While most of the attention this week will be on the 100th playing of the Osceola-St. Cloud rivalry game (see in-depth story Thursday), the county’s other six public schools will be in action Friday.
At Tohopekaliga, the Tigers (3-1, 1-0 in District 4S-10) will look to remain undefeated in District 4S-10 play when they host Celebration (1-4, 0-0) at 7 p.m. The Tigers are off a disappointing 31-24 overtime loss to Melbourne on Friday night – in a game where the Tigers were called for numerous penalties, including a controversial targeting call that kept Melbourne’s game-tying drive alive in the waning moments of the game.
Head coach Anthony Paradiso was highly critical of the officiating, but also before the game when he was informed his team would not be permitted to use their own game balls on offense because they were ruled “too tacky” by the officials.
“We treat our balls with the exact brand name conditioner recommended by the manufacturer. I have never had our game balls questioned in my entire career,” he said. “I can accept a loss all day, but I will never ever not fight for the right of our kids. They did not deserve what was done to them last week, especially in the final minute.”
Toho will also be out to avenge a shocking 22-21 loss to Celebration last year, where they had numerous turnovers and made mental mistakes in what was the biggest upset in the county last year.
Celebration’s young team comes into the game off a 20-17 loss to Liberty last Thursday. The Storm trailed 20-7 in that game before getting a safety and a scoop and score on a blocked punt in the final minutes to close the gap to 20-17. But any chance of a comeback ended when an on-sides kick with 90 seconds remaining went out-of-bounds right before Celebration could recover.
“We’re an incredibly young team, and we’re playing with a lot of freshmen and sophomores who should probably playing junior varsity this year,” Storm Xoach Jeremy Palmer said. “But our kids continue to play hard and the coaches understand this year is definitely a learning experience for us.”
Poinciana (2-2) travels to Foundation Academy (2-2) on Friday after winning not once but twice last week. The Eagles recorded a stunning 28-27 upset road win over previously undefeated Horizon (3-1) on Monday night – marking the highest ranked team the Eagles have ever defeated in school history. They followed that up with a 51-0 domination of Tenoroc Friday.
Akeem Knox was the star of the Horizon win, rushing for 145 yards and catching three touchdown passes. Elijah Bowser and Ernest Nunn each scored twice in the Tenoroc win.
Against Foundation, the Eagles will be facing “a very sound team,” PHS Coach Randy Beeken said. “We’ve had a common opponent (Tenoroc), this year and had very similar results. Playing on the road again, we are going to have to make sure we play fundamentally sound defense and not allow any big chunk plays.”
Brothers C.J. and James Bronough are the two big play makers for Foundation that Poinciana must slow down. James, a senior running back, has accounted for 500 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns this season; while C.J., a sophomore wide receiver, has caught 12 balls for 121 yards and four touchdowns.
Liberty (1-4) will be looking for a two-game win streak when they host Gateway (0-4) on Friday. Senior Jeremiah Pierre-Louis threw for one touchdown and ran for two in the Chargers win over Celebration last week. It was Liberty’s first win in 22 months.
“Absolutely feels great and it’s something these kids needed and deserved,” Hart said after the win. “Despite losing four lop-sided games to start the season, this team never gave up in any of those games and continued to work their tails off to get better. The next step was to learn what it feels like to win a game and tonight we got that feeling. I am just so proud of these guys right now.”
Gateway, whose campus has been under reconstruction, will be on the road for a fifth straight game. The Panthers dropped a 48-0 decision to Ocala West Port last week.
The other county team in action will be Harmony (1-3), who opens District 4S-11 play on the road at Melbourne (1-4) Friday. Harmony scored a season-high 33 points last week but lost 57-33 to Wiregrass Ranch.
Heading into that game, Longhorns coach Nick Lippert was concerned about Wiregrass quarterback Luke Knight, who has committed to play for Army next year. It was a well-founded fear, as Knight passed for 418 yards and eight touchdowns.
“He was every bit as good as advertised,” Lippert said. “We actually put some solid pressure on him all night, but he kept plays alive with his legs and never took his eyes off downfield. When that happened his receivers would break off their routes and he would find the open guy.”
Still he was pleased with his team’s offensive effort. Jeremy Hilliard rushed for three touchdowns and Lippert said his quarterback Kal Amen and wide receiver Ivan Ramos also stood out.
“Jeremy was outstanding as usual and we got solid quarterback play. When Kal didn’t throw a good pass, Ivan was there to make a sensational catches. “
Lippert says Melbourne will be another challenge for his team.
“They are really big on the offensive line and they are well coached. They are a run first team. We finally started getting our offense on track last week but we are going to need a really solid defensive effort.”
