarter touchdown strike to Hassan Childs was nullified by a penalty.