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TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 8 OSCEOLA GATEWAYKOWBOYSPANTHERS PAGE 12 PAGE 16 TOHOPEKALIGA TIGERS PAGE 20 POINCIANA EAGLES PAGE 24 ST. CLOUD BULLDOGS PAGE 28 HARMONY LONGHORNS PAGE 32 LIBERTY CHARGERS PAGE 36 CELEBRATION STORM Page 3
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BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola PositivelyOsceola.com
NEW FACES, GREAT EXPECTATIONS AS WE WELCOME BACK SPORTS
High school sports returns to action this week as football teams across Osceola County play their Kickoff Classic exhibition games on Friday night.
Coming off one of the county’s most successful athletic years in recent memory, which included multiple state champions in different sports, deep playoff runs, incredible individual performances, high academic achievement in the classroom, and the expansion of athletic opportunities for student athletes -- more of the same is expected as the 2022-23 year begins.
“We have just concluded an incredible year in Osceola sports,” County Athletic Director Ryan Adams said. “We had seven of our athletes win individual state championships this year and St. Cloud won a state title in United Basketball. The county saw several schools add new sports in beach volleyball and lacrosse. We had close to 90 senior athletes sign grant-in-aids to play at the next level. All this was accomplished while our athletes continued to excel in the classroom. We look forward to this upward trend continuing in this new school year.”
The new school year will come with a lot of new changes. Four teams (St. Cloud, Celebration, Tohopekaliga and Liberty) will start the season with new football coaches. Long-time Osceola wrestling coach Jim Bird, who produced at least one state champion for 16 consecutive years, stepped down in July, meaning that storied program will also have a new coach.
The fall slate, which includes football, cross country, girls’ volleyball, swimming/diving and golf should be an exciting one in the county. In football, Osceola -- long a state power -- could challenge for a state championship; while Harmony will field a veteran team and could challenge for a playoff spot. New Tigers’ coach Anthony Paradiso has already began to turnaround the Tohopekaliga program from last year’s 2-8 season and will feature one of the most talked about freshman quarterbacks in the country in Sabby Meassick. St. Cloud features a young, but talented group of athletes under new head coach Mike Short; while Poinciana is hopeful for their first winning season in school history.
Tohopekaliga, Osceola, Celebration and St. Cloud were all placed in the Class 4A, District 10; Gateway and Liberty will play in Class 3A, District 8, Harmony will play Class 4A, Disctrict 11, while Poinciana will play an independent schedule.
In addition to new coaches, other changes will be noticeable on the field. Football has eliminated the traditional separation of teams by enrollment (1A8A) and instead will divide into two divisions called Metro and Suburban. Each division will crown four champions in classes Suburban 1-A to 4A and Metro 1A to 4A. The Metro will consist of school’s from the seven most-populated counties in Florida and will be divided into four classes by population; while the remaining counties – which include Osceola – will play in the Suburban Division.
The 2022 Volleyball Season promises to be something to watch, as up to five teams (Osceola, Tohopekaliga, Gateway, Harmony and St. Cloud) could challenge for spots in regional play. The Kowboys return a veteran team, including Kaitlyn Taylor, to its 20-win team; while Tohopekaliga – which went 14-0 against county opposition and won the OBC championship—has a bevy of new transfer talent coming in to support a young team coming up from junior varsity.
Five of those schools (the four mentioned above plus Osceola) will begin the year with new Directors of Athletics.
The Orange Belt Conference, which consists of all eight county public teams in other varsity sports, has announced a major change in its schedule for team sports. For first time, all those sports will hold bracket-style week-long tournaments to determine the OBC Champion in each sport.
The tournament format is new to some sports, while COVID issues forced the county to go to round robin play to determine a champion in other sports the previous two years. “The general consensus among our coaches was the tournament route was the way to go,” Adams said. “It creates excitement for the athletes and also creates a lot more flexibility in scheduling for the coaches as it doesn’t tie up as many playing dates for OBC requirements.”
