ALL-COUNTY FOOTBALL — Osceola’s Bell, Toho’s Nasco tops among county’s best

When it came to the 2023 high school football season in Osceola County, there were a few pleasant surprises, some expectations met and few disappointments. The one consistent was the performances of the top athletes and coaches inside the county, which we recognize here on the Osceola News-Gazette All-County Team.

Osceola High senior linebacker Jalen Bell is the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Tohopekaliga senior wide receiver Julian Nasco is the Offensive Player of the Year, and St. Cloud’s Michael Short is the Coach of the Year after guiding the Bulldogs to an 8-3 record, including wins over archrival Harmony and a bowl game victory over Lake Region.

Although the injury-riddled Kowboys had an uncharacteristic losing season (4-7), there was little doubt they were the top team in the county as they blitzed through district opponents Celebration, St. Cloud and Tohopekaliga to win another district title and qualify for the playoffs for the 17th consecutive year.

Bell played a huge role in limiting those district opponents to just three combined points (143-3). He finished the season with 60 total tackles to go with 10 tackles-for-loss, two quarterback sacks, two blocked kicks, three pass defenses and a team-high six interceptions—he truly played sideline to sideline.

“I may be biased but I believe Jalen has earned and deserves these honors,” Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said. “He’s an incredibly versatile player who you can put just about anywhere on the field and he will excel. No one works harder and is a better team guy that Jalen. There’s no question he’s a next-level athlete.”

That versatile Bell lined up at corner, safety, outside linebacker, defensive end and punter this season.

Nasco, a senior, posted huge numbers in Coach Anthony Paradiso’s pass-happy Tigers offense, finishing the season with 90 receptions, 1,274 yards and 13 touchdowns. His had eight 100-yard receiving games including 10 catches for 168 yards and two scores against St. Cloud; 10 for 191 against Lake Howell in a bowl game and nine for 126 yards and three scores in a 35-28 loss to playoff team Orlando Christian Prep. In two seasons with the Tigers, he finishes his Tohopekaliga career with 156 receptions for 2147 yards and 25 touchdowns.

In addition, St. Cloud’s Stacy Taylor Jr. is Freshman of the Year. He started at defensive back for the Bulldogs, recording 21 tackles with two interceptions.

Short led St. Cloud to eight wins this season, the most in the county. The Bulldogs finished the year on a six-game winning streak that included four shutouts and a 21-0 win over arch-rival Harmony in the Soldier City Classic. Short is now 15-6 in two seasons since replacing current SCHS Athletic Director Bryan Smart.

Position by position.

Quarterback — Tohopekaliga’s Sabby Meassick, just a sophomore, was among the state leaders with 3,800 passing yards and 39 touchdowns; St. Cloud’s Logan King completed 58.2% of his passes for 24 touchdowns. Both led teams to bowl game wins. (Honorable Mention: Cameron Brown, Poinciana)

Wide Receiver— Nasco is joined team by teammate Naeem Woulard (40-5044 TDs); St. Cloud’s Alex Springs (57-874-14 TDs, a county high for scores) and Owen Conner Conner (44-616-6) and Poinciana’s Ernest Nunn (49-917-8). (Honorable Mention: Angel Figueroa, Poinciana; Ya’Sim Mims, Gateway; Tre Punter, Tohopekaliga).

Running Back— Tohopekaliga’s Churandy Duval scored 13 touchdowns on 841 yards rushing and 446 yards receiving – averaging 117 yards of total offense a game; St. Cloud’s T.J. Griffin averaged over seven yards a carry and 17 yards per reception in finishing with 10 touchdowns and almost 90 all-purpose yards per game.; Harmony’s Jeremy Hilliard was its feature back; Osceola’s Taevion Swint was slowed by injuries by scored six touchdowns in six games. (Honorable mention: Jon Morales, St. Cloud; Elijah Hickson, Osceola; Akeem Knox, Poinciana)

Offensive Lineman— Osceola places three on the list: Antonio Cruz, Joseph Green and Thomas Gearity. They are joined by St. Cloud’s Connor Howes (6-6, 300) and Shawn Eplin, Gateway’s Nelson Hernandez, Harmony’s Ryan Capranica and Tohopekaliga’s Pierre Julien. (Honorable Mention: Nicholas Serrano, Harmony; Daniel Omurkulov, Tohopekaliga, Anthony El Dib, Celebration).

Defensive Lineman— Osceola (O’Neil Morel, 38 tackles, four sacks, and Blaze Jones, 31 tackles, eight sacks) and Tohopekaliga (Andrew Hines, 12 sacks, and Anthony Paradiso Jr., 14 sacks, both over 100 tackles) place two stars on the team and are joined by Kareem Elgin (St. Cloud, 9 tackles for loss, 5 sacks), Mekhi Ealy (Harmony, 10 tackles for loss), and Chris Charity (Gateway). (Honorable Mention: Clayton Williams, Harmony; Taurence Boland, Poinciana).

Linebackers— Bell is joined by teammate Robert Mikal-Lee (15 TFLs, 5 sacks), St. Cloud’s Aiden Johnson (70 tackles), Harmony’s Ian Bingham, and Toho’s Brad Vera (94 tackles, 8 sacks). (Honorable Mention: Nathan Barnett, Osceola; Landon Millman, St. Cloud; Tristian Martinez, Gateway; Bryan Nolano, Tohopekaliga, Noah Otero, Poinciana)

Defensive Backs— seven great cover guys, hardhitters and ball hawks: Jeff Banks, Ja’Mario Bradford and Cedric Duval from Osceola (combined for 150 tackles, six interceptions and 23 passes defended); Bryce Williams and Jacob Hernandez of St. Cloud (eight combined INTs), Eli Azize (Tohopekaliga, 63 tackles, 2 INTs) and Chase Adams (Harmony, 37 tackles and seven passes defensed). (Honorable Mention: Rashaud James, Tohopekaliga; Stacy Taylor Jr., St. Cloud; Ivan Ramos, Harmony; Moise Joseph, Gateway).

Athlete— Players who seldom left the field and whose stats on one side of the ball or the other may not have warranted all-county consideration but were valuable to their teams on offense, defense and quite often special teams: Delvin Pryor (Tohopekaliga, two-way threat), Elijah Bowser (Poinciana, ditto), Alijah Jenkins and Notorious Reynolds (Osceola, 1,200 all purpose yards on offense and in return game combined), Alex Nash (Harmony, valuable at running back, defensive back and special teams).

Specialist— St. Cloud’s Adrian Gonzalez kicked (20 of 26 kickoffs for touchbacks, 36-of-38 PATs, 6-for-6 field goals) and punted (45.8 yards per boot) his way to this award.