While the second-longest football rivalry in Osceola County has tilted heavily toward St. Cloud in recent years, Gateway gets a prime chance to turn the tide Friday in likely the highest-stakes game in the Bulldogs-Panthers 40-year series.
The Panthers will also have home field advantage when the game, a key District 6A-5 tilt, kicks off Friday at 7 p.m.
Gateway is 5-0 for the first time in school history, and hasn’t beaten St. Cloud since Henry Miller’s long touchdown run on 4thand- 7 gave the Panthers a 26-18 win on Nov. 6, 2015. Like the county’s other longstanding rivalry (Osceola-St. Cloud), one team has had the upper hand in it; St. Cloud took a 30-10 series lead with a 27-0 win last year.
But the chips are stacked this year. Gateway, now in a district, already has a 6A-5 win over Harmony, while St. Cloud (3-2) fell, 43-7 last week in its 6A-5 opener to Lake Nona. One needs the win to stay in the race, the other needs it to cement a place at the top of the district with huge games against Tohopekaliga and Lake Nona upcoming.
Key players:
St. Cloud: QB Jeremiah Lattier (63-141, 906 yds, 7 TD, 8 INT); RB-WR Jaden Taylor-Irons (417 allpurpose yards, 3 TDs); WR Matt Blenman (10 catches, 145 yds, 3 TDs); TE Owen Sullivan (10-193-2); LB Colton Sklarek (52 tackles, 3 sacks); LB J.T. Wrona (48 tackles, 8 TFL); CB-KR Khalil Davis (38 tackles, 2 KR TDs); DE Matteo Cammarasana (4 sacks)
Gateway: QB Aristotle Span (15-29, 193 yds, 3 TDs, 2 INT); RB Nydrell Thigpen (112 carries, 979 yards good for 8th in the state, 12 TDs in five games, three straight 200-yard rushing nights); RB Johnny Reyes (282 allpurpose yards, 2 TD); LBTE Dyan Dingle (42 tackles, 1 TD); LB Tavian Martinez (9 sacks)
Friday’s other games:
Liberty at Celebration
New Smyrna Beach at Tohopekaliga
Osceola at Dr. Phillips
Bye Week: Poinciana Harmony Nova Lakes
