For the Osceola Kowboys, Friday’s playoff meeting with West Orange – a district foe who handed them a 35-21 loss last month – has nothing to do with revenge. It is simply another opportunity to guarantee “One More Monday,” — a traditional November rally cry at OHS.
“They are a really good team that turned some mistakes we made into big plays and they simply beat us,” Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said. “But this game has nothing to do with that. They are the next opponent in our way of our goal: getting to another Monday practice in November.”
To “get another Monday”, the Kowboys must eliminate mistakes that led to the big Warriors’ plays Oct. 23 — play that cost them any chance of victory in the first game. They included missed tackles that led to touchdown passes of 41, 92, and 41 yards, and a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
But they weren’t the only reasons that essentially assured the Kowboys would be playoff road warriors. Osceola turned the ball over four times, had some untimely offensive penalties that stalled drives, and dropped a pass in the end zone that would have led to a halftime lead.
“None bigger than that pass,” Pinellas said. “If we go into the locker room with a 21-13 lead, I’m not sure it’s not a totally different game.”
To the good, a young OHS offensive line that returned just one starter from a year ago played well in last week’s 28-21 win over Newsome. That line allowed just one sack and graded out equally well in both run and pass blocking.
“Those guys have shown a lot of improvement in just the last month,” Pinellas said. “I think things are starting to click for them; last Friday was their best performance of the season by far.
“The offensive line was giving Chad (Mascoe, 22-of-30, 273 yards) time to throw and when they blitzed or got pressure, Chad did a great job of moving the pocket or pulling it down and taking off (11 carries, 116 yards),” Pinellas said. “We are going to need good decisions by him this week. It’s never easy in the postseason because when you get to this point, every team is good.”
Friday’s winner meets the winner of the Venice-Sarasota Riverview game. That’s next Friday.
The Kowboys are living in the now and looking to practice “Another Monday.”
