After its defense gave up just seven points to West Orange in Friday’s Class 8A regional semifinal playoff game, the Osceola Kowboys should be preparing for another game in a return to the state championship game.
But, due to a handful of problems on offense and special teams, just Thanksgiving and the start of the offseason schedule is on tap this week.
A 16-7 loss to the Warriors — the game was closer than even that narrow score — ended Coach Eric Pinellas’ first season wearing the main headset on the sideline with a 9-3 record.
Played in mostly a steady drizzle, four fumbles on offense halted the Osceola offense’s usual rhythm and momentum and ultimately sealed the team’s fate.
“You can’t be minus on turnovers and hope to win against a team like (West Orange),” Pinellas said. “They killed our drives.”
After a scoreless first half, the Warriors drove the field to take a 7-0 lead, then blocked an Osceola punt into the end zone on the next possession for a safety.
On a drive that went into the fourth quarter, quarterback Chad Mascoe (10-of-16 passing, 108 yards) hit Ja’Keem Jackson on a 33-yard sideline route and Taevion Swint ran around the left end for 20 more. It set up Swint’s seven-yard TD run that made it 9-7 with 4:54 left. And then the defense forced a Warrior 3-andout, giving the Kowboys the ball back at the 20 after a touchback punt with 2:41 to work with. But they’d get no closer.
“The safety hurt us, because now it’s a two score game and we have to press to get back into the game,” Pinellas said. “Plus, at the end of the game we’re not trailing.”
Osceola’s been in the playoffs yearly since 2007, and the talent is in place for a 2022 run. On offense, Pinellas will have to replace Mascoe, but will have Swint, a freshman this year, back, as well as receivers Izaiah Jean-Baptiste, Ja’keem Jackson, Donald Cummings and Perry Garrett. The offensive line returns at least seven guys who got snaps in 2021, and more are on the way from the JV.
An entire defensive line — Derrick LeBlanc, John Walker, Elijah Palermo and Joel Campbell — returns. The secondary could be a “no fly zone”, with Bo Mascoe, Jackson and Lacory Walker back.
“I like what we’ve got coming back,” Pinellas said. “There’s a lot of kids who’ve gotten quality snaps for more than a year now, and they’ll get another spring to get better.”
