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Tohopekaliga quarterback Sabby Meassick leads Florida with 3,167 passing yards. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS -
Osceola’s offensive line has been opening holes for a now-healthy running back Taevion Swint. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
One of two questions will be answered on the gridiron at Tohopekaliga High on Friday.
Are the Tigers ready for prime time?
Or … Will the Osceola Kowboys keep a remarkable streak of 16 straight playoff appearances alive?
Like one will be answered, likely just one will move on to the Class 4S playoffs starting Nov. 10 — the winner of Friday’s game wins District 10 and gets the spot. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Both Osceola (2-6, 2-0) and Tohopekaliga (5-3, 2-0) are coming off of losses last week. The Kowboys lost 22-0 to Daytona Beach Mainland (8-0) the No. 2 team in the overall state rankings and No. 1 in Class 3S; the Tigers were upset by Harmony, 24-13.
Results against the other two district opponents does little in determining which team has the edge Friday. Both routed Celebration and St. Cloud this year; with the Tigers won by a combined 83-19 and OHS 105-3.
Osceola’s record is uncharacteristic, hit hard by graduation (five Division I signees among a dozen seniors who signed with colleges) and by a rash of injuries this year. Five of it six losses have come against teams ranked in the top five in the state in their class and only one of those opponents (Jones) is in any danger of missing this year’s playoffs.
And while the talent gap between the two schools has closed, second-year Tohopekaliga coach Anthony Paradiso has said from the beginning of this year that his team still needed to catch up with the physical nature of the Kowboys and other better teams on their schedule.
“Last season it was no contest, they were just so much bigger and faster than we were,” Paradiso said in the preseason about last year’s 62-7 setback. “That’s not something that you fix in one season. With one year under our belt, we got a lot stronger this year but we still have a way to go.”
How well the Tohopekaliga offensive line can protect record-setting sophomore quarterback Sabby Meassick will determine Toho’s chances. Meassick leads the state with 3,167 passing yards (ninth nationally, but tops among those who’ve played just eight games) but was held under his average (286) last week against Harmony.
Led by solid offensive line, running back Taevion Swint and a great defensive leader in linebacker Jalen Bell, the Kowboys will most likely be favored to win the game and return to the postseason for a 17th straight year. Still, head coach Eric Pinellas is cautious about the game.
“They are well-coached and have a chance to win their first district title in school history, so I expect to see their best effort of the year,” Pinellas said. “Their young quarterback continues to improve, they have some skilled receivers and their power back (Churandy Duval) can be a load. We are in no position to take anything for granted.”
In other games this week, St. Cloud (5-3, 0-2) seeks its third straight win when it travels to Celebration (17, 0-2) in a District 4S-10 game; Gateway (0-8, 0-4) hosts Davenport (4-4, 2-2) in its district finale; Harmony (2-6) travels to Palm Bay Heritage (7-1); Lake Region (3-5, 1-3) is at Liberty (2-6, 0-4) and Poinciana (3-5) travels to Mulberry (6-2).
The Bulldogs defeated Groveland’s South Lake last week in a 7-0 slugfest. The St. Cloud defense allowed just 150 total yards of offense and picked up its only points of the night on a 2-yard Owen Conner run in the second quarter.
“We knew what type of game it would be and we needed a lights out effort from our defense and we got it,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “Landon Millman had the best game of his career at linebacker and because of having to shuffle our lineup around because of injuries and other issues, (receiver) Alex Springs had to play both ways. He ended up playing 122 snaps in the game and he did a phenomenal job.”
After being without starting quarterback Cam Brown for three games, the Poinciana junior returned to the lineup and three touchdown passes and ran for another as the Eagles prevailed over Lake Buena Vista, 37-14. Junior Ernest Nunn caught five passes for 111 yards and two scores in becoming the all-time receiving leader in school history. He has 775 receiving yards and eight touchdowns with two games remaining.
Harmony defense and running back Jeremy Hilliard came up huge in the upset win over Tohopekaliga. The Longhorns defense came up with six stops on fourth down and Hilliard rushed for 124 yards and two scores.
A battered and young Gateway squad played valiantly but remained winless in a 27-8 loss to Lake Region, while Liberty was no match for district power and undefeated Lake Wales (8-0).
