By: J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola
For 15 straight meetings, St. Cloud had been searching for a way to get past its longtime rival. On Friday night, the Bulldogs finally broke through, ending years of frustration with a gritty 18-15 victory over Osceola in the 103rd edition of “The Game.”
There were too many heroes to count as St. Cloud ended the frustration of 15 straight losses to Osceola with an 18-15 win in the 103rd edition of “The Game.”
Those heroes include junior Khalil Davis, who returned a second half interception 58 yards for a touchdown. Wide Receiver Mathew Blenman, who made a sensational grab in the corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown and defensive back Jayden Taylor, who send the St. Cloud home crowd in a frenzy with an electrifying 95-yard kickoff return for touchdown on the game’s very first play.
But more than anything, it was the St. Cloud defense that made the biggest difference after limiting Osceola to just 135 yards of total offense and forcing three turnovers. The defense allowed just one offensive touchdown—that coming on a short field after a fumble.
“It was a total team effort, we scored on offense, defense and special teams, but our defense was really special tonight,” St. Cloud head coach Mike Short said. “A lot has been said about our offense the last two years, but I said all along, you shouldn’t sleep on this defense. They made play after play tonight.”
After a one-hour lightning delay dampened the mood of the large crowd, they quickly came to life on Taylor’s opening kickoff return. After that play, however, neither team could do anything offensively until late in the second quarter.
St. Cloud recovered a fumble their own 42. Quarterback Jeremiah Lattier kept a drive alive by converting two, fourth-down pass plays before finding Blenman in the right corner of the end zone on a 19-yard scoring strike and a 12-0 lead.
But over the next five minutes, the momentum would turn. Following Blenman’s catch, Osceola sophomore Jerry Canaday returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to cut the gap to 12-7.
The Bulldogs fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Osceola recovered on the 30. Four plays later Zylin Garrett ran it in from the 12 and the Kowboys took a 15-12 lead into the locker room.
Osceola looked ready to continue the momentum in the third. Josue Rivera returned the opening kickoff 40 yards and two first downs later, Osceola has a first and 10 on the St. Cloud 25. But three plays netted just three yards and Brayden Buehler’s 40-yard field goal bounced harmlessly off the left upright to keep it a 5-point lead.
Two series later, pressure on Osceola quarterback Jabari Coombs caused him to rollout and throw high – leading to the David interception. “This defense has shown a lot of heart,” Short said. “It would have been easy to get down after falling behind but they came up that huge stop to start the third quarter and take the momentum back.”
Still, Osceola had its chances in the game.
Three times in the game its defense dropped interceptions, the third coming with seven minutes to go of a tipped ball that Amir Davis dropped with a clear path to the end zone.
“Really having a hard time thinking about what to say,” a frustrated Eric Pinellas said. “Right now our offensive line is in shambles. We’re not lining up right and when we do we’re missing assignments. Silly penalties put us behind the chains all night. Defensively, we played well enough to win, but we are severely lacking in offensive leadership right now,”
Osceola was whistled for 12 penalties, including nine for false starts, illegal motion and delay of games calls which killed numerous drives on the night.
Osceola, who played the game without standout running back Javonty Barnett (suspension after being ejected from Kickoff Classic) and starting guard William Niel (concussion protocol), was led by Garrett, who rushed for 77 yards on 22 carries. Coombs was just two of eight passing with two interceptions.
Lattier was nine of 33 for 82 yards.
Osceola (0-1) will attempt to rebound next week against Poinciana; while St. Cloud (1-0) travels to Marietta (Ga.) for its first game in school history outside of the borders of Florida.
