One of the few positives coming out of most of the county’s preseason Kickoff Classics is that, well, they don’t count in the standings.
Poinciana claimed a 38-0 win over Avon Park, and Tohopekaliga tied Orange County stalwart Timber Creek, 14-14, but other than that, Friday’s games served to give coaches a measuring stick for what needed to be corrected ahead of the start of the regular season next week.
St. Cloud fell to Haines City, 34-6; Liberty fell to Lake Buena Vista by the same score; Osceola dropped a close one to Apopka, 16-15; the Nick Lippert coaching era at Harmony began with a 39-7 loss to Hialeah American; and Celebration fell to Pine Ridge, 44-14.
The Bulldogs battled the Hornets to stalemate in the first half – trailing just 6-0 at intermission – but wore down in the second half as kicking game errors combined with a powerful Haines City running game saw the game get blown wide open in the second half.
“We actually had some good things happen both on offense and defense,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “But at the end of the day, we made too many mistakes and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities.”
St. Cloud trailed 6-0 when quarterback Logan King would direct a 16-play drive that included three impressive conversions on third down; but the drive would end as time expired on 15-yard line with King fumbling on the final play of the half.
“Definitely a momentum killer,” Short said. “We didn’t manage the clock very well in the end of the half. We were scheduled to get the second half kickoff, so my thinking was even a field goal would have kept the momentum on our side. Unfortunately we came away empty.”
The second half was all Haines City, as it took a 20-0 lead before St. Cloud finally got on the scoreboard with a 27-yard touchdown pass from King to junior Alex Springs. The play capped an 8-play drive where King completed four of seven for 49 yards on the drive. Springs, a transfer and former basketball player at Osceola High, caught seven passes for 79 yards.
“He has a chance to be a special football player,” Short said of the wide receiver.
“It was a rough night overall,” Short added. “Defensively we had two starters missing tonight but I thought we still played pretty good defensively, especially in the first half. We have a lot of new kids on special teams and we will work to correct those mistakes.”
St. Cloud opens its regular season next week on the road against Baron Collier, coached by former St. Cloud coach Mark Jackson. “They run a similar offense. They do play on turf and like to play fast, so it will be a challenge for our defense.”
Osceola and Apopka tangled in a game highlighted by a pair of defenses that, while not forcing any turnovers, gave very little. The Kowboys, looking for weapons beyond star running back Taevion Swint, sidelined while a knee injury heals, gave the ball liberally to backs Jeff Sinophat, Elijah Hickson and Elijah Melendez. They combined for 166 yards on 32 carries, but it was the passing game that got OHS on the board.
Trailing 3-0 midway through the second quarter, quarterback Camren West, who shared snaps with Anthony Powers, hit Nortorious Reynolds on a slant pattern and he took it 24 yards for a score, and Adam El Barka added extra point. But the Blue Darters snared the momentum back with 11 seconds left before halftime when quarterback Tyson Davison took a draw play 47 yards to the house for a 9-7 lead at the break.
A young, salty Osceola defense allowed Apopka just 13 second-half snaps, and looked to have held on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but the officials ruled Antwone Robinson broke the plane to give the visitors a 16-7 lead.
But Alijah Jenkins brought the ensuing kickoff to midfield, and four plays later Melendez powered over the left side for a 35-yard touchdown run. Then, after two penalties pinned Apopka back, Melendez brought Davison down in the end zone for a safety to make it 16-15. Osceola couldn’t score after getting the ball back, but got one more try with 5:30 left in the game. The Kowboys went from their 48 to the Apopka 13 in eight plays, but El Baraka’s 33-yard field goal with a minute left sailed just left of the upright.
“That wasn’t the reason we lost,” Coach Eric Pinellas said. “He’s never kicked in a varsity game. The biggest thing was the kids continued to fight, gave great effort. “We got out of it what we wanted to see, the ability to move the football with Taevion on the sideline. Later on in the year we’re going to need them to step up. Defensively we’re going to get even better with a young secondary.”
Osceola opens a gauntlet schedule next week at Treasure Coast, one of seven 2022 playoff teams on the slate.
