Friday’s dress rehearsal with Lake Nona told Osceola first-year head coach Eric Pinellas one thing: he may have inherited a pretty good football team.
Pinellas, who took over the program when legendary coach Doug Nichols suddenly stepped down last spring, saw his team control all aspects of the game on Friday night, defeating a talented Lake Nona squad, 28-0, in pre-season Kickoff Classic.
“Other than a couple of times when we got careless with the ball, I thought it was a good performance,” Pinellas said. “We created some pressure on defense, we made some chunk yardage on offense and with five new starters on the offensive line, I thought they held up well.”
Other than giving up a couple of first downs on the first series, the Kowboys defense set the tone for the game. They recorded three first-half sacks and limited the Lions to 31 net yards.
Osceola would get on track on offensively on second possession. Quarterback Chad Mascoe got things going on a third-and-17 play by hitting Ja’Keem Jackson on a 37-yard pass. Six plays later, Cornelius Walls ran it over from the nine and the Kowboys led, 7-0 at the 21 second mark of the first quarter.
It would not take long for the Kowboys to add to their lead. After the defense held in a three-and-out, Mascoe just needed one play to make it 14-0. He avoided a rush by rolling out to his left and hit Jackson in stride for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
The Kowboy defense allowed just three plays on Lake Nona’s next possession and Osceola was back in business on their own 28. Mascoe would overcome an offensive pass interference penalty with a 37-yard scramble, directing a 13-play, 72-scoring drive that ended in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Mascoe to Chris Combs to give the Kowboys a 21-0 lead at the half.
Osceola’s starters would remain in the game for the third period, upping the score to 28-0 late in the third quarter with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Mascoe to sophomore Gunner Holland. Holland saw action at both wide receiver and quarterback in the game, drawing praise from Pinellas.
“Wow that kid is going to be a player,” Pinellas said. “We were looking at him at linebacker in the spring and he just came to me and said, ‘Coach, I play anywhere you need me.’ He’s won a state wrestling championship as a sophomore and he is going to be a good one for us in football too.”
For the game, Mascoe finished 9 of 14 passing for 187 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for a team-high 86 yards on eight carries. Ja’Randy Swint rushed for 65 yards on 12 carries; Walls had 47 on six carries.
The Kowboys will use a no-huddle offense this year and that proved effective against the Lions.
“We did not run plays as fast as we might this year, but I liked the pace,” Pinellas said. “It’s an advantage for us to get to the line quickly and led Chad look over the defense.”
Led by junior tackles Derrick LeBlanc and John Walker, the Kowboys defense pitched a shutout and recorded five sacks. They created one turnover but had several other opportunities for interceptions. “That pressure will be a key this season,” Pinellas said. “It makes things a lot easier for our secondary because they do not have to cover a long time. We didn’t have any interceptions tonight but we had three or four chances for one.”
Osceola opens its regular season this week with its 98th meeting with St. Cloud. Osceola has dominated the series of late and leads to the all-time series 66-27-4. St. Cloud last won on the field in 2010, 41-35, but later had to forfeit the game for using an ineligible player. St. Cloud’s last official wins were back-to-back victories in 2004-05.
