By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
Gateway coach Marlin Roberts minces to no words about it. He is calling Friday night’s district matchup between his Panthers (5-0, 2-0) and the St. Cloud Bulldogs (3-2, 0-1) the “biggest home game in school history.” To understand the significance, you need to look at the many facets of this rivalry.
First, the teams are sharing the same district (6A, D5) for the first time in decades, so it is a huge game for both teams. The Panthers won their first district game against Harmony a few weeks ago; while St. Cloud dropped its only district game to Lake Nona last Friday. And while it is too early to talk about district championships, it is not too early to suggest the victor of this game puts itself in a better position for state playoff contention when at-large berths are issues.
“I believe we are going to have to win out to make the state playoffs and that starts Friday night against a good Gateway club,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said.
The second consideration is history.
The teams have played almost yearly since Gateway opened in 1986. Lately, the rivalry has been all St. Cloud as they have won the seven games (three by shutout), limiting the Panthers to just 12 total points in the last four games. But Short said one of his biggest jobs this week will be to remind his players that this is not the same Gateway team they faced in the past. “The Panthers have always had some talent, but they have a lot more depth this year plus their entire coaching staff has done a phenomenal job of preparing them.”
Added to the intrigue is the fact that St. Cloud coach Mike Short and Roberts served as assistant coaches together at Gateway for half-a-decade in the early 2000s. ‘We were close and had a lot of fun back then,” Roberts said. “We both taught PE so we were next to each other most of the day, in addition to practices. Brad (Osceola defensive coordinator Brad Lennox) was on the staff and he was sort of our big brother trying to keep us straight.”
Still, Friday night will be about the game and not history and friendships.
The Panthers went to 5-0 for the first time in school history with a 42-0 win over Nova Lakes in which running back Nydrell Thigpen ran for 202 yards and five rushing TDs, lifting his season total to 963 yards and 12 scores – as he became the first player in Panthers history to record three straight 200-yard rushing games.
With a season and half of eligibility left, Thigpen (3006) is already closing in on Philip Bangura’s school rushing record of 3,309. “I am absolutely bias and I’m sure a lot of people will call me crazy, but in my opinion Nydrell may be the best running back in Osceola County since Willie Green (Osceola HS 1996-99, 7,947 yards).” Roberts said.
Johnny Reyes, Honor Kim and quarterback Aristotle Span Jr. are all capable backs that helped the Panthers average almost 300 yards rushing per game and keep opposing defenses from keying all their efforts on stopping Thigpen.
Gateway’s offensive line must be able to stand up to a good St. Cloud defense that features some outstanding defenders like Jude Cockcroft, Stacy Taylor-Irons, Colton Skarlek, JT Wrona and Angelo Rivera.
“Obviously it’s the best defense we have faced to date,” Roberts said. “They are fast, athletic and get to the ball. Our offensive line needs to be able to open some holes for our backs.”
For his part, Short says Thigpen may be the best back in the area. “Forget putting eight in the box, we may put 11 in it and then try to sneak a 12th or 13th man on defense,” the veteran coach says. “I saw him (Thigpen) as a freshman and knew he was going to be a stud and he just keeps getting better and better. It’s going to be next to impossible to totally stop him but we have to be able to contain him a bit.”
Short says his offense also needs to be better this week.
After putting up 91 combined points on South Sumter and Lake Minneola, the Bulldogs offense sputtered against Lake Nona, something that also happened in their season opening-win over Osceola and a loss at Marietta (Ga.) a week later.
“Nona a very solid defensive team but the truth is I don’t think we played that poorly on offense. We moved the ball but we were unable to finish drives. We have to run the ball better, we have to make the key catches and we have to get back to playing confident football on offense this week.”
Still, Roberts noted that the St. Cloud offense can be troublesome. “They will throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball and then all of a sudden hand off to that high-twitch, little running back (Michael Cuyler) and the next thing you know he’s popping a 20-yard run on you. Jaden Taylor is an outstanding two-way guy, (Owen) Sullivan and number zero (Mathew Blenman) are more than competent receivers. “
Gateway’s defense has been solid this year, allowing just over six points a game. The unit is led by linebacker Dylan Dingle, lineman Tavian Martinez and defensive backs Jadriel Cedeno and Reyes.
