By: J. Daniel Pearson
With four victories in their last five Soldier City Classics, the St. Cloud Bulldogs were favored to score another win against arch-rival Harmony Friday night, and that’s exactly what happened. In classic senior-led fashion, quarterback Logan King, wide receiver Alex Springs, and running back TJ Griffin went into full blitz mode, propelling St. Cloud to a 29-8 victory and keeping playoff hopes alive.
St. Cloud was favored to make it two wins in a row, but Bulldogs coach Michael Short said he was anything but confidant during the week.
“To tell the truth I was actually worried,” Short said. “We did not have a very good week of practice and it looked like our minds were elsewhere. When we had great field position but failed to score on our first two possessions, it made me even more nervous. But at the end of the day, this turned out to be a game for our seniors and they came through in a big way.”
Those seniors included quarterback Logan King, WR Alex Springs and running back TJ Griffin, who all played major roles in St. Cloud 29-8 win over arch-rival Harmony.
King threw three touchdown passes– two to Alex Springs – and Griffin set up a third touchdown with a 54-yard run as the Bulldogs moved to 5-4 on the year and kept their playoff hopes alive.
But things did start off slow for St. Cloud.
They took the opening kickoff down to the Harmony 30 but two huge sacks by Noah Ortiz forced the Bulldogs to punt. Although they recovered a Longhorn fumble on the Harmony 12 one play later, St. Cloud came up empty again as three King pass incompletions, sandwiched around an errant snap from center that lost 18 yards and the Bulldogs would turn the ball over on downs.
St. Cloud’s offense finally got on track on its next possession, as King led the Dogs on a 10-play, 94-yard drive capped by a 10-yard scoring pass from King to Springs. After a two-point conversion, St. Cloud then executed an on-sides kick and Daniel Elizando made it 11-0 with a 32-yard field goal. The Bulldogs came right back and recovered another on-sides kick and a swing pass from King to Springs went 46-yards for a another score as the lead jumped to 19-0.
“We practice those (on-sides kicks) all the time, and when it worked last week we decided to make it part of our game plan,” Short said. “When we recovered the first, we decided to do it again and it worked again. After we put up points on three third straight possessions, I started to relax.”
In addition to the 19 points, the two successful on-sides kicks meant the Bulldogs possessed the ball for three possessions, 23 straight plays and 11 minutes of game clock.
Even when Harmony had the ball, they weren’t able to move it. They were limited to four possessions and 32 yards of total offense in the first half. After holding the Horns to three and out on their third possession, St. Cloud made it a 26-0 game at halftime as Griffin set up an 11-yard touchdown pass from King to Gunner Freeman with a 54-yard run.
Still the Longhorns would show fight in the second half.
Although the Bulldogs still dominated the stats and possession after intermission, they managed just a 33-yard field goal from Elizando. Conversely, the Longhorns outscored St. Cloud in the final two stanzas, 8-3, getting a touchdown run from Ivan Ramos and a two-point conversion from Kal Amen.
“This rivalry is a lot deeper than high school,” Griffin said after the game. “I’ve been playing with and against these guys since Pee Wee Football. To go out as a senior, to win two in a row and three of four is something I will never forget.”
St. Cloud (5-4) will have 11 days off before taking on Ridge Community in their season finale at home Nov. 6. A win could go a long way towards helping the Dogs secure an at-large bid to the FHSAA Class 7A Playoffs. Harmony (2-7) will finish it season at Colonial next week.
In other action around the county, Osceola (7-2) won its fifth straight game with an impressive 28-17 road win over 4-A power Lake Wales. Taevion Swint rushed for two touchdowns, Alijah Jenkins caught a touchdown pass and Jeff Banks recovered a block punt for a score as the Kowboys went on a 21-0 run in the second half to overcome a halftime deficit. Osceola will close out its regular season Friday night at home against St. Petersburg Lakewood (4-4).
Tohopekaliga (4-4) missed out in a share of a district title with a 17-0 loss at Lake Nona; Celebration dropped a 40-9 decision to Dr. Phillips; and Poinciana defeated Liberty in the Battle of the Boulevard, 47-8.
Score By Quarters
St. Cloud 0 26 3 0—29
Harmony 0 0 0 8—8
SC: Alex Springs 10 pass from Logan King (King pass to Jacob Hernandez)
SC: Daniel Elizando 32 FG
SC: Springs 46 pass from King (King Run)
SC: Gunner Freeman 11 pass from King (Elizando kick)
SC: Elizando FG 33
H: Ivan Ramos 6 run (Kal Amen run)