Harmony trailed in semifinal and championship games
For a fifth straight year and 11th time in the last 14 years, Harmony is the Orange Belt Conference champions in flag football.
It was not an easy ride, however, as the Longhorns had to overcome a 12-0 deficit for a second straight game – beating arch-rival St. Cloud, 41-19, in the championship at Austin Tindall Park Thursday night. Two days earlier, Harmony trailed top-seeded Celebration by the same score before pulling out a 13-12 win in the semifinals.
“Make no mistake, neither game was easy,” Harmony coach Paul Strauch said. “Each year, this county gets more competitive in flag football and Celebration gave us all we wanted in the semifinals and tonight’s score was not indicative of how good St. Cloud is. I was absolutely concerned when we fell behind by two scores in both games.”
St. Cloud (5-3), who came into the tournament as the No. 2 seed, reached the finals with an 8-6 win over Gateway on Tuesday. In the championship, the Bulldogs took the opening kickoff and scored as quarterback Vanessa Vohs threw 26 yards to Priscilla Rodriguez for a 6-0 lead. On Harmony’s first possession, the Bulldogs’ Arianna Viera’s interception set up Vohs’ short touchdown pass to Chavoria Bell to make it 12-0.
But after that play, it was pretty much Harmony quarterback Martha “Smalls” Edwards and her potent offense that took over the game. Harmony closed the gap to 12-7 on its second possession as an Edwards pass to Jada Bloodworth was lateraled to Kinzie James on a play that covered 46 total yards for a score.
After a defensive stop, Edwards hit James again, this time from six yards out and the conversion gave Harmony a 14-12 lead. St. Cloud took the lead one more time, as Vohs led the Bulldogs on a long drive capped by another touchdown pass to Rodriguez for a 18-14 advantage.
Two quick Harmony touchdowns in the waning minutes of the first half spelled the end of St. Cloud’s hopes. Edwards ran in a touchdown from three yards out and on the ensuing possession, Kianne Washington intercepted Vohs and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown to put Harmony up, 27-19, at the half.
“Our offense has been pretty good the last couple of years, but I have to give a ton of credit to our defense,” Strauch said. “That interception right before the half set the tone for the rest of the game.”
In the second half, Edwards completed eight of 10 passes – throwing touchdowns of 62 yards to Bloodworth and eight yards to Yanielyz Santiago-Torres as the Longhorns dominated the second half.
Edwards, the senior lefthander, finished the game 18 for 25 for 315 yards and five total touchdowns. James had 12 catches for 140. A four-year starter and three-time Osceola News-Gazette Player of the Year, Smalls has now led Harmony to four straight OBC titles and is 50-13 as a starter.
Although she completed passes to six different receivers, Edwards said she had a special connection with James in the title game.
“We’re best friends and we just always seem to be on the same page,” Edwards said. “I have a lot of confidence in her to where I expect her to be.”
Vohs finished the game 18 for 32 for 199 yards to go with the three touchdowns and two interceptions. Rodriguez caught seven for 85 yards and Savannah Kroener five for 52.
In other action Thursday night, Celebration (8-1) defeated Gateway for third place, 22-7. Osceola grabbed fifth place with a 20-0 win over Poinciana and Liberty took seventh with a 22-7 over Tohopekaliga.
Thursday will most likely not be the final time the top three teams in the county will tangle. The Longhorns, Storm and Bulldogs all play in Class 3A, District 10 and should all be top four seeds when the district tournament is held in mid-April.
2025 Orange Belt Conference
Flag Football Tournament
Quarterfinals (3/10)
Harmony 38, Poinciana 0
Celebration 40, Tohopekaliga 0
St. Cloud 28, Liberty 0
Gateway 7, Osceola 6
Semifinals and Playbacks (3/11)
Harmony 13, Celebration 12
St. Cloud 8, Gateway 6
Osceola 20, Liberty 6
Poinciana 12, Tohopekaliga 0
Championship (3-13)
Championship: Harmony 41, St. Cloud 19
3rd Place: Celebration 22, Gateway 7
5th Place: Osceola 20, Poinciana 0
7th Place: Liberty 22, Tohopekaliga 7