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Those tournaments are scheduled for girls’ volleyball (Host School: St.Cloud, Oct. 3-6), Girls’ Soccer (Harmony, Dec. 5-9), Boys Soccer (Gateway, Jan. 17-20), Girls’ Basketball (St. Cloud, Jan. 17-20), Boys’ Basketball (Tohopekaliga, Jan. 23-27), Flag Football (Harmony, Mar. 27-31), Boys’ Volleyball (Celebration, Apr. 10-13), Softball (St. Cloud, Apr. 10-14), Baseball (Poinciana, TBA), Boys’ and Girls Tennis (TBA).
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In golf, look for Harmony and Celebration to try to chase down St. Cloud for OBC titles; while Harmony and Celebration should field outstanding swimming teams. Toho, Celebration and Harmony all return strong runners in cross country, including the Storm’s Catalina Edwards – one of the state’s top performers. Next spring, St. Cloud will field its first varsity team in boys’ and girls’ lacrosse – joining Celebration and Tohopekaliga as the third county school to add that sport. “It’s great to have the athletes back,” Adams said. “For each sport and each coach it’s essentially a brand new team with new leadership and new young talent on every roster. The start of each season is the most exciting time of the year as it becomes the athletes’ time to shine after a long off-season.”Adamsadded that athletics plays a vital role in the student’s development and thanked all the coaches for their dedication and commitment to their sport. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the overall average GPA of all student athletes in Osceola County topped 3.00; with many team’s posting significantly higher GPAs,” Adams said. “Athletics teaches the values of hard work, team work, and discipline and that would not be possible with the dedication, devotion and hard work of our many coaches.”
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Gateway returns veterans off its Class 5A regional semifinal team; while the Longhorns and St. Cloud also hope to challenge for district titles.
Have a Great Season! #GoKowboys #GoPanthers
OSCEOLA KOWBOYS
KOWBOYS
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“The goal is always the same, we want to win districts and challenge for a state championship,” Coach Eric Pinellas said. “We are stacked at practically every position so if we stay healthy there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to compete in the post-season.”
In what should not be a surprise to anyone, Osceola will once again field the top high school football team in the county. In fact –with a roster loaded with Division-1 talent -- they may be a lot better than they were last year and could challenge for a state title in 2023.
One of the main reasons for optimism this year is the Kowboy offensive line, a unit that struggled in both depth and experience last year. With the exception of Jamarrion McCrimmon and Cory Vega, the offensive line was thin and also inexperienced last year and struggled against better teams. Although Vega departs via graduation, four-year starter McCrimmon returns and he is surrounded by both teammates like Cameran Dekle and Antonio Cruz that gained valuable experience last year; as well as talented transfers like Noah Menderson (6-5, 340, Freedom) and Thomas Gearity (6-2, 270, The First Academy). That experience and depth turns one of the biggest question marks from 2021 into one of the team’s strengths in 2022 as the Kowboys can go 10deep on the offensive line. CLASS OF COUNTY, BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
MAYBE MORE
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Sophomore running back Taevion Swint, who led the team in rushing, total yards and scoring, last season as a back-up, is ready to assume feature back status after the graduation of older brother Ja’Randy Swint. A big-time talent in Oniel Senatus transfers in from Celebration. The school’s all-time leading rusher with 2675 yards, Senatus posted a monster year in 2021. He set school records for rushing yards (1816), total yards (2417), rushing touchdowns (23), total touchdowns (27), and points (162). He rushed for more than 200 yards four times, including a career-high 314 yards and seven touchdowns on just 10 carries in a game against Lake Region. He also tallied 271 yards against Gateway and had a 255 yard rushing effort against Poinciana. “Obviously he is a talented football player,” Pinellas said. “He could be used at running back, in the slot and even at safety. If he does enroll, he’ll be like any other player on the team. He will compete for playing time and touches.” Bryce Reed and newcomer Elijah Melendez will provide quality depth at running back. At quarterback, the Kowboys lose Chad Mascoe but have a trio of talented athletes ready to take the reins. Gunner Holland, a two-time state wrestling champion, started in the spring and led the Kowboys to a win over tough Edgewater in the spring game, will battle with City of Life transfer Danny Buggs and strong-armed Alex Melendez – who transferred to Osceola from Colorado last spring and was a member of the Kowboys baseball team.
