By: J. Daniel Pearson
Its only Week 2 in Osceola County Football, but its already big-game time as Osceola (1-0) hosts Lake Mary (1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday night at Markus Paul Stadium.
It will be a matchup of two perennial state powers.
Last season, Osceola rode a 12-3 season all the way to the FHSAA Class 6A State Championship game; while Lake Mary also went 12-3 and made it to the Class 7A state final. It is also return match-up of a 2024 game where Lake Mary scored two late touchdowns to beat Osceola. It was a game where Kowboys star running back Taevion Swint was injured and only got four carries in that loss.
Both teams opened their seasons last week with impressive wins.
Osceola manhandled Treasure Coast 35-0, in a game that was ended after three quarters when a TC player suffered a serious injury and had to be airlifted to a local hospital. Osceola dominated the game on defense, scored touchdowns on two punt returns and ran for over 200 yards on just 21 carries. “Other than our two offensive turnovers inside the 10 that probably cost us touchdowns, I thought we played a solid, all-around game.” Pinellas said.
In a matchup of two MaxPreps top 20 teams in Florida (all classifications), Norland missed a field goal at the final horn and Lake Mary held on for a 30-29 win.
The Rams offense features dual threat quarterback in Noah Grubbs – a Notre Dame commit — who threw for 154 yards, ran for 41 more and accounted for four touchdowns. Barrett Schultz could be a problematic receiver for Kowboys defenders. The 6-5 senior caught three red zone passes for touchdowns last week. Oshea Faison and Gavin Isaacs are capable running backs; while middle linebacker Pat Ryan (6-4, 220) is an active defender, reaching double digit tackles against Norland.
“They are a really interesting team. Similar to us they graduated a lot of talent from a year ago. But they had an influx of talent with 28 transfers,” Pinellas said. “What I do know about them is that Coach Perry does a great job with that program and its a team that never gives up. They were trailing 29-7 last week and came back to win. Noah Grubbs is an outstanding quarterback that we must find a way to contain him, while eliminating our offensive turnovers.”
Osceola is no stranger to tough schedules, with the Rams being one of eight 2024 playoff teams on Osceola’s schedule. Pinellas calls it just another big regular season game for his program. “When we make up our schedule, it’s not about trying to go 10-0, it’s about trying play a schedule that will prepare us for the post-season,” the veteran coach said.
Other Games This Week:
Pine Ridge (0-1) vs. St. Cloud (1-0)
In what should be another tune-up game for Mike Short’s team. St. Cloud returns to action this week against Pine Ridge (0-1), a 35-0 loser to Winter Springs last week. “To be honest they have struggled of late and they are on their third head coach in three years,” Short said. “It is hard to develop any sense of consistency when that happens. Still they have some talented athletes and it will be up to us to bring our game and take care of business.”
After shaky start where St. Cloud watched an interception go for touchdown and trailed 8-7 against Freedom, the Bulldogs did take care of business – exploding for 48 unanswered points in a 55-8 win. Sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Lattier completed 10 of 20 passes for 185 yards and five touchdowns – three going to Stacy Taylor (5-87).
Harmony (0-1) at Poinciana (1-0)
In the only game this week involving two in-county teams, Poinciana will go for a second straight win over the Longhorns after defeating them last year, 26-5. Both teams struggled on offense in Week 1, with Harmony dropping a 43-3 decision to Windermere; while the Eagles scored just one offensive touchdown in a 20-0 win over Celebration (Read About That Game Here: Poinciana Eagles Defense Soars in Opener, Shuts Down Celebration Storm 20-0 )
“Really not a whole lot to say about last week, we simply did not play very well,” Harmony coach Don Simon said. “Looking ahead to this week, it’s going to be a tough game, Poinciana is solid physical team on defense.”
(Editor’s Note: Harmony running back Nicholas Bertolani, who ran for almost 100 yards in Harmony’s kickoff classic, was mis-identified last week. The writer sincerely regrets the error).
Astronaut (1-0) at (Gateway (0-1)
Gateway will have its hands full in its home opener when it welcomes Astronaut for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The War Eagles got off to a great start last week, easily taking care of Palm Bay on the road, 38-13; while Gateway’s defense played well enough to win its first game but dropped a 7-2 decision to Space Coast. In that game, sophomore Nydrell Thigpen had a big game for Gateway – rushing for 112 yards but the Panthers could manage just 12 other yards of total offense in the contest.
“The loss was disappointing on several levels,” Panthers head coach Marlin Roberts said. “First, it hurts for our defense. That was the best defensive effort that Gateway has had in at least five or six years. Secondly we had ample opportunities to score and win the game. We were inside their five-yard line four times and could not punch it in.”
Roberts says he expects a tough battle with Astronaut. “On tape, they look a little better than Space Coast, so it will be a challenge,” the veteran coach said. “We need to limit mistakes and find a way to generate some offense.”
Tohopekaliga (1-0) at Lyman (0-1)
On paper, Tohopekaliga’s Friday game with Lyman appears to be a mismatch. The Tigers routed IMG Academy State last week; while the Greyhouds took a 75-0 loss to the hands of Lake Brantley. Still, Tigers coach Anthony Paradiso is taking nothing for granted. “I’ve known Coach Jerry (Lyman coach Steven Jerry) for a long, long time and I know he will always have his kids prepared to play. If you watched their game tape, they just had one of those nights were absolutely everything that possibly could have gone wrong, went wrong. If you coach long enough, you are going to have one of those games. I know he will fix those mistakes and be ready to play this week.”
Paradiso added that he was pleased with his team’s performance. In a game that was called at halftime due to weather, quarterback Sabby Meassick was on fire — going over the 10,000-yard passing mark at Tohopekaliga in a 35-13 road win over IMG Academy State. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 332 yards and five touchdowns.
Senior Tre Punter led the way with seven catches for 104 yards and Bradley Weck caught two touchdown passes. The Toho defense allowed just two scores. Paradiso calls his team a work in progress, especially on the defensive side of the ball. “We are a better team than we were last spring, we got better in the Kickoff Classic, and we got better last week,” the veteran coach said. “We need to keep improving. We need to get more physical on defense and try to force some turnovers. Although we improved last week, we allowed an 18-play scoring drive, which is way too long to have your defense on the field.”
Celebration (0-1) at Windermere (1-0)
After last week’s season opening loss to Poinciana, the Storm face another road challenge at Windermere, a 42-3 victor over Harmony last week. The Storm defense played well against Poinciana, allowing just one defensive touchdown that came on a short field. Although Storm quarterback Dai Dai Blackman has some nice runs against the Eagles, Celebration was limited to 76 yards of total offense on 48 plays. In all, the Storm turned the ball over five times and gave up 77 yards in sacks, tackles-for-loss and offensive penalties.
Coach Chris Blanton said his team played very well on the defensive side of the ball and really disrupted the Poinciana offense. “We played well on that side of the ball, now we need to find some rhythm on offense,” Blanton said. “The confidence to be better is there, we just need to find the plays to get us in the end zone.”
Liberty (Bye Week)
The Chargers opened up the season with a 42-14 loss to Innovation. Head coach Janko Beras chalked the game up to a young team “still figuring ouy what it takes to win.” He noted the 2024 version of Innovation was the 2025 version of his team. “They were a young team going through growing pains last year and they made a big leap this season. It’s the same trajectory I want our guys to have.” Beras said running back
