By:  J. Daniel Pearson
Positively Osceola

One week after St. Cloud ended Osceola’s long run of dominance in “The Game,” the Bulldogs take their momentum across state lines for a historic trip to Georgia, while the Poinciana Eagles head to Osceola looking to measure themselves against one of the county’s most successful programs.

The contest between St. Cloud and Marietta came about because of a friendship between St. Cloud coach Mike Short and Marietta coach Cameron Duke, who spent spent eight seasons as head coach at Edgewater High in Orlando.

“I’ve known Cameron for more than 10 years and last spring he had an opening for a home game and we were looking to fill out our schedule.  The openings aligned and I thought it would be a neat thing for our players.” Short said.

The Bulldogs will leave on Thursday morning and will tour Kennesaw State University and its facilities – where they will also do their walkthrough.  They will stay over after the game and visit the Georgia Tech campus before returning home Saturday evening.

“We have some players that have never left the state, never stayed at a hotel without their parents and never set foot on a college campus,” Short said.  “This will be a tremendous educational for these players, as well as a bonding experience.”

As for the game, Short said Marietta will present a huge challenge.  Duke is a top tier coach, going 85-16 in his eight seasons at Edgewater – reaching two FHSAA State Championship games.   Marietta went 5-5 last year facing a tough schedule.  “You can count a couple of things when playing a Cameron Duke team, they are going to be tough, fast, physical and extremely well disciplined,” Short said.  “We will absolutely have our work cut out for us.”

Although they will be facing a huge challenge, Short and his players spent the weekend savoring that first win over Osceola.  “The atmosphere and the crowd Friday night was fantastic, it really reminded me of when this series was competitive,” Short said.  “I think my favorite moment was walking off the field and running into so many of our former players.  It was all smiles and hugs and they were all saying ‘We finally did it!’  Our current players will always remember they were the ones who stopped the streak.”

Poinciana, a 47-7 winner over Celebration last week, will play Osceola (0-1) for the first time since 2010.  The Eagles are 0-7 all-time against the Kowboys and have lost those games by an average of 35 points. Still. It is the type of game Poinciana coach Taron Mallard says he wants to play.  “They have been the gold standard in Osceola County for decades,” he says.  “You will never know whether you are getting better if you’re playing weak teams. “This will be an extremely big challenge for us, but it also presents a great opportunity.”

The Eagles offense was clicking on all cylinders against Celebration. QB Lucas Mineock was 13 for 16 for 259 yards and a score, Eugene Jamare rushed for three touchdowns and Chance Frazier caught three passes for 83 yards.

Osceola should have their starting RB Javontay Barnett (1 game suspension) return this week; while the status of starting guard William Niell (concussion protocol) is unknown.  Regardless, head coach Eric Pinellas said his offense must get better after scoring just one offensive touchdown against St. Cloud.

Numerous penalties, including eight false start, illegal motion and delay of game penalties hurt the offense, as did two interceptions and a fumble.  “We need to find some leaders offense and we need to find them in a hurry,” Pinellas added.

The lack of offensive production negated a tremendous effort by the Kowboys defense against St. Cloud.  The Bulldogs managed just 100 yards of total offense, that included just 17 rushing yards; while holding St. Cloud QB Jeremiah Lattier to 83 passing yards on a nine off 33 night.

Harmony posted a big 61-0 win over Liberty in the first game back for Head Coach Tyler Anderson.   Quarterbacks Lucas Haddad (three) and Cooper Halquist combined for five touchdown passes, and the special teams recovered three fumbles, returning one for a score.

The Longhorns (1-0) will travel to Lakeland on Friday night for a contest against Victory Chrisitian.

Liberty (0-1) is scheduled to host Nova Lakes on Friday.  That game is intriguing on one front as the Chargers will attempt to win their first game in almost two years (a 16-0 win over Freedom in 2024); while first-year Nova Lakes (0-1) will be looking for their first win on school history.

The Chargers lost to Harmony last week; while Nova Lakes dropped a 41-7 decision to Palm Bay.  In that game, Angelo Dadonna posted the first touchdown in school history with a 4th quarter run.

After a rare Week 1 bye, Gateway (0-0) opens its season with a home game at Lake Minneola.  The Panthers began its season with a 42-14 trouncing of University High in its Kickoff Classic two weeks ago; while Lake Minneola (1-0) defeated Mt. Dora, 46-20, in its season opener.

According to MaxPreps rankings the teams are evenly matched and it should be a good test for the Panthers.  Head coach Marlin Roberts may have one of his more talented teams in almost a decade – led by running back Nydrell Thigpen.  “They (Lake Minneola) are a much-improved team than they have been the last two years,” Roberts said.  “They had a large number of talented transfers come in.”

Tohopekaliga lost a tough 42-39 road decision to Astronaut last week.  They will play their second of four straight road games to open the season on Friday, when they take on Pine Ridge (0-1).

It was a tough situation for the Tigers.  In addition to the long bus ride over, lightning and a heavy rainstorm delayed kickoff two hours until just after 9 p.m.  From there, Tohopekaliga fell behind early but still managed to score a late touchdown and had a chance to recover an onsides kick with two minutes to go.  Astronaut recovered and ran out the clock.

Head coach Anthony Paeadiso praised just team for its gutty performance.   “These kids have absolutely no quit in them,” the veteran coach said.  Junior QB Gabriel Velez (6 TD passes), sophomore slot Zion Williams (2 TD) and senior WR AJ Wise (4 TD, 200 receiving yards) were all had impressive games for the Tigers.

Celebration (0-1) host Tavares (0-1) this week.  The Storm had one bright spot in the Poinciana game as Brandon Feddon scored on a 65-yard run in the third quarter.  The Storm will be looking to take advantage of their home field advantage and get the season headed in the right direction.

A huge thank you to our incredible Community Business Partners for helping Positively Osceola bring local high school football coverage to our community! We’re proud to recognize Osceola Clerk of the Circuit Court & County Comptroller Kelvin Soto, Orlando Health, Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital, the Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Office, Huff’s Quality Air Conditioning, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Christopher A. Blackmon, Toho Water Authority, Starling Chevrolet of St. Cloud, and Osceola Air for their continued support. Your partnership helps us spotlight the student-athletes, coaches, schools, families and fans who make Friday nights across Osceola County so special. Thank you for being part of our team and for helping Positively Osceola continue to inform, impact and inspire the community we all call home!

Week 2 Schedule

Poinciana at Osceola

St. Cloud at Marietta (Ga.)^

Tohopekaliga at Pine Ridge

Lake Minneola at Gateway

Taveras at Celebration

Harmony at Victory Christian Academy

Nova Lakes at Liberty

Week 1 Results

St. Cloud 18, Osceola 15
Harmony 61, Liberty 0
Poinciana 47, Celebration 7
Palm Bay 41, Nova Lakes 7
Titusville Astronaut 43, Tohopekaliga 39