In a battle between two Central Florida heavyweights, Osceola stood toe-to-toe in the center of the ring with Seminole, but the "bad guys" landed the final punch when Luke Rucker hit Marvin Brown on a two-point conversion in overtime to give the Seminoles a 28-27 overtime win Friday night in Kissimmee.
“Disappointing loss, our timing is just not there right now,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said after his team allowed 480 yards of total offense. “It’s not like they dominated, we simply got out of position too many times, missed some tackles and had some bad breaks.”
Those bad breaks – they came on both on offense and defense and were huge – included the coin flip in overtime. With the scored tied 20-20 in regulation, Osceola lost the toss and Seminole elected to go on defense first. The Kowboys needed just one play to take a 27-20 lead as Taevion Swint broke a tackle in the center of the line and carried three players into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown run.
The Seminoles responded two plays later as Rucker hit Michael Key in the corner of the end zone to make it a 27-26 game. Seminole head coach Eric Lodge elected to go for two and the win with Brown – running across the field in motion – was left wide open for an easy pitch and catch for the conversion and the win.
“Winning the toss was important for us as it allowed us to control the narrative,” Lodge said. “We decided to go for the win and it worked out.”
It kept alive an impressive streak as Seminole, who defeated Osceola in the 2020 FHSAA Class 8A championship game, has not lost a regular season road game since 2015.
Rucker and Brown were both sensational Friday. Rucker hit 17 of 29 passes for 365 yards; with Brown catching 10 of them for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
Still, Osceola counter punched most of the night and certainly had its chances to win the game. After the defense made a first-quarter stop on a fourth-and-2, Swint would break a 60-yard touchdown run to give the Kowboys a 7-0 lead.
Later in the quarter, Seminole had fourth-and-1 at the Osceola 3, but the defense jarred the ball loose from Rucker and Josh Alamo recovered. Osceola would add to its lead late in the second half, as Jayden Bradford picked off Rucker and returned it 35 yards to the 15. After a one hour and 41 minute lightning delay, Gunner Holland came out of the locker room and hit Swint on a 17 yards touchdown pass as Osceola took a 14-0 lead with 3:11 to go in the half.
Taking over in bad field position following a gaff on the kickoff return, Rucker took over on his own 6-yard-line but needed just four plays to drive 94 yards and cut the gap to 14-6 at the half. Brown was the key, catching a pass for 44 yards and then grabbing another pass for a touchdown from 26 yards out for the touchdown on the next play.
“That was probably the key moment of the game. If we make a stop and go into the locker room at 14-0, I think it may have been a different story,” Pinellas said. “But give them the credit that came out and made plays to get back in the game.”
After the teams traded possessions to start the third quarter, Rucker would then direct a 9-play, 86-yard drive to bring Seminole to within two points at 14-12. Rucker was three for three on the drive for 64 yards and Tyrone Williams carried it in from the one to make it a two-point game.
Osceola had a chance to possibly put the game away early in the fourth quarter. After failing to move the ball after a Lacory Walker interception, the Kowboys punted and Jalen Bell jarred the ball loose from the return man and then made the recovery on the Seminole 24-yard line. Osceola moved the ball to the 9, but on a fourth-and-6 play, Swint was pulled down by the facemask – which normally would have resulted in a first down. But in high school football, personal fouls are not automatic first downs and the penalty was just half the distance to the goal –leaving Osceola with a 4th-and-3 from the 7. A sloppy exchange between Holland and Swint left the ball on the ground and, although the Kowboys recovered on the 11, they would turn the ball over on downs.
Taking over with 3:14 to play, Rucker overcame a first down sack to hit Brown on an 11-yard pass. One play later, Brown would get behind Walker and catch a 60-yard touchdown pass for a 20-14 lead with just 1:04 left.
Swint and Osceola would not go quietly, however. The sophomore sensation would get 25 yards on the ensuing kickoff, with 15 more yards being tacked on for another blatant face mask penalty putting the ball on the Seminole 39. David Buggs would then scramble for 14 yards for first down and on 2nd-and-15, Ja’Keem Jackson out-jumped three defenders to haul in a Buggs pass at the 4. With 31 seconds remaining, Swint scored to tie the game at 20-20 – but Seminole would get penetration from the left side and block the potential game-winning extra point.
While scoring all four of Osceola’s touchdowns -- he's got all six of the Kowboys' TDs in their first two games -- Swint rushed for 141 yards on 16 carries, caught two passes for 15 yards and had over 100 yards in returns.
“Taevion left it on the field tonight,” Pinellas said. “I not only think he is the best Class of 2025 back in the state, I’m not sure he’s not the best sophomore running back in the nation.”
Osceola will have a week off to regroup before traveling meet state-power Lakeland on Sept. 16. “The road doesn’t get an easier for us, we know that,” Pinellas said. “We met a great team tonight and they made one more play than we did. Hopefully we will learn from this and get ready to meet another great team in two weeks.”
