By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
On a day where his offensive teammates put up 50 points in a big win over Lake Minneola, it was the play of interior defensive lineman Iran Gonzalez who earns Osceola Air Player of the Week for Sept. 12.
He becomes the second St. Cloud player to be honored, joining Jaden Taylor, who picked up Week 1 honors for his play against Osceola.
Gonzalez, who checks in at a massive 6-2, 320-lbs., was a disruptive force in St. Cloud’s 50-13 win over Lake Minneola – which pushed the Bulldogs to 3-1 on the season and kept them undefeated in the state of Florida.
The junior defensive tackle had four tackles, a sack, and a tackle-for-loss in the victory, but head coach Mike Short says stats to not come close to pointing out the importance of Gonzalez to the St. Cloud defense.
“He’s out there to mainly eat up the middle of the field and he does a great job of that,” Short said. “He’s the type of guy that is always being double and sometimes tripled teamed and when you have a player like that, he really frees up our defensive ends and linebackers. For the past couple of weeks, we had two linebackers get to double digit tackles and that does not happen unless you have an interior lineman who could force those double teams.”
“Because interior defensive lineman rarely get the credit they deserve, I’m really happy Osceola Air is recognizing Iran,” Short added. “I truly believe he’s one of the best in the area.”
St. Cloud (3-1, 0-0) hits its bye week before a huge district showdown at Lake Nona (3-1, 0-0) on Sept. 25.
Osceola Air Player of the Week
Week 1: Jaden Taylor, WR/RB, St. Cloud
Week 2: Nydrell Thigpen, RB, Gateway
Week 3: Jason Lewis, DE, Osceola
Week 4: Iran Gonzalez, DT, St. Cloud
Osceola Air Partners with Positively Osceola to Celebrate Local Student-Athletes
Positively Osceola is proud to welcome Osceola Air as the community partner of Positively Osceola’s Osceola Air Player of the Week, helping recognize outstanding high school football student-athletes from across Osceola County throughout the season.
A 100% locally owned and operated company, Osceola Air has deep roots in the community it serves. Founded by lifelong Osceola County resident Zak McMorrow launched in 2014, the St. Cloud-based company has grown from a small local HVAC business into a full-service home comfort company providing air conditioning, heating, plumbing, drain and indoor air quality services throughout Osceola County and surrounding Central Florida communities. Giving back to the communities it serves is also one of Osceola Air’s core values.
