Kowboys football overcome deficit, advance to region finals

Image
  • Spencer Richards boots a second quarter 38-yard field goal to cut the Riverview lead to 7-3.  Photo courtesy of Jana Stultz/Osceola High School.
    Spencer Richards boots a second quarter 38-yard field goal to cut the Riverview lead to 7-3. Photo courtesy of Jana Stultz/Osceola High School.
Body

Osceola Football is heading back to the regional finals.  

The Kowboys overcame an 11-point second quarter deficit by scoring 21 unanswered points, and then held on to beat the Riverview Rams, 24-20, in a Class 8A, Regional 4 semifinal game on Friday night. The win lifted Osceola to 7-2 on the season and will send them to the region final next week against Newsome (7-2), a 36-20 winner over Steinbrenner last Friday.

The Rams season finished at 9-2.

Riverview was a common opponent of both Osceola and Newsome this year, as the Rams beat Newsome earlier this season, 26-13. Although Riverview dominated that game, Osceola Head Coach Doug Nichols is expecting a tough contest with this week’s opponent.

“Newsome runs the same type of offense that was a staple of Osceola for a decade. They will line up with two tight ends and are a power running team. They only throw it five or six times a game while trying to run it down your throat.

“This will present a great challenge to our defense,” Nichols said.

Osceola was somewhat fortunate to get past the Rams, thanks to a couple of key calls that went against Riverview. 

The Rams scored on its first possession, taking advantage of a 62-yard run from Will Evans to set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Omari Hayes. Osceola countered with a 38-yard field goal by Spencer Richards at the start of the second quarter, but Hayes quickly made it 14-3 by returning the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

Osceola would fight back in the second quarter. Chad Mascoe hit Donald Cummings on a 56-yard pass to set up a Ja’Randy Swint 2-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing Riverview possession, the Osceola defense forced and recovered a fumble and on its first play from scrimmage. Jamo Jones broke several tackles and rambled 35-yards for a touchdown and a 17-14 lead at half.

“Those two quick touchdowns were huge for us,” Nichols said. “Falling two scores behind was obviously a concern, but to our guys credit they didn’t hang their heads or start pointing fingers. Mascoe’s pass was particularly impressive because Cummings was like his third read on the play.”

Both teams only had one full possession in the third quarter. A long Riverview drive that ate up nearly seven minutes off the clock was stalled by a holding penalty.  After a punt, Osceola drove the length of the field with Jones scoring from five yards out to make it 24-14 with just 34 seconds left in the third period.

Osceola’s good fortune would come in the final stanza.

Hayes had both a 78-yard run and a 75-yard touchdown reception called back by penalties.

“He’s a great football player and we knew if we didn’t contain him he wasn’t going to get caught,” Nichols said.  “He got loose three or four times, fortunately for us two of those plays got called back.” 

Still Riverview would not quit. Evans would cap a long drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 24-20 with five minutes remaining. The teams would trade punts and Riverview would get the ball back one last time on its own 15-yard line with two minutes remaining. But Evans’ first pass to Hayes went for a five-yard loss and then on second down the Kowboys sacked him for a 12-yard loss.  Following an incompletion, Evans desperation fourth down pass was intercepted by Jerry Wilson to effectively end the game.

Friday’s game with Newsome will be Osceola’s second consecutive trip to the Region Finals. Should Osceola advance, they would travel to the winner of the Palmetto (4-1) – Vero Beach (8-2) game in the state semifinals.  The Kowboys lost to Steinbrenner in this round last year.