In this week where we’ve about reached the midpoint of the season, action starts tonight with one of the most intriguing games of the season.
Osceola (3-1) hosts Jones in a battle of state powers at Markus Paul Stadium. The Tigers are one of the state’s top teams across all classifications. Despite playing a difficult schedule every year— like Osceola—Jones has won three consecutive regional titles and is 36-10 since 2021. The Tigers won matchups against the Kowboys in 2022 (18-7) and 2023 (28-20).
“A huge challenge for us,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “Coach Elijah (Williams) does a great job and they are loaded with players who will move on to the next level. This is a great opportunity for us. A win would give us a lot of momentum heading into the second half of our schedule.”
Jones defeated a good Edgewater on Saturday to go 3-0. The Tigers are led by junior quarterback Dereon Coleman (a Miami commit) and senior receiver Vernell Brown (Florida). Coleman completes more than 80 percent of his passes and Brown has been averaging 112 yards receiving per game. The Tigers boast a strong running game, with speedster Jacquil Smith averaging nearly 130 yards rushing per game.
It will be strength on strength; the Kowboys defense has allowed seven or fewer points in three games this season and just 44 all year, and although it gave up 24 to Class 7A No. 2 Lake Mary, the defense had held the Rams to just three points well into the third quarter.
Offensively, Osceola will need to move the chains and get its running game going like it did against South Dade and St. Cloud. Taevion Swint, who saw limited action against Lake Mary, has rushed for over 200 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 total carries in the last two weeks “Obviously our defense will be severely tested against Jones, but our offense can certainly help the defense out,” Pinellas said of the matchup. “If we can run the ball and move the chains, we can limit their opportunities on offense and keep our defense fresh.”
Although not a district game, it will be important for both teams come seeding time. Of Osceola’s eight non-district games this season, Jones is one of seven that made the regional playoffs last year and are currently the highest ranked opponent remaining on Osceola’s regular season schedule.
The rest of the week’s action occurs Friday. After a 56-6 loss to Osceola last week, things do not get a lot easier for St. Cloud (2-2) this week as it hosts Merritt Island (3-1) at 7 p.m. Osceola overmatched the Bulldogs, who now have to deal with another physical Mustang team that has a balanced attack that averages 175 yards rushing and 200 yards passing per game.
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Verpaele (60% completing percentage) runs the offense; while running backs Delvonte Williams, Shaun Hartman and Alex Hernandez all average nearly seven yards per carry.
“A few years ago they were in the 5A state championship game. They are a really good program and that’s why we scheduled them,” St. Cloud Coach Mike Short said. “We’ve had a couple of tough weeks in a row, but hopefully this week we’ll get back on track.”
Celebration (1-2) and Tohopekaliga (2-1) return to action Friday after hitting their bye week. Both Tiger coach Anthony Paradiso and Storm coach Chris Blanton said they used the off-week to get their teams healthier and to work on fundamentals. Tohopekaliga travels to Viera; while Celebration heads to Space Coast. “I have been very pleased with our conditioning and effort we have given in our first three games,” Paradiso said. “We definitely needed to improve on our fundamentals—better blocking and tackling—and I think we accomplished a lot of that last week. We will continue to focus on getting better and working on the things we can control.” Blanton echoed the comments after his team came off their first win of the season over Lake Region, 48-6 in a game that was completed last Monday. “Part of our rebuild is making our kids understand that to make plays, you have to put yourself in the right position and understand your assignment.” Blanton said. “We definitely made some progress last week in that regard.”
Poinciana (3-1) travels to Haines City (1-3), after dropping its first game of the year last week to powerful Evans, 49-28, despite rolling up 282 yards off offense. The Eagles hope to steady one of the best starts in school history under first-year coach Taron Mallard.
Harmony (1-3) got on the winning side for the first-time last week, beating Bayside, 17-7. Chase Adams scored twice for the Longhorns; while its defense came up its best performance of the season. The Longhorns now travel to Lake Howell (0-3) for a non-district game Friday night.
“If felt good to get a win, our kids have worked hard all year and deserved something good to happen to them,” Harmony coach Nick Lippert said. “The key to this week will be to show up, execute and have fun.”
After posting back-to-back shutouts against Cypress Creek (12-0) and Lake Region (19-0), Gateway (2-2) is on its first two-game winning streak since 2020. The Panthers saw the return of offensive threat Josh Fuller from injury this week; he and Nydrell Thigpen each scored touchdowns and had a combined 180 all-purpose yards.
Gateway returns to action this week against Winter Springs (21). “Not really sure what to make of them, they won two games I thought they might lose but then lost a game I was pretty sure they were going to win,” Gateway coach Marlin Roberts. “Our guys are starting to play with some confidence, still this week will be a challenge for us.”
Liberty’s Dee Hart will see his charges will look for win number two on the season when the Chargers (1-3) host Freedom (04). Liberty fell behind early and lost a 50-12 decision to Winter Springs last week.
“We have a very young team and have yet to play a complete game in all three phases of offense, defense and special teams,” Hart said. “We need to make our players understand the concept of playing hard on every down.”
District play begins next week for five county teams.
