Heading into Friday night’s rivalry game with Harmony, St. Cloud Coach Bryan Smart privately admitted he had little reason for optimism. His team came into the game with a 2-6 record and was averaging less than six points per game in a year where his team had not defeated a team with a winning record.
But none of that seemed to matter, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the first half and then held on for a 31-30 win in the 17th edition of the Soldier City Classic.
The improbable win kept the Brass Bugle Trophy in St. Cloud for a third consecutive year and gave the Bulldogs a 9-8 series lead.
“I guess I can finally show my face in town, I have been hiding out a lot,” an elated Smart joked after the game. “But in all seriousness, I am so happy right now, but not for myself. I am so happy for this team. It’s been a really rough season for us and these kids deserved something good to happen to them. I told them, this game is what high school football is all about. We may not have a winning record at the end of the year, but these kids will remember this game forever.”
Harmony (5-4), which came into the game hanging on to playoff hopes, fell in a hole early. Freshman Logan King led St. Cloud on an eight-play, 37-yard drive that was capped by a Wyatt Castellucci 37-yard field goal to make it a 3-0 game midway through the first period.
The first of several special team mistakes would then haunt the Longhorns when they failed to recover the ensuing pooch kick at their 38. Freshman Tyler Green recovered and six plays later Ryan Clancy ran it over from four for a 10-0 St. Cloud lead.
Harmony would get on board a possession later, as Tyler Emans broke two tackles at the line and raced 45 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7. But St. Cloud responded on the very next play as sophomore wide receiver Julian Nasco took a reverse pitch and ran 80 yards untouched for a score and a 17-7 lead.
St. Cloud would extend the lead as Emans lost his second fumble of the game and Clancy recovered. Three plays later Clancy scored his second touchdown from seven yards out to up the lead to 24-7.
But Harmony would storm back. Getting the ball back at midfield with just 15 second remaining, quarterback Ayden Parks hooked up on a 41-yard pass to Isaiah Oquendo to cut the lead to 24-14 at halftime.
The Longhorns would come up with an interception on St. Cloud’s first possession of the second half and Emans’ second touchdown run of the game made it 24-21. Harmony would then get a quick stop and would have a first and goal inside the Bulldog 10. A second down run by Emans moved the ball to the two, but St. Cloud’s defense stopped Cooper Richards short of the goal line and forced a Kevin Lavigne field goal that knotted the game at 24-24.
With time winding down in the third quarter, King would hit Jayden Morehead on a 25-yard completion on third-and-20. Two plays later, King again hooked up with Morehead, this time for 41 yards and a touchdown to make it 31-24.
The teams would then exchange possessions, with St. Cloud punting to Harmony with 3:09 remaining. Taking over on the St. Cloud 40, Harmony Emans would run the ball on four consecutive plays – capping it off with a 4-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 31-30. But the ensuing extra point snap skipped by the holder at St. Cloud held on to its one-point advantage.
After failing to recover an on-sides kick, Harmony would force a punt with 21 seconds remaining, but Castellucci unleashed a 54-yard punt that went to the Harmony 10-yard line. Parks’ third pass was intercepted at midfield to end the game.
“We preached to our guys all week that they were going to get St. Cloud’s best game and we got it,” Harmony head coach Don Simon said. “You make little mistakes and they become big mistakes and that will kill you in a tight game. We did a good job of fighting back but at the end of the day we didn’t take care of the little things.”
St. Cloud (3-6) received big performances from everywhere. King completed 7-of-15 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. Clancy recovered the fumble and had two rushing touchdowns. Morehead caught nine passes for 100 yards and a score, 135-pound senior running back Anthony Morales ran for 51 tough yards on 13 carries, sophomore Nasco rushed for 89 yards and scored a touchdown; while Castellucci made all four extra points, kicked a field goal and booted that 54-yard punt at a critical moment.
“We started four freshmen tonight, but this was a game for our seniors. Jaden Morehead is an incredible athlete who was playing quarterback and got hurt. When he came back he was just too valuable not to have on the field. He made so many big plays tonight. So did Ryan Clancy, so did Matt Clukey, so did Anthony Morales. This was a win for our seniors.”
But Smart also had praise for the Longhorns. “We stuck nine in the box and Tyler Emans still gained a ton of yardage. He is such a terrific player. It bothers me that we still have to face him another year,” Smart added. “I know it’s not the result they wanted but I have so much respect for Harmony, they are well coached and bottom line it was a one-point game that we were fortunate enough to come out on top.”
Emans finished the game with 179 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and now has more than 1300 rushing yards and 26 total touchdowns this season – both school records.
St. Cloud wraps up its season next week with a road game against Winter Springs (1-7); while Harmony also takes to the road against New Smyrna Beach (6-3).
