Kowboys roll, 56-0, for 11th straight win in longstanding series
One of the oldest rivalries in the state of Florida was finally contested on Monday night with the Osceola Kowboys coming away with a 56-0 win over St. Cloud in the 98th meeting between the two schools. The game was originally scheduled for Aug. 27, but was postponed because of Covid-tracing issues.
The win gave Osceola a 67-27-4 series lead and was their 11th consecutive on-the-field victory since the Bulldogs, won 41-35 game in 2010 –a victory they eventually had to forfeit due to a player eligibility issue. Counting the forfeit, it was officially Osceola’s 16th straight win in the series.
This was not a contest from the beginning, as Osceola scored eight touchdowns on just seven offensive possessions. While its offense could not be stopped, its defense was limiting the Bulldogs to just 50 yards of total offense in the game—all of which came in the second half. In addition to two interceptions, the Kowboys defense had 12 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, including a quarterback sack.
St. Cloud has struggled on offense this season and has scored just 14 points in falling to 1-3.
“Once again, we were playing short-handled due to Covid tracing, injuries and other reasons,” St. Cloud Coach Bryan Smart said. “But that is no means any excuse, Osceola is every bit as talented as advertised. They have a lot of D-1 talent on both sides of the ball and totally dominated us tonight.”
Not only did Osceola score on all seven offensive possessions, they also returned a fumble for a touchdown and also had four other scores called back on penalties.
The Kowboys, who were playing their second game in three days, improved to 4-1. They have totally dominated opposition since a season-opening 21-20 loss to Cocoa, outscoring opposition 213-21 in their last four games.
“Probably our most complete game of the season,” Kowboys Coach Eric Pinellas said of the win. “Really proud of the way we played. Our goal every game is to come out and dominate and play our game, regardless of who we are playing, and we have gotten better at it in each of our last four games.”
Thanks to two touchdown passes that were called back because of penalties, the Kowboys needed eight plays to drive 83 yards on their first possession as Chad Mascoe capped the drive with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Donald Cummings.
After a Jeremiah Wilson interception, Osceola needed just one play to make it 14-0 as Taevion Swint hauled in a 40-yard scoring pass from Mascoe. Lacory Walker would follow with another interception and Ja’Randy Swint would make it a 21-0 game one play later on a 20-yard touchdown run. Osceola’s defense would record a three and out and Mascoe would fire his third touchdown pass of the half – this time a 35-yard to Chris McCombs.
Swint would add a second rushing touchdown and Mascoe fired a fourth touchdown pass to Cornelius Walls, as Osceola extended the lead to 42-0 and insured a running clock in second half. The Kowboys piled up more than 300 yards of total offense while holding the Bulldogs to -3 yards in the first half.
It was the third time in their last four games that the Kowboys forced a running clock at halftime. They have not allowed a first half point in four games.
“With three games in eight days, having the last two of those games go to a running clock probably was a good thing, but to tell the truth, we try not think of it that way. Our idea is to play them one at time and not worry about when they are scheduled,” Pinellas said.
Osceola will host Windermere on Friday night in a Class 8A, District 9 game. Osceola is 1-0 in district play, while Windermere is 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the district. St. Cloud (1-3, 0-1) faces 5A power Tavares (4-1 overall) in a non-district game.
