Games to be moved around, made up or canceled after Hurricane Milton break
After Hurricane Milton wiped out all county football action last week, it will make for a busy couple of days for three Osceola County teams as they will play two games over a four-day span this week.
Osceola (at Viera), Harmony (hosting Lake Nona) and Celebration (at home to Olympia) will all play make-up district games Tuesday at 7 p.. The other contests postponed were non-district games that can be made up by each school’s discretion: Tohopekaliga announced that its game last week with Master’s Academy would not be played; Liberty will make up its East River contest on Monday, Oct. 21. Gateway AD Travis James said they are working on making up its lost game with Lake Placid on the same date; while no decision has been reached on the Poinciana at Auburndale tilt.
Of the makeup games, the most important ones are for Osceola and Harmony. The Kowboys (4-2, 1-0) need a win at Viera to clinch their third consecutive district championship and punch a 15th straight playoff ticket.
Our kids are very dedicated and I heard quite a few of them organized informal workouts on their own last week,” OHS Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We have a long walk through/practice session scheduled for Monday and we will be ready to play Tuesday. Viera is mainly a running team and we’re pretty good at stopping the run. Conversely, they have trouble defensing the run and that is the strength of our team. If we play good fundamental, assignment-based football, we should be all right.”
Harmony (1-5, 0-1) is in a must-win situation with Lake Nona if it want to stay in the 7A, District 10 race; while Celebration (2-4, 0-1) views its district makeup with Olympia as a unique opportunity to gain some traction as Blanton tries to build that program.
“Dr. Phllips (6-0, 2-0) is obviously the class of the district and I doubt anyone can challenge them this year, but for our program, every district contest is important. Winning a district game builds confidence and helps show our players we belong and can compete at any level.”
Friday will be highlighted by the Tohopekaliga at St. Cloud contest. The Tigers (4-2, 1-0) have started a budding rivalry with the Bulldogs (3-4, 0-1) and are in the same district this year. The teams first played in 2020 (a 12-0 St. Cloud win); with the upstart Tigers dominating the last two meetings with a 41-19 win in 2023 and a 47-6 win in 2022 to take a 2-1 all-time series lead. Tohopekaliga can claim their first district title with a win over St. Cloud on Friday and a victory at Lake Nona on Oct. 24.
That will not be the only interesting game this weekend; as Osceola travels to Apopka for a contest of traditional Central Florida powers; Harmony plays at Celebration in a game moved to Saturday at 11 a.m.; and Gateway plays at Poinciana on Friday.
Meanwhile, district tournaments will be held across the state this week in volleyball. Five county teams (St. Cloud, Celebration, Tohopekaliga, Harmony and Osceola) will compete in the Class 7A, District 7 Tournament, scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. OBC champion Osceola (19-4) will be the prohibitive favorite. The Lady Kowboys are 8-0 against county opposition this year and has not dropped a set (24-0) in doing so. After having two matches cancelled last week due to Milton, Osceola coach Carrie Palmi said getting her team back on the court will be important as they get ready for regionals.
“You never just assume you are going to win, but our goals this year are a lot bigger than just districts,” Palmi noted. “Hurricane Milton disrupted our schedule last week, but every team can say the same thing. The most important thing is play consistently this week and get back in the groove for regionals.”
Assuming Osceola prevails, the district tournament becomes extremely important for the Longhorns (12-6), ranked seventh in the region and could be line to snag one of four at-large regional bids available with a strong finish.
With five teams in the district, #5 seed Celebration will play at #4 St. Cloud in a Tuesday quarterfinal. At Osceola on Wednesday, #3 Tohopekaliga faces #2 Harmony at 5 p.m. with the Celebration/St. Cloud winner playing host Osceola at 7 p.m. The winners of those two matches meet in the District Championship game at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Gateway (7-10) will host Auburndale (10-12) in a Class 5A, District 7 quarterfinal game on Wednesday night. A win would send the Panthers to top-seeded Lake Wales (17-2) the following night. Liberty is slated to play in the 4A, District 9 Tournament. The Chargers (2-8) are the second seed and will host #3 Hardee (3-15) on Tues., Oct. 15. A win would put the Chargers in the District finals against the winner of the #1 seed Desoto (8-11) vs. Teneroc (4-19) vs. Mulberry (5-14) winner on Thursday.=
This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, Oct. 15
Football: Lake Nona at Harmony, 7 p.m.; Osceola at Viera, 7 p.m.; Olympia at Celebration, 7 p.m.
Volleyball: Celebration at St. Cloud, 7 p.m. (7A, D7); (5A, D7); Hardee at Liberty, 7 p.m. (4A, D9)
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Volleyball: Harmony vs. Tohopekaliga (at Osceola), 5 p.m. (7A, D7); St. Cloud/Celebration at Osceola, 7 p.m. (7A, D7)
Volleyball: Auburndale at Gateway, 7 p.m. (5A, D7)
Thursday, Oct. 17
VB: 7A-7 championship at Osceola, 7 p.m.; 4A-9 championship at highest seed, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 18
FB: Harmony at Celebration, 7 p.m.
FB: Osceola at Apopka, 7 p.m.
FB: Tohopekaliga at St. Cloud, 7 p.m.
FB: Gateway at Poinciana, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19
FB: Harmony at Celebration, 11 a.m.
Monday, Oct. 21
Liberty at East River, 7 p.m.
