Given Poinciana’s longstanding struggles on the football field (only three seasons over .500 or better since the school opened in 1995), Friday’s game between the Eagles and St. Cloud Bulldogs would normally not generate a ton of attention.
But following Poinciana’s convincing 26-5 win over Harmony last week, the Eagles find themselves with a 2-0 record and another opportunity to knock off a county opponent, and beat St. Cloud for the first time ever.
“We’re just taking it a day at a time and a game at a time,” first-year Coach Taron Mallard said. “Our long-term goal is to change the perception of Poinciana football, and we have made some positive steps in that direction. This week’s game is just another opportunity to keep moving forward.”
St. Cloud (2-0) has been on a bit of a roll. Dating back to last year, they Bulldogs have now won eight straight games and have outscored its two opponents 76-14 this season, including a big 49-14 win over Pine Ridge last week. Still, St. Cloud Coach Mike Short says his team will not overlook the Eagles.
“We saw them in 7-on-7 games this summer and they were very impressive. They have some explosive players on both sides of the ball and they are absolutely playing with a chip on their shoulder.”
St. Cloud features a senior-laden team that includes receiver/cornerback Alex Springs, talented running back T.J. Griffin and four-year starter Logan King at quarterback. Springs had a sensational game against Pine Ridge, totaling 350 all-purpose yards on just 11 total touches– scoring touchdowns via reception, kick and interception return.
Poinciana’s quarterback Cameron Brown also has weapons on offense, including WR/RB Ernest Nunn, RB Will Nezius and emerging receiving star Javonte Simpson-Lee, who had five catches for 124 yards and a score against the Longhorns.
Up the road a spell, Tohopekaliga (2-0) will look to remain undefeated when it hosts Hagerty (1-1). The Tigers showed some moxie last week, kicking a field goal on the final play of the game to defeat Lyman, 24-23, in come-from-behind fashion.
“We turned the ball over five times in the red zone (two interceptions, three fumbles), so we probably didn’t deserve to win the game,” Tohopekaliga coach Anthony Paradiso said. “But we kept our composure, didn’t panic and did what we had to pull it out.”
The Tigers got a defensive stop with just over two minutes to go, drove down and watched as Taylor Domres booted a gamewinning 20-yard field goal for the win. In order to win their third straight game, the Tigers will have to contend with a balanced offense that Hagerty will throw at them, led by Caden Mitchell (30-48, 452 yards, 2 TD) and running back Porter Williams (22-234, 3 TD).
Last week’s win over Lyman was Tohopekaliga’s second one-score win of the season. “Keeping your composure and learning how to win close wins is part of the process of becoming a good program,” Paradiso said.
The only other Osceola County team to win in Week 2 was Liberty. On Thursday, the Chargers (1-1) handled Winter Haven’s Ambassador Christian Academy, 37-0 in a game Coach Dee Hart called an important one for his club.
“We honestly felt we should have won our first game (a 28-18 loss to new school Innovation),” Hart said. “So I had my concerns about how the team would react. But we had a great week of practice and kept our focus.”
Liberty got big games from RB/LB Xaevez Brown, freshman running back Daveon Williams and quarterback Richard Monplasir. Brown scored the Chargers’ first touchdown and made some big plays on defense; Williams rushed for 120 yards on just six carries and—according to Hart—Montplasir did a solid job of running offense and “provided the leadership this team has lacked the past couple of years.” Liberty will look for win number two of the season when they travel to Oak Ridge ( 1- 1).
Osceola (1-1) will try to get back on the winning track when they host South Dade (1-1) on Friday night. The Kowboys played Lake Mary tough in the first half (trailing 3-0) but with star running back Taevion Swint taking a helmet to the shoulder on their first drive, the Kowboys could not generate any offense at all and the defense began to wear down in a 24-7 loss.
Swint’s status for South Dade–one of eight 2023 FHSAA playoff teams Osceola will face this year—in unknown.
Meanwhile Harmony, Gateway, and Celebration (all 0-2) will be seeking their first wins of the season. The Longhorns travel to Sebastian River (1-1), where Coach Nick Lippert hopes his team can correct the offensive mistakes that have hindered his team in the first two weeks. “Our defense has played fairly well this year, but it seems like every time we have a positive play on offense, we follow it with a penalty or other mistake. We haven’t played a district game yet, so our goals are still obtainable. We simply have to get more efficient.”
An already thin Panthers team has also struggled on offense with back-to-back shutout losses to Space Coast and Astronaut. Its two most explosive offensive players (Deshawn Reese and Josh Fuller) have been out with pre-season injuries and neither is expected to play this week against Cypress Creek. Freshman Nydril Thigpen (120 yards rushing against Astronaut) has been one of the bright spots.
“If we had both Reese and Fuller available, I believe we could have been competitive in both games–maybe win both. As it stands now, we are starting four freshmen on offense and just hope that we can get these guys back as quick as possible,” Panthers coach Marlin Roberts said.
Celebration hosts Lake Region (0-2) on Friday. The Storm dropped a 19-14 decision to Winter Springs. After falling behind 12-0, the Storm rallied behind a 36-yard TD pass from Landon Yaw to Sean Nuzzi and a 60-yard punt return Evan Couch to take a 14-12 lead into the fourth quarter. But a 5-yard touchdown run from Winter Springs’ Makyle McBride proved to be the difference. Still, it was a game that Storm coach Chris Blanton felt Celebration should have won.
“We don’t feel like they outplayed us. We gave up two big plays early in the game and that turned out to be the difference. We knew we were capable of making stops,” Blanton said. “We need to learn to finish and you do that by not giving up big plays and make teams earn their points. We have the ability to surprise a lot of people, it’s just going to be a matter of learning to focus and execute for entire game.”
Friday’s football games
All Games 7 p.m.
Poinciana at St. Cloud
South Dade at Osceola
Harmony at Sebastian River
Lake Region at Celebration
Liberty at Oak Ridge
Hagerty at Tohopekaliga
Gateway at Cypress Creek
