Osceola 'Cowboys' 41, Buchholz Bobcats 35
It's not often a coach will see his team give up almost 400 passing yards and five touchdowns and then want to talk about how well his defense played. But that was exactly what happened in Gainesville on Friday night, as Osceola edged Buchholz, 41-35 in it Class 6A semifinal game.
With the win, the Kowboys have earned one more Monday of practice and will play for a state championship at 12:30 p.m. Fri,, Dec. 13. Undefeated West Boca (14-0) will be the Kowboys' (12-2) opponent,
"Crazy game, but I am so proud of all these guys. I told them they would face some adversity tonight and even though we built a big lead in the first half, that adversity came and we met it head on," Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. "At the end of the day, our defense made enough big plays to win the game for us."
It was a wild affair at Citizen's Field. as the Kowboys -- referred to as the "Cowboys" on the scoreboard, and who dares spell that wrong! -- would build a big first-half lead, only to see Buchholz storm back and have two opportunities to take the lead in the fourth quarter.
Things could not have started better for Osceola. Taevion Swint returned the opening kickoff 50 yards to the Bobcats 48. On the first play from scrimmage, Swint ripped off a 43-yard run and then carried it over two plays later and Osceola led 6-0. Behind 13 straight passes by quarterback Trace Johnson, the Bobcats would take their only lead of the night on 2-yard pass to Kiel McGriff on their first possession.
From there, the Osceola offense and defense took over. Quarterback Camren West scored on a 21-yard scramble after a fake hand off. Swint converted the two-point conversion and Osceola led 14-7. On the next series, Nathaniel Barnett ripped the ball out of DJ Hicks hands after a completion and returned the fumble 15 yards down to the five. Jeff Sinophat carried it in from there and the Kowboys had a two touchdown lead. After another stop, Adrian Gonzalez booted a 37-yard field goal to make it 24-7,
A Barnett interception led to another Gonzalez field goal, Osceola forced a punt and Sinophat capped a three-play, 61-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 34-7 midway through the second quarter. Swint set up the touchdown with a 54-yard run. After another stop, Adrian Gonzalez added another field goal.
Johnson got the Buchholz offense on its next possession. He needed just two plays to score, completing passes of 23 and 42 yards, the last to Justin Williams to make it a 34-14 game at halftime.
But it wasn't close to being over -- a wild second half saw the game go down to the wire. On Osceola's third possession of the third quarter, a high snap led to a blocked punt and the Bobcats were back in business at the Kowboys 27. Williams split the Osceola secondary on the first play and hauled in a touchdown pass to cut the lead to 34-21. West was then intercepted in the end zone and Johnson hit eight of his next nine throws to set Buchholz up with a first and goal at the Osceola 8. Two plays later, linebacker Elijah Melendez stepped in front of a Johnson pass and streaked 94 yards for a touchdown as Osceola appeared to put the game away at 41-21 late in the third quarter.
But Johnson was not through. A long kickoff return set up another touchdown as Johnson found Hicks from 9 yards out. The Bobcats got a stop of their own and after a questionable pass interference penalty, Johnson hit Williams on 18-yard scoring pass to make it a one-score game at 41-35 with seven minutes to go.
Swint appeared to put the game away on a 50-yard touchdown run on the next series, but a holding play negated the play and the Kowboys were forced to punt.
"Really disappointed in that call," Pinellas said. "He was already gone and one of their players pulled our guy down on top of him and they get a holding call, It was second time in the half I thought a call was missed, but those things are going to happen."
Taking over after the punt, Johnson was intercepted by Robert Lee on the first play and the Kowboys took over on their own 48. A false start and a tackle-for-loss forced Osceola to punt the ball back to Buchholz with 2:11 remaining and a chance to win the game. Two quick completions moved the ball to the Osceola 46. On first down, Johnson was called for intentional grounding, then was then sacked on the next snap to set up third-and-32. He hit Williams for 20 yards, but on fourth down Osceola brought the heat and Johnson overthrew Williams. West took two knees and the game ended.
"This team will never quit," Swint, who rushed for 178 yards, said. "We trust each other and now we are going to play for a state championship."
Swint was not the only hero. Sinophat rushed for two touchdowns, Barnett had the interception and fumble recovery, Lee had an interception to go with Melendez's pick six and Osceola's defense came up with five big quarterback sacks in the game.
Johnson finished 34-of-48 for 389 yards and five touchdowns. Not counting the five sacks, the Bobcats ran the ball just three times, not registering their first bona fide rushing play until late in the third quarter.