By: J. Daniel Pearson
After battling through a scoreless standoff for more than three quarters, Poinciana (2-1) struck for three touchdowns in the final 8:18 to corral a determined but undermanned Harmony squad, 19-0, on Friday night.
It was a scoreless slugfest for the first 42 minutes until Jamare Eugene capped a short touchdown drive with a 1-yard plunge to make it 6-0. That winning score was set up after an Eagles’ defensive stop deep in Harmony’s territory. Jamarie Williams returned a short punt 12 yards to the 22 before Lucas Minenok hit Chance Frazier on a 12-yard pass to the 10. Eugene did the rest on two straight carries to hit paydirt.
Poinciana would clinch the game on its next possession. Harmony’s defense appeared to have forced a three-and-out, but they muffed the ensuing punt return and the Eagles recovered on the 28. Three plays later, Williams won a jump ball in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown pass from Minenok for a 12-0 lead.
Tristen Fletcher would cap the scoring in the final minutes, as he jumped backup quarterback Cooper Halquist’s out-route for a 23-yard pick six and a 19-0 final.
“It took us a little while to get going tonight,” Poinciana coach Taron Mallard said. “But at the end of the day, we executed when we had to and put the game away. I was really proud of our whole team , but especially our defense. Getting a shutout is hard to do at any level of football.”
Poinciana’s defense recorded two interceptions, four quarterback sacks and three other tackles-for-loss in the win. It was Poinciana’s second win in the last three years against Harmony and avenged last year’s 55-20 loss.
Although Harmony was playing without their top running back Nicholas Bertolani (injured), the young Longhorns actually had the best opportunities to score in the first half.
Quarterback Lucas Haddad orchestrated a long drive on Harmony’s first possession – reaching the Poinciana 18 – before a false start and quarterback sack pushed them back to the 30. On a fourth and 22, Poinciana’s Xaiden Hill intercepted Haddad to end the drive.
Later in the second quarter, Harmony had a first and goal on the Eagles nine. Three runs netted eight yards and on a fourth and goal, Haddad was bottled up for a two-yard loss. “We had our chances and not scoring on that drive really changed the complexion of the game,” Harmony coach Tyler Anderson said. “Nick (Bertolani) is a big bruising running back who almost always can get you a yard or two and had he been available, it could have made a difference. But we won’t use that as an excuse. We always tell our players it has to be next man up.”
Neither team could do much offensively.
Harmony finished the game with less than 100 net yards on 54 plays; while Poinciana had 186 on 46 snaps from scrimmage. Poinciana was hurt by 14 penalties for 114 yards and two fumbles that lost 20 yards. “Penalties were not an issue the first two games, so it’s definitely something I believe we can clean up,” Mallard said. “Sloppy execution hurt us in the first half, but I am proud of how these kids finished the game.”
“We had a few things that happened this week the public doesn’t know about,” Anderson added. “But I was really pleased with how hard this young team fought all night long. You never want to lose, but the effort was there.”
The Longhorns will face another test next week, taking on Gateway (2-0), it will be the first district game for the Panthers in four years. Poinciana opens district play at home against Ridge Community (0-2).
It was a long night for both teams and spectators. The game was delayed almost an hour under a lightning delay and then in the fourth quarter the game was stopped for 20 minutes as injured player Dion Brown was carted off the field.
In other action involving Osceola County schools, St. Cloud (2-1) needed overtime to defeat South Sumpter in double overtime (41-34), Gateway stayed undefeated with a 35-6 win over Colonial; the Osceola Kowboys (2-1) upset defending 6A State Champion Lake Mary 17-9, Tohopekaliga (2-1) bested Sebastian River, 21-6; Celebration dropped to 0-3 with a 48-0 setback at Space Coast. Upstart Nova Lakes, which opened last month, won for the second time in three games – beating Lake Buena Vista, 25-14 (Liberty v. University, no report).
