This wasn’t the way Coach Eric Pinellas wanted to start a stretch of four football games in 12 days.
Whether it was the rustiness of not playing a game in 17 days, or it was the full moon shining brightly over south of downtown Orlando, The Osceola Kowboys dug themselves a hole with three first-half turnovers Monday night, and couldn’t dig themselves out in a 18-7 loss at Jones High in Orlando.
Osceola (2-2) showed the rust from not taking the field since a 30-7 win over Rockledge on Sept. 23, turning it over seven times total, including twice when going into the end zone.
“We never have excuses here,” OHS Coach Eric Pinellas said following the game. “Turning the ball over like we did gave them a lot of short fields, and they capitalized, and we didn’t when we had the ball.”
Whatever happened, it must be corrected quickly. The Kowboys play two District 4S-10 games in the next five days – Thursday against Celebration (0-5) and the 99th installment of “The Game” at St. Cloud (4-2) on Monday. The Kowboys should be prohibitive favorites in each.
Monday, Osceola took the opening kickoff, but a fumble on its fourth snap turned into a 49-yard Jaylen Williams touchdown catch on the Tigers’ first play. Three plays later, Jones’ Adrian Jackson picked off a pass in the flat and took it to the OHS 2, from where Dillon Weed scored to make it 12-0 just four minutes into the game.
The backbreaker came on Osceola’s next drive, when Taevion Swint got loose around the right end and looked headed for paydirt on a 64-yard run, but a Jones defender punched the ball out as he neared the pilon, and the Tigers recovered at the 5. The Kowboys forced a punt and got the ball with great field position, but after a pass on fourth-and-6 from the 8 went agonizingly off Ja’keem Jackson’s fingertips, Jones answered with a 90-yard scoring strike from Jean-Dennis Maxson to Williams to make it 18-0 with a minute left in the first quarter.
Osceola never threatened for the win after that. The Kowboys ran just seven offensive plays in the third quarter.
Swint, who eclipsed 100 rushing yards before halftime, finished with 126 on 15 carries and scored from six yards out with 3:53 left in the game to break up the shutout. Quarterbacks David Buggs (8-of-17, 74 yards) and Gunnar Holland (5-10-103) both played, but combined to get picked off four times.
University of Miami assistant coach Charlie Strong was a sideline spectator; Jones’ stud defensive lineman Malik Bryant is a Hurricanes commit. The Tigers’ athletic defensive line is one of the few in the area that matches up in athleticism with Osceola’s, which includes John Walker, the UCF commit who had two sacks, Oklahoma commit Derrick LeBlanc, and nose tackle Elijah Palermo, who intercepted a screen pass in Monday’s game.
Wins tonight and Monday would likely set up a district championship matchup on Oct. 28 at Osceola.
Bishop Moore 31, Tohopekaliga 2: The schools scheduled this game to make up for games previously lost to Hurricane Ian or previous stormy nights, and the Tigers (5-1) fell for the first time.
The Hornets (4-3) forced three turnovers on defense, intercepting THS quarterback Sabby Meassick three times. He had come into the game with just one.
Despite the loss, the Tigers are seeing a great turnaround this year under new coach Anthony Paradiso. Tohopekaliga, 2-8 a year ago, is not scheduled to take the field again until hosting Harmony on Oct. 21.
