By: J. Daniel Pearson
The Osceola Kowboys are keeping their postseason dreams alive with a mantra that has become a tradition: “One More Monday.” After a thrilling 17-7 victory over top-seeded and previously unbeaten Armwood, the Kowboys claimed the FHSAA Class 6A, Region 3 championship on Friday night, earning themselves another coveted Monday practice.
The win, Osceola’s (11-2) eighth in row, puts them in a Friday night road game against Buchholz (10-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Citizen’s Stadium in Gainesville. It will be Osceola’s second Final Four appearance in the last three years and the winner of that game will play the winner of the West Boca (13-0) vs. Southridge (11-2) contest for the 6A State Championship the following week at FAU’s Pitbull Stadium.
“It was a great win for us, but make no mistake it was not an upset,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “They build their resume with a lot of wins over less-talented teams. I can promise you they have not played a team all year that could match our physicality. There’s a reason why we play one of the toughest schedules in the state year-in and year-out. It’s to get us ready to play playoff games like this one.”
Although Armwood had superior field position for most the first half, Osceola’s defense turned away two red-zone scoring chances by the Hawks to keep the scored knotted at 0-0 at the half.
The Hawks best chances to score came on their first and last possessions of the first half. On the first opportunity, a shanked Osceola punt went for a -4 yard loss to set Armwood up on the Kowboys 22 yard line. But three plays netted just nine yards and on a fourth and one, Osceola stuffed high-profile running back Girard Pringle for a loss of four. Pringle entered the game with 1190 rushing and 18 touchdowns.
Quarterback Rhys Brush directed a 76-yard drive right before halftime. But on a fourth and goal from the Kowboys six, Osceola’s defense stymied Brush for no gain to end the threat. While that was going on, Osceola could do nothing on offense in the first half, gaining just 48 yards on 23 plays.
The Kowboys offense would get on track quickly in the third quarter.
On a third and 11, Taevion Swint took a handoff on a counter play, broke a tackle at the line and out-ran the Hawk defense on a 67-yard touchdown run.
Osceola would then force a turnover on Armwood’s next possession. A 34-yard pass from Camren West to Alijah Jenkins and a 17-yard run by Swint set up a 35-yard field goal by Adrian Gonzalez as the Kowboys took a 10-0 lead.
Armwood finally got things going on their next possession. Brush opened the drive with a 33-ard pass to Tyler Williams. Five plays later, Brush kept the drive alive with an 18-yard pass to Williams on a fourth and six play. Kendrick Ford finished the drive by catching a 6-yard scoring pass and the Hawks were back in the game at 10-7 at the end of three quarters,
The teams would each pick up a couple of first downs before exchanging punts. Taking over for Osceola on his own 45. West directed a 8-play, 55-yard drive with Swint running it over from the two to give the Kowboys a 10-point lead with 3:42 remaining.
Swint, who finished with 136 yards rushing, now has 22 rushing touchdowns this season.
Armwood’s last ditch effort to get back in the game ended when Osceola’s defensive backfield forced and recovered a fumble on the Kowboys 36-yard line. Two kneel downs later and Osceola had the win.
“We were a little frustrated earlier with our inability to move the ball early,” standout Kowboys offensive lineman Connor Howes said. “But we remained calm, talked about adjustments at halftime and then just pounded the ball at them in the second half.”
As for next week’s opponent, Pinellas said “I really don’t know a lot about them. We will look at film over the weekend and come up with a game plan for them. For now, we’ll enjoy this one today and will get back to work tomorrow.”
