Osceola built a huge first-half lead but needed a fierce goal line stand in the final minute of the game to hold off St. Petersburg Lakewood, 28-22, in its regular-season finale Friday at Markus Paul Stadium.
The Kowboys (8-2) are now almost guaranteed to host two rounds of Region 6A-2 playoff games, the first on Nov. 15.
Happy with the win, Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said he was not as pleased with his defense that gave up 300 yards in the second half and needed the goal line stand to win the game.
With Osceola clinging to a 28-22 lead, Lakewood took over at its own 15 with just four minutes to go. Quarterback Ayden Wallace started the drive by side-stepping a blitz and running 16 yards down the right sideline. A late hit out of bounds tacked on 15 more and gave the Spartans a first down at the 44.
After a go-ahead touchdown pass was nullified by off-setting penalties, Wallace went to work again hitting Keon Byas for 34-yards down to the Osceola 30. Another Wallace scrambled, to the 16 and Tayshawn Bell’s 14-yard run gave the Spartans a first and goal on the Osceola 2.
But the Osceola defense would save the day.
The Kowboys stopped Bell for a 2-yard loss, and forced Wallace to throw it away on second down. While a facemask penalty on Osceola moved the ball back to the two and gave Lakewood another down, the Kowboys again forced an errant pass to set up fourth and goal with 30 seconds remaining.
On the next play, Wallace rolled to his right and broke containment but missed an open receiver in the end zone, and the threat ended.
That second half was a far cry from the first. After a scoreless first quarter where the Kowboys turned the ball over on downs twice and fumbled once, Osceola rushed for 180 yards in the second quarter and used three Taevion Swint touchdowns to build a 21-0 lead. Swint scored on runs of 2 and 7 yards and caught a 14-yard scoring pass.
“They were crashing down and slanting their ends and that caused our running game some problems on our first couple of possessions,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “When we realized what they were doing we went to counter plays and sweeps to the outside and it really opened things up for us.”
While the Kowboys offense was clicking, the defense was dominating, forcing two turnovers and limiting the Spartans to just 26 yards on 16 first-half plays.
Things changed dramatically after intermission. Lakewood scored quickly on its first possession and, after Osceola fumbled on its first play of the third quarter, Wallace fired a 19-yard touchdown pass to Byas to make it a 21-13 game just four minutes into the second half.
After a botched Osceola field goal attempt gave Lakewood the ball back, Wallace escaped an Osceola blitz and hit Dmari Roberts in stride for a 67-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-19.
Osceola’s offense finally got back in motion, driving 60 yards on seven plays to push the lead back to 28-19. Jeff Sinophat capped the drive with a 19-yard run touchdown run and added a 16-yard scamper on the drive; while Swint gained 23 yards on three carries.
Still, there was no quit in Lakewood. Taking the ball on its own 9, the Spartans moved 87 yards on 10 plays. Despite Wallace passing for 75 yards on the drive, Lakewood had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Cole Sosa-Jones to cut the lead to 28-22 with six minutes remaining.
Osceola failed to pick up a first down on its next possession and punted to Lakewood to set up their final frantic drive with 4:24 remaining.
After not completing a first-half pass, Wallace finished 14-for-22 in the second half for 295 yards and rushed for 41.
“Give him some credit, we put a lot of pressure on him all night and we delivered some big hits on him and he still kept making plays. But in the second half we caused a lot of our own problems with some bad tackling. Again, we put a lot of pressure on him and had him scrambling but we failed to put him on the ground.”
The Kowboys had the ball for just 15 plays and three possessions in the second half – scoring seven points and gaining just 91 yards after having 220 yards rushing in the first half. Swint (146) and Sinophat (131) still had 100-yard rushing games.
“After the overtime loss to Jones back in September, our goal was to win our district, run the table and finish 8-2. We did that,” Pinellas added. “We have an extra week now to heal and to get ready for the playoffs and we secured home field advantage. Tonight we struggled in the second half and almost let one get away from us, but at the end of the day we won and that’s the important thing.”
In other Osceola County games:
Celebration claimed its third win of the season against Gateway (4-6), 21-14, in the final 2024 game for the county teams.
Tohopekaliga (5-4) became bowl-eligible with a 42-0 win over Avon Park (2-8).
Timber Creek (2-7) denied Poinciana (6-3) its seventh win of the season with a 27-20 victory at PHS.
Harmony (3-7) claimed its most convincing win of the year with a 37-6 handling of Colonial (3-7) in Orlando.
Lake Buena Vista beat Liberty (2-7), 33-16 to deny the Chargers their third win.
Week 12 games (season extended due to hurricane postponements)
Wednesday
Davenport Ridge Community at St. Cloud
Thursday
Poinciana at Auburndale
Liberty at East River
Regional playoffs, 1st round
Friday, Nov. 15
Region 2 qualifier at Osceola
