Harmony Longhorns Clinch OBC Flag Football Title: Edwards Shines with Stellar Three-Touchdown Performance

By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola

Martha “Smalls” Edward first three touchdown passes and Kaia Allen’s flag pull on Savannah Kroener near the goal line on the final play of the game was just enough to preserve the Longhorns’ 19-12 win on Thursday night over St. Cloud in the 2024 OBC championship game played at Osceola High School.

Allen’s dramatic defensive play culminated a wild finish to the game, where St. Cloud almost overcame 13-point deficit in the final minutes.

Harmony (5-1) appeared to have the game well in hand. After forcing a St. Cloud punt to start the fourth quarter, the Longhorns took over on the plus-side of the field. From there, Edwards would lead a five-play drive that culminated in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kinzie James to give Harmony a 19-6 lead.

But St. Cloud would fight back. Quarterback Kaisley Carswell led a 12-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Danigzy Mantilla to cut the gap to seven at 19-12. Under FHSAA Flag Football rules, a team can attempt an “on-sides” kick by electing to run one play. If they gain 20 or more yards on that single play, it is considered a successful on-sides kick and the team behind retains possession of the ball at its own 30.

On the attempt, Carswell completed a 24-yard pass to Priscilla Rodriguez as the Bulldogs retained possession. From there, Carswell drove down to the St. Cloud 28. On a fourth and eight play, Carswell caught a double pass from Vanessa Vohs but collided with a Harmony player short of the line to make. But the officials flagged Harmony for unnecessary roughness on the play, giving the Bulldogs a first and goal from the 10 with 12 seconds remaining.

Vohs replaced the injured Carswell on the play and after firing a quick incompletion, she hit Kroener near the three-yard line. But Allen came up and made pull before Kroener could cross the goal line to end the game.

“Our plan was to get eight or 10 yards and get out of bounds to set up one final play from close range,” St. Cloud coach Shawn Beck said. “But they made a play in bounds and time ran out. In hindsight, we should have done a better job with our tempo and with the use of our timeouts on that final drive.”

It was the second straight game where Harmony had to make a defensive stop near the goal line on the final play of the game to secure victory. In Tuesday night’s OBC semifinal win over Celebration, the Longhorns needed a defensive gem from James, as she pulled a flag at the 1-yard line to preserve Harmony’s 7-6 win over Celebration.

“Without question our defense was the big key for us again tonight,” Harmony coach Paul Strauch said. “Other than a couple of plays that we should have not let happen, our defense played really well tonight. Even after those mistakes, we came up with the defensive plays we had to have in order to win the game.”

Harmony would strike first in the game as Edward would find Ashylyn Scarborough open over the middle for a 39-yard touchdown as the Longhorns took a 7-0 lead after one quarter. But St. Cloud would counter in the second period, as Carswell threw a backwards pass to Vohs, who then connected with Mantilla on a 26-yard scoring strike to make it 7-6.

Edwards would then find her rhythm in the second half. After a Kenzie James interception gave the Longhorns a short field, Edwards went three-for-three on the ensuing drive – finding James from three yards out to make it 13-6.

Another defensive stop gave Harmony the ball back and this time Edwards just needed five plays to get the Longhorns into the end zone – hitting James from 10-yard out to cap the drive. Edwards completed 14 of 19 passes for 114 yards and three scores for the game. “We were a little out of synch in the first half,” the junior noted. “But then we started to get into a rhythm. Our defense made it easier on us by giving us great field position in the second half.”

In addition to give Harmony its fourth straight OBC title and 10^th in the last 13 years, it also gave the Longhorns a 17^th straight win over county opponents. St. Cloud was the last Osceola County team to beat Harmony, taking a 7-0 decision in the 2021 District Championship game.

“This one will sting for a little bit because it’s one we all really wanted,” Beck added. “I was really proud of the effort and tenacity we displayed tonight. It’s a tough setback, but we have a lot of football to play and hopefully we’ll see them again in the district tournament.”

Carswell finished the game 24 of 44 for 162 yards, one score and three interceptions. Mantilla had seven receptions for 80 yards and two scores for St. Cloud, who fell to 5-2.

In other action on Friday, Celebration (5-1) took third place with a decisive 37-0 win over Osceola; Gateway shut out Liberty (26-0) for fifth place and Poinciana took seventh place – beating Tohopekaliga, 26-0.

2024 OBC Flag Football Championships

Quarterfinals (Monday)