Ja’Keem Jackson (36-548-4 TD) and Donald Cummings (15-213-4) return as receiver; as do backups Akeem Knox and Terry Cruz. Talented transfer TJ Massey (25-274-3) came from Evans High mid-year and participated in spring ball for Osceola. He also will challenge for playing time. Defensively, Osceola is also stacked. The Kowboys may feature the best defensive line in the state with seniors John Walker, Derrick LeBlanc and Elijah Palermo. Walker (UCF commit) and LeBlanc (Oklahoma commit) are both ranked in ESPN’s exclusive “Top 300” players in America; while Palermo is potential D-1 signee. The trio combined last year for 171 tackles, 37 tackles-forloss and 27 quarterback sacks – numbers that helped Osceola hold opponents to just over one yard per rushing attempt last year. Although standout Lamont Lee graduated at linebacker, Matt Amboise and Drevon Lee both return; while transfer Robert Mickal-Lee (Ocala) will compete for a starting role.
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Bo Mascoe – a Rutgers commit – returns to lead a talented secondary. The corner will be flanked on the other side by two-way standout and University of Florida commit Jackson, who has offers from other schools including Tennessee, Auburn, and Texas. LaCory Walker and Jayden Bradford are poised to take over the safety positions for departed seniors Jeremiah Wilson and Kaylon Walters but the Kowboys also have talented reserves at both safety and corner.Although Osceola will be highly favored to win the title in the newly-created District 10 of Class 4A Suburban with Celebration, St. Cloud and Tohopekaliga; Pinellas scheduled one of the toughest non-district schedules in perhaps the entire state as the Kowboys will face eight 2021 playoff teams in their non-district schedule including Apopka (12-3) in the Kickoff Classic. All told, Osceola’s eight non-conference teams combined for a record of 76-24.
UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON Meet Osceola High School Coach Eric Pinellas PositivelyOsceola.com Page 12
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After posting their fourth consecutive losing season last year, veteran Gateway coach Marlin Roberts is hopeful an infusion of new talent will help bolster the Panthers in 2022. That optimism stems from several factors, including the arrival of defensive end/defensive tackle Chris Martin-Charity from Virginia. “He big strong kid and he’s only a sophomore,” Roberts said. “Chris can either play inside or on the end and that’s another plus, we’ll be able to move him a round and try to put him in position where he can be most effective.”
GATEWAY PANTHERS
Fahmi Goldston is another transfer that should help the Panthers; while Joshua Fuller – a sophomore speedster on the track team – is playing football for the first time and has caught the attention of Panther coaches this spring. “He’s a big, strong and fast; sort of reminds me of the Harmony kid (Tyler Emans) when he was younger,” Robert said. “He has incredible instincts too, and he just needs to understand that it’s okay to run over people as well as around them.”
The Panthers may need major contributions from Fuller, as starting quarterback Eli Azize broke his leg in the spring and is not likely to return before Week 3 or 4 this year. Two other players – running back Jaquavion Pinellas and WR Devon Pryor – transferred leaving Gateway thin at skill positions. Roberts is hopeful that either Harmony junior transfer Hunter Waller or one of several out of state transfers can come in and take over the quarterback position – at least in the early going.
ROBERTS HOPES NEWCOMERS CAN SPUR PANTHERS
BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
Coach
UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON PositivelyOsceola.com Meet Gateway
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Gateway does return two veteran running backs in Aiden Morillo and Ishmail Sesay but also must rely on a brand new starting offensive line. Defensively, the arrival of Martin-Charity will allow Jamare Owens (5-10, 190) to move back to his more natural position at linebacker. Pierre Julien returns, as does Kevin Montilla –a linebacker who missed most of his junior year with a broken arm.
