By: J. Daniel Pearson
In his first two years at Osceola, head coach Eric Pinellas has seen his team win two district titles, make a run to a regional final and beat some pretty talented football teams along the way. One item that is missing on his head coaching resume is a signature regular season win against a Top 5 opponent.
Pinellas and his Kowboys (3-1) will get that chance on Thursday night, when they host Jones High School (3-0). Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Markus Paul Stadium. The number four ranked team in Class 4A, the Tigers have won three straight regional championships. There 36-10 overall record during that time – against a highly competitive schedule – include wins over Osceola in both 2022 (18-7) and 2023 (28-20).
“No question, we will have our hands full with Jones,” Pinellas said. “They have a lot of kids on that roster that are going to play at the next level. Still, it is also a great opportunity for us. We played a lot of really strong teams last year and came up short in all of them. A win against Jones would definitely give us some momentum moving into the second half of our schedule.”
Osceola is coming off a 56-6 win over St. Cloud, where Pinellas was able to get his reserves a lot of playing time, while getting some banged up starters some rest.
Star running back Taevion Swint is a prime example. Swint, who injured his shoulder in Week 2 against Lake Mary, has only had to carry the ball 10 times (212 yards, 4 TDs) in the last two weeks and should be at full speed for Jones.
Although Swint and offense will need to be productive against the Tigers, it is the Kowboys defense that must find a way to contain the explosive Tigers. Junior quarterback Dereon Coleman (Miami commit) is completing passes at a 83.7% clip (36 of 43) and had five touchdowns to just one pick in his first two games. His main target is senior Vernell Brown, a Florida commit who averages 112 yards receiving per game. But Jones also has a strong running game, as speedster Jacquil Smith is averaging more than 128 yards rushing per game.
“They are quick, athletic and efficient,” Pinellas noted. “Coach Elijah Williams does a great job with that group. Several things need to happen for us to be successful. We need to play close to turnover free, we need to keep possession, and limit their opportunities with the ball.”
The Osceola-Jones game is one of three games being played inside Osceola County boundaries this week. On Friday, St. Cloud (2-2) will host Merritt Island (3-1) at Tom Gannarelli Field at 7 p.m. After the Osceola loss, it will be another challenge for the Bulldogs. The Mustangs took a 41-2 win over Palm Bay last week after playing 7A #10 Deland close in a 35-28 loss a week earlier.
“Merritt Island is a really solid program. They made it to the state championship game a few years ago. It will be a challenge for us, but I know our kids will work hard and get ready to play,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said.
Liberty (1-3) will host Freedom (0-4) in the other in-county game on Friday. The Chargers lost 50-12 to Winter Springs last week.
After scoring just one touchdown in their first three games, Harmony’s offense got on track with a 17-7 win over Bayside Friday night and now the Longhorns (1-3) will have a chance to win its second straight game when they play at Lake Howell (0-3) Friday night. Chase Adams caught two touchdowns for Harmony; while its defense played solid all night.
“It was nice to finally get that first win,” Longhorns coach Nick Lippert said. “We need to stay humble, ignore outside noise, protect the team and have fun this week and can get a similar result.”
After back-to-back shutout wins over Cypress Creek (12-0) and Lake Region (19-0), Gateway goes for its first three-game winning streak since 2018 when they travel to Winter Springs (2-1). Coach Marlin Roberts finally got WR/RB Josh Fuller back for the first time this season and the senior responded with 100 total yards and a touchdown. Freshmen Nydrill Thigpen (WR/RB/Slot) and Aristotle Span (QB) continue to play well for the Panthers.
“Not sure what to expect,” Roberts said about Winter Springs. “They beat Celebration and then manhandled Liberty last night, but lost a game I really thought they were going to win against Cocoa Beach. Regardless, it’s a road game and will be a tough test for us.”
Celebration (1-2) comes off its bye week and looks to even its season record with a road game at Space Coast (2-2). Although the Storm were off last Friday they did play last week, having to finish up a game with Lake Region on Monday that was interrupted by lightning the previous Friday—winning that contest 48-6.
“We spent the bye week working on and off the field. We got some rest , but in practice spent the week perfecting our techniques and understanding of the game,” Storm Coach Chris Blanton said. “We spent a lot of time reinforcing the notion that you have to be in position to make plays.”
Poinciana (3-1) represented well in a 49-27 to central Florida power Evans. They will attempt to get back on track when they travel to Haines City (1-3) this week. The Eagles will have to content with Hornet’s running back Kamari Smith, a sophomore speedster who averaged just under 100 yards per game in his first two contests. In the Evans loss, running back Wil Nezius and QB Cameron Brown each accounted for two touchdowns.
Tohopekaliga (2-1) also is coming off a bye and will travel to Viera (2-2). The Tigers lost a 26-14 game to Hagerty last time out – in a game shortened by lightning. Junior QB Sabby Meassick is averaging 265 yards passing per game; while Tre Punter (120.7 receiving yards per game) and freshman Tony Brown (25-278-3 TD) have been his favorite targets.
Tohopekaliga spent its bye week working on fundamentals and conditioning. “One thing I am proud of is that I do believe we were the better conditioned team in the three games we played and we want to be the case moving forward,” Tigers coach Anthony Paradiso said. “We do have to do a better job in the fundamentals of blocking and tackling and we spent a lot of time on that in the bye week. Our goal is to always improve in the areas that we can control.”
