After three quarters it looked like Osceola’s football season would come to an end, but Chad Mascoe would not let it happen.

The senior quarterback led the Kowboys on two long fourth-quarter touchdown drives to give Osceola (9-2) a 28-21 come-from-behind road win over Newsome High on Friday night. The win advanced the Kowboys to next Friday night’s Regional 3 semifinal contest against West Orange.

“It’s never easy in the playoffs and that certainly held true tonight,” first-year Osceola head coach Eric Pinellas said. “They came in with a great scheme and a game plan and we had to fight back for the win. But at the end of the day, we kept our poise and did what we had to do to advance.”

After being outscored 10-0 in the third quarter, Osceola found itself trailing 21-13.

But Mascoe would begin his magic, leading the Kowboys on an 8-play, 60-yard drive that was capped off with a 1-yard run by Traevion Swint that cut the gap to 21-19. On the ensuing two-point conversion, Mascoe hit Isaiah Jean-Baptiste in the left corner to tie the game, 21-21.

Newsome would then drive the ball to midfield, but Osceola’s defense would force a punt and the Kowboys would take over on their own 6-yard line. Mascoe would then take the Kowboys down the field, going five for five passing finishing the drive by hitting Baptiste for a 30-yard post pattern with 1:31 remaining. The extra point put the Kowboys up 28-21.

The Wolves would return the ensuing kickoff to the 25, and quarterback Christian Bishop came up with some magic of his own on a fourth and 13 play. He completed a pass to Tanner Easley, who then lateraled it to Connally. The play picked up 34 yards and moved the ball to the Osceola 44. A quick completion took the ball to the 33, but with time running down, Osceola’s John Walker recorded back-to-back sacks to end the game.

Newsome’s running game presented problem all night for the Kowboys, who came into the game giving up less than 400 total rushing yards on the season. The Wolves rushed for more than 150 yards in the game, including 127 by Albritton. “He’s a tough, strong kid,” Pinellas said. “We missed a couple of tackles and he hit some gaps.”

The teams battled to a stalemate in the first half, with Newsome taking a 7-0 second quarter lead on an 11-play, 91-yard drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by Albritton. Osceola would finally geton the board at the 5:26 mark of the second, as Ja’Randy Swint ran over from the six to make it an 8-7 game.

A muffed punt return by Taevion Swint gave Newsome the a first and goal at the 10 with under two minutes to go in the half but the Wolves had to settle for a 29-yard field goal to make it 11-7. Taking over on his own, Mascoe would put together a masterful drive that ended on the final play of the half when he hit Ja’Keem Jackson down the left sideline for a touchdown and a 13-11 lead at the half.

Osceola moved the ball well in the first half, piling up 264 yards of total offense, but struggled with penalties in the first half. The Kowboys were whistled for 10 infractions for 80-yards, including a pass interference penalty that negated an interception.

Still, Pinellas was happy with both the win and his offense. “We are finally starting to grasp what we are trying to do on offense. Chad was outstanding tonight in keeping plays alive with his legs and we probably played our best game on offense all year,” Pinellas said. “The officials were calling a tight game and that hurt us a little, but you just have to play through those things.”

Osceola had two interceptions nullified by penalties and gave up the long touchdown pass. But they also piled up more than 400 yards of total offense and scored 28 points on a defense that was allowing less than 10 points per game.

“The main thing is we survived and advanced,” Pinellas said. “West Orange defeated us a few weeks ago but we know have another shot at them.”