“We have some talent, particularly on the defensive side of the ball,” Roberts said. “But as has been the case the last couple of years, we simply do not have very much depth. We are playing a lot of kids both ways and we cannot afford to get players hurt.” Beginning his 22nd year at the school and 14th as head coach, Roberts is the Dean of Osceola County high school football coaches. He believes the opening of Tohopekaliga High School four years ago was a major setback for Gateway football and those effects are still being felt. “When Toho opened they took almost half our students and –by simple math – half our athletes,” he said. “While most schools in the county continue to burst at the seams, we have empty classrooms. I’m hopeful they will rezone soon and help us get our numbers back up.” In three years prior to Tohopekaliga opening, the Panthers were 20-12 but have been 10-31 since. Gateway will compete in new Class 3A, District 8 – one of the largest districts in the state with the Panthers joining Auburndale, Lake Wales, Lake Region, Davenport and Liberty. Non-conference games include contests against county rivals St. Cloud and Tohopekaliga. High School Marlin Roberts
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BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
TOHOPEKALIGA TIGERS
For the fourth time in its five years of existence, Tohopekaliga will be starting the season with a new head coach at the helm. The first two coaches –Anthony Davis and Marc Deas – built a successful program, but the team backslid dramatically last year. Enter Athony Paradiso, who takes over after a successful run at Lake Nona High School where he guided the Lions to eight trips to the Paradiso,post-season.whowent 72-43-0 at Lake Nona, has already started to change the culture at Tohopekaliga. “I think there are three keys to building a successful program. Create an identity, improve facilities and make the program attractive for the players,” Paradiso said. “We have made it attractive by getting new uniforms and creating new combinations. We have started branding our facilities with paint and logos. The biggest key is building an identity. We are going to run a fast-paced fun offense the athletes going to want to play in. But most importantly, we are going to do everything we can to put our players in a position to be successful and get to the next level if that is their goal and that includes in the classroom or on the field. That is the real identity we want to establish. We won’t worry about wins, because if we do everything right the wins will take care of themselves.”
NEW LOOK TIGERS LOOK TO REVERSE ’21 FORTUNES
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The early results have been encouraging. Because of transfers and athletes leaving the team, Tohopekaliga finished with less than 40 players on the roster at the end of last season. Under Paradiso, the team had almost 90 players at the beginning of camp. “Toho was not able to field even a junior varsity team the last couple of years,” Paradiso said. “I hoping we will have a varsity, JV and freshmen team this year.” Although just entering ninth grade, Sabby Meassick will be showcased on the varsity as he has already been named the team’s starting quarterback. Meassick, who played some varsity last year as an eighth grader at the private Foundation Academy, has already grabbed the attention of major colleges – with Florida offering him a scholarship last year.
“It normally would take a lot of thought before naming a the freshman starting quarterback,” Paradiso said. “But he’s the best and most qualified quarterback we have in camp. Sabby is an incredibly intelligent individual and is a sponge for absorbing football knowledge. He’s the most dynamic 14-yearold player I have ever seen.”
It’s not like Paradiso has not had success with freshman quarterbacks before. In the fall of his first season at Lake Nona, he made the unusual decision to start freshman Kyle Isreal at quarterback. Isreal threw 30 touchdown passes in his first season and finished with 15,000 passing yards and 162 touchdown passes in leading the Lions to three consecutive playoff appearances. “That worked out pretty good for us and I think Sabby has the ability to match or exceed what KyleLastdid.”season, the Tigers had most of their best players going both ways – which is something Paradiso hopes they can avoid this year. “With the exception of one or two guys, we absolutely hope to platoon this year. Toho had some good players last year that just got worn down as the game went on.”
