By J. Daniel Pearson
For Positively Osceola
Football training camps are open with most of the eight Osceola County public school football coaches saying they are optimistic about the upcoming season, although most also caution that things could also go sideways if injuries or other factors get in the way.
Even traditional power Osceola, which has made it a habit of simply reloading rather than rebuilding, has a ton of questions after graduating 17 starters or major contributors from last year’s 12-3 team that made it all the way to the FHSAA Class 6A State Championship game. In addition, the stating quarterback and a defensive lineman who was expected to challenge for playing time, have transferred.
“There’s no way you simply plug players in to replace guys like Elijah and Taevion,” Coach Eric Pinellas said Division One signees Elijah Melendez (Auburn) and Taevion Swint (UCF). We lost some really talented seniors, so we will have our work cut out for us this season.”
Added to Osceola’s rebuild questions is the transfer of two-year starter Cam West at quarterback.
Still the Kowboys return talent at most positions. Marcus Ferrer should be one of the top offensive linemen in the county. Defensively, the backfield Ja’mario Bradford, Jakaryi Watason and Larenz Walker return; as does proven playmaker DB/LB Nathan Barnett.
Still, Osceola has a ton of holes to fill in their lineup and the team will have to grow up in a hurry. Counting the pre-season kickoff game with Daytona Beach Mainland, the Kowboys will face one of the toughest schedules in the state that includes nine playoff teams, including state runner-ups Jones (4A) and Lake Mary (7A).
Like Osceola, St. Cloud suffered significant graduation losses on offense – including record setting quarterback Logan King, explosive wide out Alex Springs and “Swiss Army Knife” running back/receiver TJ Griffin.
Although filling those gaps will present a challenge, veteran coach Mike Short says he feels a lot better after a solid spring and the off-season workouts. RB Michael Cuyler and TE Owen Sullivan will make up for a lot of the yards lost with the departure of Springs and Griffin; while transfer Jeremiah Lattier (Lake Minneola) is a rising sophomore who could be next in line of outstanding St Cloud quarterbacks.
Defensively, St. Cloud has a talented and deep secondary but answers must be found at linebacker and on the defensive line.
A familiar face returns to the Harmony sidelines, as head coach Don Simon steps back into that role after serving two years as Athletics Director at Tohopekaliga. Scoring points has been an issue for the Longhorns, as they averaged just 11.25 points per game over the last two seasons.
“I am so fortunate Nick (former head coach Nick Lippert, who returns to his previous role of defensive coordinator) is coming back, he’s a great defensive coach. The key will be for me to get our offense going,” Simon said. “We want to play hard and fast. Moving the chains and keeping our offense on the field will be paramount in helping to keep Nick’s defense fresh.”
Fourth-year coach Anthony Paradiso is also facing a rebuild after back-to-back 6-5 seasons that included the school’s first earned FHSAA playoff bid last season (In 2020 all teams were eligible during the Covid epidemic).
“We just had two outstanding senior classes in 2024-25 and now we are back to being a really young team,” Paradiso says. “We moved a lot of players around trying to fill holes during the spring.”
One area that presents little concern is at quarterback, where Sabby Meassick returns for his senior season. The three-year starter has already compiled county record in passing yards (9,976) and passing touchdowns (100).
Paradiso added that he felt better about the coming season following spring football and the spring game. “Initially was worried about the losses on the defense, but I thought both our defensive line and linebackers played pretty well this spring, definitely ahead of schedule.”
In his first season as head coach, Chris Blanton turned in a solid effort as the Storm went 3-7 in his first season after back-to-back 1-9 years. Three of those losses were one-score games. Whether Celebration can win some more of those close games is the biggest question mark for Blanton and his players in 2025.
“We were an extremely young team last year and have most of those guys back,” Blanton noted. “We had a great spring and our off-season workouts have been competitive and enthusiastic. We want to keep building on the momentum we started last season.”
After being stuck in loaded districts where they had a hard time being competitive, Liberty, Gateway and Poinciana joined roughly 60 other Florida schools in reclassifying as independents about 16 months ago. Although this made those schools ineligible for the post-season, it did allow them to schedule more competitively.
Poinciana, under first-year coach Taron Mallard, still played a fairly tough schedule including Auburndale and Evans. He also beat county rivals St. Cloud, Harmony and Celebration for the first time in school history as the Eagles went 8-3.
