Bulldogs widen lead in all time rivalry to 12-9
Bryce Williams caught four passes for 102 yards and a score and came away with a big second half interception to lead St. Cloud to a hard-fought 14-7 win over Harmony in the 21st playing of the Soldier City Classic.
With the win, St. Cloud moves to 7-2 on the season and outright clinches the District 7A-10 championship over Lake Nona (6-3. 2-1) who beat Tohopekaliga Friday and could have gained a tie with a St. Cloud loss.
“We have a reputation as being an offensive team but I have been telling people all year that our defense is really good, and they proved that again tonight,” St. Cloud Coach Mike Short said. “Coach (Don) Simon does a great job with its option offense and they are hard team to prepare for. Still, our defense played played pretty good and deserve a ton of credit for this win.”
Although St. Cloud scored the only touchdown of the first half, it was Harmony that had the scoring opportunities early – especially on the first series of the game when Ethan Moyon returned the opening kickoff to the St. Cloud 45.
But on a third and 8 play from the 27, a Landon Hayes completion to Billy Cory to the goal line was negated by an illegal formation penalty. Following a 7-yard run, Brayden Buehler’s 38-yard field goal was blocked .
It would be a theme that would repeat itself in the first half.
A long pass from Hayes to Roberto Rodriguez went for 57 yards but three plays later Buehler’s 40-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left. He would come up short on a 56-yard field attempt right before half. That attempt was made a lot more difficult as St. Cloud came up with two quarterback sacks before the attempt.
Meanwhile, St. Cloud was able to get on the board at the end of the second quarter on an 11-play, 80-yard march. The Bulldogs got three huge chunk plays on the drive with Cameron Dalton breaking off a 38-yard run, quarterback Jeremiah Lattier hitting Williams on a 24-yard pass play, and Gunner Freeman catching a pass and splitting the middle of the Harmony defense for a 26-yard touchdown.
Neither team scored on their first two possessions of the second half. But after a short punt gave St. Cloud possession in Longhorn territory and Lattier flipped a 'pop' pass to Williams, who took it around end 43 yards untouched for a 14-0 lead.
With eight minutes left in the game, Buehler punted and pinned the Dogs down inside their own five-yard line. Three runs only netted three yards and the Bulldogs were forced to punt from their own end zone. Harmony returned the short kick to the St. Cloud 24, and one play later Hayes hit Moyon for a touchdown to cut the gap to 14-7.
The Longhorns still had life when they executed and recovered an onsides kick, but after a five-yard completion on first down the Bulldogs defense forced three straight incompletions.
“Really a tough loss for our guys,” Simon said. “Starting with that very first drive, I really felt we left at least 16 points off the board in the first half. Still both teams played a hard, physical game and I am so proud of how hard our guys fought all game.”
Lattier finished 15-for-29 for 197 yards and the two touchdowns. Dalton had a big night on the ground hammering away for 114 yards on 15 carries.
“It looked like Harmony came into the game with idea of stopping the pass,” Short said. “They were only putting five or six in the box, so the running game was open for us.”
Still, it was the defense that stole the show. The Bulldogs limited Harmony to 152 yards on 61 plays while recording five sacks, the blocked field goal and an interception. During its current four-game win streak the Bulldogs have allowed just 11.2 points per game.
With a win next week against Lake Minneola (1-8), St. Cloud can reach eight regular season wins for the first time since 2008 (9-1). In that game, Lattier will face the school he transferred from.
After three wins a year ago, Harmony (4-5) can reach .500 for the season when they host Colonial (2-7) at “The Ranch.”
“This team has made a lot of positive steps this year and are starting to learn what it takes to be successful,” Simon added. “We are making strides.”