“You pay so much attention to Thigpen, you forget their defense has been really solid this season,” Short said. “Slowing down their ground attack is job one, but we have to be able to put points on the board against their defense.”
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Other Games
Coming off an impressive 34-8 win over Harmony on Friday ( read game story here: Tigers Running Back AJ Wise Powers Tohopekaliga Past Harmony, 34-8, for Fourth Straight Win ), Tohopekaliga will face its toughest opponent of the year when it hosts New Smyrna Beach (4-1). The Barracudas had a real chance to come into the game undefeated but gave up a fourth quarter touchdown and two-point in an 8-7 loss to Seabreeze.
The two teams have played a common opponent in Astronaut this year, with the Tigers losing a 43-39 season opener to the War Eagles; while NSB took a 48-21 win against them a week later.
“While our mission of working hard and trying to get better every week remains the unchanged, we recognize that this week will be a great challenge for our young team,” Tigers Coach Anthony Paradiso says. “We will need a solid effort on all fronts.”
New Smyrna Beach features a ball control offense that keeps opposing defenses on the field for long stretches. Running back Todd Cutler is the key, averaging 200 yards rushing per game. Quarterback Jace Payne rarely throws but when he does, he is effective – completing 65 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns.
While Tohopekaliga’s defense must find a way to slow down Cutler and the Barracuda’s ground game, it still will need a big contribution from its offense – that is averaging 30 points per game.
Junior quarterback Gabe Valez threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns in the Harmony win; while senior wide receiver AJ Wise scored twice and accounted for 240 all-purpose yards. After replacing record-setting quarterback Sabby Meassick, Valez is quietly putting together impressive numbers in his first year as a starter. He is completing 66% of his passes in throwing for more than 1500 yards and 18 touchdowns with just six interceptions in his first five games.
Osceola (2-4) travels to Dr. Phillips (3-2) for a non-district matchup; while Liberty (1-4) goes to Celebration (0-5).
Playing without the services of five injured starters, Osceola struggled again on offense and dropped a 28-13 decision to Lake Gibson (Read Game Story here: Big Plays and Stalled Drives Sink Kowboys in District Loss to Lake Gibson ).
The offensive struggles were not the only issue for Osceola. Although its defense gave up less than 200 yards of total offense, they were torched for 140 yards and two touchdowns on third and four down plays of eight yards or longer.
Look for the Kowboys to make a possible change at quarterback this week. DB/LB Josue Rivera replaced starter Jabarri Coombs last week and led the Kowboys to their only offensive touchdown.
Both Liberty and Celebration could both use a win and one will be guaranteed one when the Chargers travel to the Storm on Friday night. Both teams have struggled to score points this year, with the Chargers being shutout in four of their losses – including a 55-0 defeat at the hands of Windermere; while the Storm have been shutout three times and have scored just 10 points on the season.
Celebration has won the last two matchups; with Liberty’s last win coming in 2023 (20-17).
Poinciana hits its bye week on an absolute high note.
On Friday, the Eagles held a late lead, but had to hold their collective breath as Adrian Alvarez’a potential game-winning chip-shot field goal from 22-yards sailed wide left.
That 21-20 win over Winter Haven lifted the Eagles to 4-2 overall but more importantly put them on top of the Class 6A, District 9 race with a 2-0 record. Although Poinciana has work to do with district games remaining against Davenport, Haines City and Geoge Jenkins, the fact remains that Winter Haven was a pre-season district favorite and by coming away with a road win the Eagles are now in control their own destiny.
Coach Taron Mallard noted that Friday’s win was a total team effort, with the defense and special teams having an outstanding game; while the offense did enough to help procure the win. “This team continues to fight hard and believe in themselves,” Mallard said. “Right now we are not thinking about anything but our next game.”
Among the defensive standouts were Delvin Johnson (8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT), Jamare Eugene (9 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 Hurries), Quinton Slaughter (1 PD, 1 FR), and Christopher Ross (5 tackles, 1 INT, ½ TFL). Playing both ways Eugene has a rushing touchdown and quarterback Lucas Minenok 108 total yards, including 51 rushing. On special teams, Ross had a 70-yard punt return for touchdown; while punter Greg Stambaugh averaged 44 yards on four punts, sailed to kickoffs out of the end zone and was a perfect 3 of 3 on extra points.
In addition to the Eagles, Harmony (1-5) and Nova Lakes (2-4) hit a much-needed bye week.