The big question is whether the Eagles will elect to move back into a district in the next round of reclassification; something Mallard says he is striving for. “Athletes want to play for district and regional championships and want a chance to make the playoffs. I want to get Poinciana back to that point,” the second year coach says.
Although the Eagles have graduated a lot of talent off that 8-win team, Mallard says he has some outstanding players returning with explosive quarterback Kamari Lewis transferring in, Poinciana should have a real chance of moving the program forward.
Marlin Roberts, the dean of Osceola County head coaches, reached the four-win plateau last season for the first time in four years and was just a couple of scores away from a six-win season.
A trio of freshmen in Ari Spann (QB), Nydrell Thigpen (RB) and Johnny Reyes (WR) led the resurgence, but staying healthy would be a huge factor in Gateway’s success this season. “We always seem to have some playmakers but we also always seem to lack depth,” Roberts said. “Staying healthy is going to be critical to our success in 2025.”
When Dee Hart departed in the middle of the 2024 season, veteran defensive coordinator Janko Beras stepped in as interim coach for the remainder of the year. In the off-season, athletics director Chad Springer removed the interim tag and is hopeful that Beras can bring some stability to the head coaching role.
Liberty has won just three games total in the last four years and Beras knows a lot of work is in front of him as he tries to rebuild the program.
Osceola County High School Football
Weekly Schedule
(Kickoff 7 p.m. Unless Noted)
Week 0-Aug. 15 (Kickoff Classic Exhibitions)
Discovery at Celebration
Astronaut at Gateway
Villages Center at Harmony
Liberty at Universtiy
Osceola at Daytona Beach Mainland
Poinciana at Orlando Christian
St. Cloud at Innovation
Timber Creek at Tohopekaliga
Week 1-Aug. 22
Tohopekaliga at IMG Academy State
St. Cloud at Freedom
Celebration at Poinciana
Osceola at Treasure Coast
Liberty at Innovation
Harmony at Windermere
Gateway at Space Coast
Week 2-Aug. 29
Celebration at Winter Springs
Astronaut at Gateway
Lake Mary at Osceola
Harmony at Poinciana
Pine Ridge at St. Cloud (7:30 p.m.)
Tohopekaliga at Lyman
Bye Liberty?
Week 3 – Sept. 5
Celebration at Lake Region
Cypress Creek at Gateway
Sebastian River at Harmony
Oak Ridge at Liberty
Osceola at Winter Haven
Tohopekaliga at Hagerty
St. Cloud at Poinciana
Week 4 – Sept. 12
St. Cloud at Osceola
Lake Region at Gateway
Poinciana at Evans
Harmony at Bayside
Winter Springs at Liberty
Bye: Celebration, Tohopekaliga
Week 5 – Sept. 19
Viera at Tohopekaliga
Osceola at Jones
Liberty at Freedom
Lake Howell at Harmony
St. Cloud at Merritt Island
Haines City at Poinciana (7:30 p.m.)
Space Coast at Celebration
Winter Springs at Gateway
Week 6- Sept. 26
East Ridge at Celebration**
Gateway at Liberty
Tohopekaliga at Harmony**
Osceola at Melbourne**
Lake Nona at St. Cloud** (7:30 p.m.)
Bye -Poinciana
Week 7-Oct. 3
Liberty at Celebration
Gateway at St. Cloud (7:30 p.m.)
Poinciana at Lake Region (7:30 p.m.)
Tohopekaliga at Lake Brantley
Bye-Osceola, Harmony
Week 8 – Oct. 10
Celebration at Olympia (Thurs., Oct. 9)**
Master’s Academy at Tohopekaliga
Auburndale at Poinciana (7:30 p.m.)
Viera at Osceola**
Harmony at Lake Nona**
Gateway at Lake Placid
Bye-St. Cloud, Liberty
Week 9 – Oct. 17
Celebration at Harmony
Poinciana at Gateway
Apopka at Osceola
Tohopekaliga at St. Cloud** (7:30 p.m.)
Bye-Liberty
Week 10 – Oct. 24
Celebration at Dr. Phillips**
Harmony at St. Cloud (7:30 p.m.)**
Liberty at Poinciana
Lake Wales at Osceola
Lake Nona at Tohopekaliga**
Bye-Gateway
Week 11-Oct. 31
Avon Park at Tohopekaliga
Lake Minneola at St. Cloud (7:30 p.m.)
Timber Creek at Poinciana
Osceola at St. Petersburg Lakewood
Gateway at Celebration
Colonial at Harmony
Bye-Liberty
**Indicates District Game
