Seven athletes from Osceola County were named to All-State this week by FloridaHSFootball.com. The web site compiles it All-State teams from input for coaches around the state, player statistics and rankings from MaxPreps.com, the strength of schedule from each team and from media lists of all-area selections.

Osceola High led all county teams by placing five players on the Class 8A team. Junior defensive back Bo Mascoe was named to the first team, junior defensive lineman John Walker was on the 2nd team, while senior quarterback Chad Mascoe and junior defensive line Derrick Leblanc were third team honorees. Senior defensive back Jeremiah Wilson was tabbed the honorable mention team.

It was no surprise that Osceola had four players named to the defensive unit. Despite playing six games against ranked teams, the Kowboys allowed just over 11 points per game and just over one yard per rush on the season (557 yards on 414 attempts).

Applying pressure up front, Walker and Leblanc where two main reasons for Osceola’s defensive success. Walker had a monster year, with 71 tackles, 17 tackles-for-loss and 13 quarterback sacks; overshadowing Leblanc’s impressive numbers of 38 tackles, 12 TFL and eight sacks.

The pressure asserted by Osceola’s front four, gave ample opportunities for Bo Mascoe and Wilson to make big plays in the secondary. From his corner spot, Mascoe led Central Florida with seven interceptions and also batted down 11 passes; while Wilson – a safety – had eight pass defenses and a pair of picks.

With Chad Mascoe at quarterback in the past two years, Osceola transformed itself from a team that ran the ball almost 90 percent of the time to a much more balanced attack that saw a run-pass ratio of nearly 60-40 last year.

Mascoe set school records for passing yards 1924 and passing touchdowns 21. He only threw four picks and added 440 yards and four touchdowns rushing.

Harmony’s Tyler Emans and Celebration’s Oneil Senatus – a pair of record breaking junior running backs – were selected to the third team honors. Emans made the third unit of the Class 7A team as a running back; while Senatus was third team of the Class 8A team as a utility player.

Emans showed incredible consistency all season long for the Longhorns. He rushed for at least 117 yards in eight of nine games and scored at least one touchdown in all nine games he played in. He was among the state leaders with 26 touchdowns scored and set school record for rushing yards (1367) and all-purpose yards (1709).

He enters his senior season with the Longhorns as the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards (2604), total yards (3308) and touchdowns scored (49).

“Tyler is very deserving of this honor,” Longhorns coach Don Simon said. “No one works harder at his craft and he has started to see that work pay off. I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in his senior year.”

Senatus rarely left the field for Celebration, starting on offense, defense and playing on most special teams. He finished the season averaging more than nine yards per carry, rushing for 1861 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was also good as a receiver, catching 31 passes for 317 yards and three more touchdowns.

Like Emans, he enters his senior year as the school’s all-time leader in rushing yards (2675), total yards (3623) and touchdowns scored (33).

“Although there are a lot of great players in the state, I think being named third team is a bit insane for an athlete who played an average of 130 snaps a game and put up those numbers when every opponent he played was stacking the line to stop him,” Storm head coach Rich Pringle said. “Obviously happy he was honored, Just wondering if he would not have been second or even first team if he played for a different team.”

Five of the seven Osceola athletes honored were juniors and will return in 2022.