-
Both St. Cloud, the district champion, and Harmony will play in Thursday’s 64-team FHSAA flag football state tournament. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
Four of Osceola County’s eight flag football squads earned places in the Class 1A and 2A state tournaments.
Three won district championships Thursday and another, Harmony, earned a spot as a wild-card entry.
Celebration, the District 2A-17 champion, will host Harmony at 7 p.m. St. Cloud will host Royal Palm Beach, and Gateway, the District 1A13 winner, will go to Brandon.
The Bulldogs (12-3), after falling to Harmony in a thrilling OBC tournament final three weeks ago, won the District 2A18 in another classic that went to overtime, 19-12.
The Bulldogs trailed by a score in the second half and were on defense with Savannah Kroener pulled in an interception that turned the tide of the game, Coach Shawn Beck said.
“We always play defensive struggles against them, but it always is,” he said of facing the archrival Longhorns.
After a quarterback change, Vanessa Vohs hit Priscilla Rodriguez on a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, the duo’s second connection.
In overtime, St. Cloud possessed and scored first with Kaisley Carswell scored and added the PAT, then the defense stopped the Longhorns “two steps from the goal line,” Beck said.
The Storm pitched two shutouts to win the 2A-17 title, beating Osceola, 27-0, and Freedom, 13-0.
Gateway beat Liberty, 19-0, then downed Davenport, 1918, to win in 1A-13 to make its fourth flag football playoff appearance.
