Here’s a look at where the Osceola County football teams stand at the midway point of the season:
To nobody’s surprise, Osceola (5-1, 2-0 in District 8A-9) is the top dog. Following a 69-0 walkover against district foe Windermere last week, the Kowboys have outscored the opposition 282-21 since a 21-20 road loss to 4A No. 1 Cocoa in the opener. During the win streak, adversaries have just 66 rushing yards and the Kowboys’ first-team defense has given up one touchdown.
After a bye week this Friday, Osceola faces Dr. Phillips and West Orange, the cream of the district, in back-to-back games. The game at West Orange (4-1, 2-0) on Oct. 22 will most likely be for the district crown.
“Obviously we’re playing pretty good right now,” Osceola Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We will use this week to evaluate everything and see where we can get better. Our biggest concern coming into this season was the play of our offensive line, but they are starting to come together and frankly they have exceeded my expectations. There are some little things, like consistency in our special teams that need work. Overall I am pretty happy with where we are at the midpoint of the season.”
Osceola can help its RPI ranking for playoff seeding with upcoming games against Dr. Phillips, West Orange and Orange City University.
Despite a heartbreaking 39-31 loss to Viera last Friday, the Harmony Longhorns (3-2, 1-1 in District 7A-7) can still make the playoffs with a strong second half of the season, starting Friday with an in-county game at Liberty (2-2).
The Longhorns might be a couple of plays from being 5-0. Harmony gave up a two-score secondhalf lead against Viera on Friday and lost an earlyseason game to Palm Bay, 20-16. Four games have been decided by eight points or less.
“It’s the nature of our team and our schedule so far. We cannot lose sight of the finish line,” Coach Don Simon said. “I told our players after the Viera game that all five remaining games were winnable and the playoffs would still be in reach if we stay focused and take care of business.”
Harmony has relied on running back Tyler Emans, who had another big game last week against Viera –231 yards on 18 carries and three scores, including touchdown runs of 64 and 75 yards.
The Celebration Storm (3-2, 0-2 in 8A-9) seek a rare fourth win at Tohopekaliga on Friday. Celebration trailed Olympia big early and lost 42-22 to Olympia Friday.
“Once again I was pleased with how this team did not quit,” Coach Rich Pringle said. “Oniel Senatus continues to put up impressive numbers and our offense came alive in the second half. Still, we are having problems making tackles and taking the proper angles. We are giving up way too much yardage on big plays.”
Senatus needs 63 rushing yards Friday to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in just Celebration’s sixth game.
Through Covidtracing issues, injuries and suspensions resulting from an altercation in the Sebastian River game, St. Cloud (1-4, 0-1 in 7A-7) has not had a full roster for a game. Add that the Bulldogs graduated every starter on offense from a year ago, scoring’s been difficult.
The Bulldogs expect to get about a half dozen starters back just in time for Friday’s annual rivalry game with Gateway at Gannarelli Field.
“It’s been a tough year and a particularly difficult last couple of weeks,” Coach Bryan Smart said. “But we have some tough kids that have fought hard in every game. Our defense has actually played pretty well, but we can’t keep going three-and-out on every series and expect the defense not to wear down. We get a lot of players back this week, so it should help.”
The Gateway Panthers (1-4, 0-1 in 6A-8) also hope to get their second win at St. Cloud after losing 47-7 to powerful Auburndale. Panthers Coach Marlin Roberts sounds similar to Smart.
“Effort was excellent and we have a lot of young players getting valuable experience, but we are not necessarily playing smart football right now,” he said. “We should have had at least two more touchdowns against Auburndale but made some mistakes.”
Roberts hopes to return sidelined players like running back Laquavion Pinellas and offensive lineman Anthony Rodriguez.
“This is always a fun game for Coach Smart and me,” Roberts said. “We’re such good friends and the game has started to develop into a pretty good rivalry — young teams looking for a win. The Bulldogs have gotten the better of us for the last couple of years, so hopefully we can turn that around Friday.”
The teams have managed to split the last 10 games in the series.
One of Osceola’s independent teams, the Liberty Chargers (2-2) can get their third straight win Friday against Harmony. LHS’ 42-0 win over Davenport Friday was “our most complete game of the season,” Head Coach Brett Munroe said. “We got really good efforts in all three phases of the game.”
Senior Karvelis Scott ran for 232 yards and four touchdowns. Sophomore Jeremiah Pierre-Louis threw two touchdown passes to tight end Greg Vital and also ran for 80 yards. It was the first Liberty shutout since 2018 over Poinciana.
Running the streak to three will be “A huge challenge for us against a very good team,” Munroe said. “I saw Emans last year as a sophomore and I knew he was the real deal. He has tremendous breakaway speed. On defense we are going to have to load the box and make sure tackles and on offense we are going to need to put together some long drives.”
The Tohopekaliga Tigers (2-4, 1-1 in 8A-5) broke a three-game losing streak on Friday night with a hard-fought 14-7 district win over Cypress Creek. Thomas Wilson picked up a bad snap and threw a seven-yard TD pass to Robert Wilson, and Rashaud James returned an interception for the game’s winning points.
Head Coach Jeff Higgins, out the second consecutive game quarantining due to a positive Covid test, said he was proud of his team’s efforts minus starting quarterback Kam Davis-Roberts.
The Tigers host Celebration Friday.
“We need to protect the football and mix it up a little,” Higgins said. “They have a very explosive player in Senatus, so we need to play assignment football, tackle well and eliminate the big plays.”
The injury-hampered Poinciana Eagles (0-5) seek an elusive first win at Davenport (1-4) Friday after a 55-0 setback at Foundation Academy.
“We were missing another half dozen players but that’s no excuse, we were outclassed on both sides of the ball against Foundation,” Beeken said. “We are playing a team this week has some good players but if we play to our abilities this is a game we should be competitive in and have a chance to win. “We have got to take better care of the ball. We’ve given up a ton of points this season on turnovers.”
