Osceola-Lake Mary highlights Friday's slate
It’s a big game; some might even call it a huge game. At Osceola, it’s another game.
Lake Mary comes to Markus Paul Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. as another opponent on a schedule that features outstanding stateranked opponents. This one includes Class 6A and 7A state championship finalists from a year ago.
“It’s going to be great for the fans but it’s not going to be anything new for our players. It seems like we play three, four or five games like this every season,” OHS Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We want to play the best, so come playoff time we will be ready. It’s not always fun and we could schedule an eight or nine-win season every year, but that’s no way to get ready for the postseason.
Lake Mary, went 12-3 last year and fell in the 7A state championship game to Venice.
“Like us, they graduated a lot of contributors to that team,” Pinellas said. “But they had an influx of talented transfers and as long as they have their quarterback (Notre Dame oral commit Noah Grubbs), you know they are going to be a tough opponent.”
Last week, the Rams fell behind 29-7 but rallied for a 3029 win against Miami Norland. Both teams were ranked in the MaxPreps Top 20 Pre-season Top 20. Grubbs accounted for four touchdowns in the game—three on passes to 6-5 wide receiver Barrett Schultz.
Osceola countered with a 35-0 road win over Treasure Coast that was stopped early in the fourth quarter when an injured Titans player had to be airlifted to a local hospital. The game did not resume.
“Spoke to their coach on Sunday and the young man is doing well. Not resuming the game was the right decision. We had just scored on a punt return and the game would have went to a running clock anyways. Out of respect for the injured player and other factors, the game really didn’t need to continue,” Pinellas said.
It was a thorough and convincing win for the Kowboys, behind the rushing efforts of Jaxsen Hardnett (7-40-2 TD), Alijah Jenkins (4-79-1 TD) and Jeffrey Sinophat (6-55), who combined ran for 205 yards on just 21 carries. Quarterback Amaree Rutland hit 5 of 8 passes for 92 yards and Jenkins (50 yards) and Jakyri Watson (85 yards) returned punts for touchdowns. The defense allowed Treasure Coast to cross midfield just once. About the only negative for the Kowboys were two Osceola turnovers inside the 10-yard line that likely cost Osceola more points.
“We played a solid first game, particularly on defense,” Pinellas said. “We need to clean-up the turnovers.”
Other county teams looking to remain undefeated Friday include Tohopekaliga, St. Cloud and Poinciana. The Eagles took a 20-0 win over Celebration in its season opener (See AroundOsceola.com for a game recap) and will host Harmony (0-1) in the only game this week involving county teams. Both Poinciana and Harmony (which suffered a 42-3 setback to Windermere) struggled on offense last week.
Tohopekaliga quarterback Sabby Meassick threw for 353 yards and five touchdowns last week in a 35-13 road win over IMG Academy State, in a game that ended at halftime because of lightning. Tre Punter (7104-1 TD) and Bradely Weck (2 receiving touchdowns) were his main targets, but Meassick hit seven different receivers in the game as he went over 10,000 career passing yards. The Tigers will take on Lyman, who lost to Lake Brantley, 75-0, last week.
“If you watch the game film, everything that could possible go wrong for a football team went wrong for Lyman. If you coach long enough, you are going to experience that at some point,” Tigers coach Anthony Paradiso said. “I’ve known Coach Steven (Jerry, Lyman coach) for a long time, and I know his kids are always prepared. They will fix their mistakes and be a totally different team this week.”
St. Cloud looks to move to 2-0 hosting Pine Ridge (0-1) Friday at 7:30. Bulldogs Coach Mike Short says his team will have to be on guard for the upset.
“They’ve had three head coaches in three years and that is always hard when you are trying to develop some consistency. But it has been my experience that all Volusia County schools have some tough athletes and we are not in any position to take anyone lightly,” Short said.
St. Cloud fell behind to Freedom, 8-7, last week before scoring seven unanswered touchdowns in a 55-8 win. Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Lattier completed threw for 185 yards and five touchdowns—including three to Stacy Taylor (5-87).
After a disappointing 7-2 road loss to Space Coast, Gateway (0-1) has its home opener against Astronaut (10), a 38-13 winner over Palm Bay. Panthers Coach Marlin Roberts says his team must find a way to produce more offense after gaining just 124 yards last week and didn’t score on four red zone opportunities.
“Astronaut appear to be a little better than Space Coast, so it will be a challenge for us,” Roberts said. “Last week was so frustrating because frankly it was the best defensive effort we had in maybe the last five or six seasons.”
Sophomore running back Nydrell Thigpen (112 rushing yards) and LB/DE Dory Thimote led with 11 tackles, which included three for loss and two sacks.
Celebration (0-1) goes back on the road to face Winter Springs, a 34-0 winner over Pine Ridge.
“We need to find some rhythm on offense,” Storm Coach Chris Blanton said. “We have the confidence to be better, we just need to find the plays to get us in the end zone. Like us, Winter Springs is trying to build a program and they are showing tremendous improvement. We expect a tough challenge from them.”
The Storm defense played well enough to win against Poinciana last week, giving up just one offensive touchdown, which came after the Eagles got to start on the Storm 35 after a fourth-down sack.
Liberty is off this week after a 42-14 loss to Innovation. Coach Janko Beras said his young team is still learning what it takes to win and that this year’s edition of the Chargers resembles last year’s Innovation squad.
“They were a young team going through growing pains last year and they made a big leap this season. I think that team was very similar to our team this year and it’s the same trajectory I want our guys to have.”
City of Life moved to 2-0 in eight-man SSAA football with a 20-12 win over Oasis Christian. Sam Rodriguez scored on both sides of the ball, on a 24-yard run and a 22-yard interception return. J.R. Higgins added a 43-yard touchdown for the Warriors, who hit the road Friday for a key district matchup at West Melbourne Calvary Chapel at 7 p.m.
While not involving local teams, two programs ranked in the top 90 nationally will square off Friday at 7 p.m. at Austin-Tindall Sports Complex as part of the Kaylee Scholarship Association. Sarasota Cardinal Mooney (No. 83 by Maxpreps) will take on Cherry Creek, Colorado (No. 87, No. 1 in Colorado) at 7 p.m. The game features the top two players in Colorado (DL Tufqnuq Ionatana, TE Ty Goettsche) and the No. 13 player in DFlorida (Elijah Golden, committed to Notre Dame).
(Editor’s Note: Harmony running back Nicholas Bertolani, who ran for almost 100 yards in Harmony’s Kickoff Classic, was misidentified last week. We sincerely regret the error).
