Benefit game on Dec. 9 at East Ridge
Top senior high school football rivals from around Osceola County will gather as teammates on Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. for the second annual Cure Bowl at East Ridge High School.
They will play seniors from Lake County, and proceeds will benefit cancer research. The game is sponsored by the Orlando Sports Foundation and is part of the activities associated with the Cure Bowl college football game. Last year’s game, played at Celebration High School, saw Lake County come away with a 28-26 win.
Gateway Coach Marlin Roberts will serve as head coach of Team Osceola, with other head coaches and assistants from county schools serving as assistants.
“This is a great opportunity for our county’s best seniors to get together for one last high school game for a great cause,” Roberts said. “We had a lot of fun with it last year with the week of practices and festivities.”
This past week, Roberts gathered with fellow head coaches Mike Short (St. Cloud), Dee Hart (Liberty), Nick Lippert (Harmony), Jeremy Palmer (Celebration) and Eric Pinellas (Osceola), along with representatives from Poinciana, Tohopekaliga and assistant coaches from each school to put together a roster for the game.
Players issued invitations included six seniors from District 4S-10 champion Osceola. Those players invited include Osceola’s Jalen Bell, explosive RB/WR Notorious Reynolds, DE Daniel Morales, and offensive line standouts Antonio Cruz and Thomas Gearity.
Jeremy Hilliard and Alex Nash, offensive lineman Nick Serrano and leading tackler Ian Bingham at linebacker headline the list of Harmony Longhorns players. Nash, a terrific all-around athlete, can play defensive back, running back and kick returner and also spent time at wide receiver this season; Hilliard was the team’s top running back.
After recording an 8-3 record after a bowl game win over Lake Region, St. Cloud will send seven players: running back Jon Morales; Owen Conner was quarterback Logan King’s second favorite target (40 receptions-579 yards-4 TD). Kareem Elgin led the team in both tackles (62) and quarterback sacks (4).
As with the case with St. Cloud and Harmony, Tohopekaliga fielded a relatively young team this year but still had six players earn invitations. The top Tiger players from Anthony Paradiso’s 6-5 bowl-win team include RB Churandy Duval -- who put together a solid season despite playing in the Tigers pass-first offense. He was a threat as both a runner and pass catcher. The Tigers will also send WR Delvin Pryor (44 receptions, 660 yards, 6 TD) and defensive back Eli Azize (59 tackles, 2 interceptions, 13 pass breakups).
Palmer’s Storm had one of the youngest squads in the county with only eight seniors. Three players, including Lucas Morton-Carlson, will play for the Osceola team. Palmer called Morton-Carlson “Our Swiss Army Knife” because of his ability to plug into any position. He played six different positions this year (WR, RB, TE, S, CB, LB) and also returned kicks.
Elijah Bowser and Noah Otero highlight the nine players nominated by Poinciana. Bowser is a ball-hawking defensive back (22 tackles, 5 interceptions), who can also play wide receiver (25-407-2 TD) and return kicks. Otero was one of the mainstays of the Eagles defense last year, posting 39 tackles despite missing several games to injury.
Liberty quarterback Jeremiah Pierre-Louis is a terrific athlete and will start the game for the Osceola all-stars. If needed, Roberts believes that several other versatile athletes, including Bowser and Reynolds can fill at in at quarterback.
Overall, Roberts said he is excited about this team. “We may be a little thin at quarterback and a lot of teams in the county where underclassmen heavy this year, but we definitely have some dudes on this team that can play.”
In coming weeks, several more players will be named and alternates identified to fill out the final 45-man roster. Sponsored by Orlando Health, ticket and other information can be found at https://orlandosportsfoundation.org.
2023 Osceola Cure Bowl Invitees
Celebration (3)
Lucas Morton-Carlson, UTL
Ashton Braswell, RB/DB
Victor Hernandez, OL
Gateway (6)
Ya'sin Childs-Mims, WR
Fhami Goldston, DB
Nelson Hernandez, OL/DL
Jamere Burgess, DL
Jason Lease, TE/WR
Xaviel Lapaz, OL/DL
Harmony (5)
Nick Serrano, OL
Jeremy Hilliard, RB
Ian Bingham, LB
Alex Nash, DB
Conner Flaherty, DB/OLB
Liberty (1)
Jeremiah Louis-Pierre, QB
Osceola (6)
Notorious Reynolds, WR/RB
Thomas Gearity, OL
Antonio Cruz, OL
Cedric Duval, DB
Jalen Bell, DB/LB
Daniel Morales, DE
Poinciana (9)
Amir Ali, WR/KR
Jason Baptiste, DL
Elijah Bowser, WR/TE, DB
Angel Figueroa, OL/DL
Nathaniel Jeanniton, DB
Kenneth Norris, K/Special Teams
Noah Otero, LB
Isaiah Raymond, LB
Taurence Boland, DL
St. Cloud (7)
Jon Morales, RB
Owen Conner, WR
Darryl Massey, WR
Kareem Elgin, DL
Jacob Oviedo, DL
Jaden Woods, DL
Rylon Taramino, DL
Tohopekaliga (6)
Eli Azize, DB
Delvin Pryor, WR
Pierre Julian, OL
Brad Vera, LB/DL
Bryan Molano, LB
Churandy Duval, RB
