By: J. Daniel Pearson
The Tohopekaliga High School Tigers will take on Hagerty this Friday, while St. Cloud High School hosts Poinciana High School, both teams are aiming to keep their undefeated records intact.
Anthony Paradiso says that overcoming mistakes and learning to win close games are part of the process of building a program and his young Tohopekaliga team is apparently starting to learn that lesson.
While trailing in the fourth quarter Friday night, the Tigers turned the ball over twice but kept their composure, forced a stop for two minutes remaining and then watched as Taylor Domres booted a 29-yard field goal at the buzzer as Tohopekaliga held on to beat Lyman, 24-23.
It was a second straight one-score victory for the Tigers, who beat Melbourne, 14-7, the week before.
“Being totally honest, there is no way we should beat a team when we turn the ball over five times in the red zone,” Paradiso said. “But our kids and coaches didn’t panic and we did what we had to do to win. Keeping your composure when things are not going well and learning to win close games are all steps in the process that we are trying to implement here.”
Tohopekaliga will face another challenge on Friday night, when they host Hagerty (1-1) at 7 p.m. Led by quarterback Caden Mitchell (30-48, 452 yards, 2 TD) and running back Porter Williams (22-234, 3 TD), the Huskies feature a balanced attack.
At Tom Gannarelli Field on Friday, St. Cloud will look for its ninth straight win (dating back to the 2023 season) when the Bulldogs (2-0) host Poinciana (2-0) at 7 p.m.
St. Cloud coach Mike Short says Poinciana is not the same team they have been in the past and that his squad simply cannot take the Eagles lightly. “This is not the same Poinciana team that has struggled almost every year. First, they have some really good athletes and on top of that, they are playing with a real chip on their shoulders. We met them a couple of times in 7-on-7 competitions this summer and they were really impressive. We better not go into Friday night thinking this is going to be an easy game.”
The Bulldogs are coming off a 49-14 road win over Pine Ridge, where Alex Springs had a huge game. The senior caught five passes for 126 yards and a score, had two interceptions – returning one 88 yards for a touchdown, and tallied 136 yards on four punt and kickoff returns while adding a third touchdown. In all, Springs tallied 350 all-purpose yards on 11 touches. Logan King hit 15 of 21 passes for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the win; while senior TJ Griffin had a good night running the ball (11-87-7.9 avg.-1 TD).
“We were really happy to get out of that game healthy and with a win. It was a hostile environment and the game got a little chippy,” Short said. “As far as Alex, there’s not a lot more to be said. He is such a special player that he makes the sensational look routine.”
Poinciana overcame a 5-0 first quarter deficit to take a 26-5 victory over Harmony. It was the Eagles first win over the Longhorns in 20 years and just the second all-time in the series (2-8). Cameron Brown threw a pair of long touchdown passes and Wil Nezius had a scoring run to lead Poinciana offensively.
But it was also the Poinciana defense that came up big. Some sloppy special teams play led the great field position all night for the Longhorns. Of 13 offensive drives, Harmony’s average field position was the 50 and three times they started inside the Poinciana 30. Despite that, Poinciana limited Harmony to just three offensive points, coming up with a pair of fourth down stops and four interceptions.
“It was a good win but we won’t dwell on it too long,” Eagles coach Taron Mallard said. “I told our kids to enjoy it but it would be back to work on Monday night. St. Cloud is going to be a big challenge for us, they are explosive, disciplined and well-coached.”
Harmony (0-2) will be seeking their first win of the season when they travel to Sebastian River (1-1). “It’s been a frustrating start to the season,” Longhorns coach Nick Lippert said. “Defensively we are playing pretty good and we have shown the ability to move the ball on offense. But it just seems like every time we make a positive play, we turn around and either have a penalty or a negative play. We’ll use this week to regroup and work on correcting those mistakes.”
Under second-year head coach Dee Hart, Liberty (1-1) took a 37-0 win over Winter Haven’s Ambassador Christian Academy (0-2) on Friday night and will next face Oak Ridge (1-1), a 26-10 winner over Innovation last week.
Hart praised the play of several players in the game, including RB/LB Xaevez Brown, freshman running back Daveon Williams and quarterback Richard Monplasir. Brown scored the Chargers’ first touchdown and made some big plays on defense; Williams rushed for 120 yards on just six carries and, according to Hart, Montplasir provided that “leadership we had been lacking the past couple of years.”
He went on to add that his team had a great week of practice after the season opening loss to Innovation and hopes it carries over to this week’s Oak Ridge game. “I wasn’t sure what to expect after week one because we felt it was definitely a winnable game. But our kids came in focused and worked hard last week and it paid off,” Hart said. “We will definitely need that same intensity this week. Oak Ridge has some playmakers but I think we match up pretty well on the lines with them. It’s going to be a tough game, but if we can control the line of scrimmage on both sides and win special teams, we will have a chance.”
Osceola (1-1) will have its hands full for a third straight week when it meets South Dade (1-1). The Kowboys battled evenly with state-power Lake Mary and trailed just 3-0 in the first half. But with star running back Taevion Swint being knocked out of the game early, Osceola could not muster any type of offense and eventually faltered, 24-7.
“Taevion will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis,” Osceola coach Eric Pinellas said. “As far as South Dade, it will be a typical South Florida team. We know they will be big, fast and well-coached.”
Celebration (0-2) will look for its first win of the season when it hosts Lake Region (0-2). The Storm were ahead last week 14-12 midway through the fourth quarter before a Maklye McBride touchdown run late in the game gave Winter Springs a 19-14 win.
The Storm fell behind 12-0 after one quarter but came back to take the lead on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Landon Yaw to Sean Nuzzi in the second quarter and a 60-yard punt return by Evan Couch in the fourth. “We definitely felt that was a game we should have won.” Storm coach Chris Blanton said. “The fact of the matter they got two big plays early in the game. Once we correct those mistakes we are going to surprise some people.”
Injuries have definitely hurt the Gateway offense as the Panthers have had to play their first two games without the services of their two most explosive offensive players in Dashawn Reese and Josh Fuller, neither of which are expected back this week against Cypress Creek.
The Panthers (0-2) started four freshmen on offense in a 28-0 loss to Astronaut, including Nydril Thigpen – who did manage to rush for 120 yards. “Before the start of the season, we knew we had to stay healthy to have a chance and we have already down our two best players on offense and have some defensive players banged up,” Coach Marlin Roberts said. “It’s frustrating but all we can do and try to stay focused and get ready for Cypress Creek.”
This Week’s Schedule
Lake Region at CELEBRATION
GATEWAY at Cypress Creek
South Dade at OSCEOLA
HARMONY at Sebastian River
POINCIANA at ST. CLOUD
Hagerty at TOHOPEKALIGA
LIBERTY at Lake Ridge
All Games 7 p.m.