Meassick should have some weapons to throw to. “We have about eight receivers that are all the same and we play fast so we will rotate a lot of them in and out of the game,” Paradiso said. He added that Julian Nasco, a 5-11 junior transfer from St. Cloud, Nick Rawls a senior transfer from Orlando Christian Prep and Dillan Harrell, another senior transfer, will all play prominent roles on the offense this year. The offensive line will be anchored by senior co-captain Jonathan Ogbuaga and Jairo Beltran. Anthony Barnes will anchor the Lions linebacking corps and the Tigers should feature some solid players in the defensive backfield. But more than the new players and few veterans, Paradiso believes it is the increase in numbers that will make the biggest difference for the Tigers this year. “We are going to have an offense and a defensive unit with backups on both sides of the ball,” he said. “With the exception of maybe two players, we are not going to have to have guys play both ways and in the long run, that will make a huge difference over the course of the season.” He added that he expected some first-year hiccups. “We’re going to make some mistakes this year, which always happens with a new system. But we have a lot of players and we are going to put them in position to make plays,” Paradiso said.
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NEW UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON Meet Tohopekaliga High School Coach Anthony Paradiso PositivelyOsceola.com Page 20
TRANSFERS, CULTURE COULD LEAD TO FIRST WINNING SEASON
EAGLES
NEW
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In the end, the Eagles rallied to win two of their last three games. “It got pretty bad last year and we made a difficult decision that we hoped would pull the rest of the players together. It seemed to work and that has carried through spring and the early days of fall camp,” Beeken said. “We hopefully have everybody on the same page now.”
As the 2021 season was winding down, Poinciana football was at a low point. The team was winless, morale was low and players were not showing up for practices. Head Coach Randy Beeken made a difficult decision to suspend several high profile players from the team.
Beeken is hopeful that the new culture, combined with the addition on several talented transfers, could lead to the first winning season in the school’s 33-year history. “We had good numbers in the spring and summer,” Beeken said. “We also had a bevy of transfers come in, but technically I don’t consider a lot of them transfers many of them were originally zoned to attend this school to begin with.”
BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
In all, the Eagles with play two teams that posted .500+ winning records last year in Teneroc (5-4) and Liberty (5-5). Key games will include Davenport (45) and Lake Buena Vista (0-10) a pair of relatively new schools that are playing in just their second season of competition. The most important game will come on Nov. 4 when the Eagles play Liberty in the “Battle of the Boulevards.”
Two big names that should help Poinciana are a pair of Osceola High transfers in WR Donald Cummings and RB/DB Perry Garrett. Garrett averaged more than seven yards a carry and nearly 20 yards a reception for the Kowboys, although he saw limited action. Cummings is a home run threat of a wide receiver, as he scored four touchdowns and averaged 26.4 yard per reception for Osceola – despite only catching 15 total passes as back-up. Garrett has already been penciled in as the starting running back.
Although the increase in roster numbers has given Beeken hope that the Eagles may go to more platoon football, Poinciana will be thin on both the offensive and defensive lines. Taurence Boland, Mike Rivera, and Jayden Swaby are three of the top returning linemen and all three will most likely start on both offense and defense. Poinciana has some talent at both linebacker and defensive back, particularly with the addition of Garrett and Cohn. At linebacker, leading tackler Noah Otero (75 tackles, 7.0 TFL) returns as does starter Luis Sorto. Jaylon Morris led the Eagles defensive backfield in stops (25) last year and will lead an improved unit that includes Michael Centeno.
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Dav’Rell Cohn, a defensive back who saw very limited action for the Kowboys, also transferred from Osceola and could contend for a starting spot with the Eagles. A key returning player will be quarterback Jahmari Corbett, who threw for 700 yards and six touchdowns as a part-time starter last year, has improved greatly from last fall. “He’s a year older and more experienced,” Beeken said. “His ability to read defenses and his decision making process has improved greatly.” Ernest Nunn, just a sophomore, could be ready for a breakout year. In the Poinciana’s spring game, Nunn caught 150 yards in passes and could combine with Cummings to give Corbett two big-time targets.
Prospects for a winning season also improved with the decision to remain an independent for a second consecutive year. Although it will not allow them to participate in the playoffs, it allowed Beeken and Athletics Director Tiffany King to put together a balanced schedule. “Based on where our program sits right now and based on our history, this is a competitive, balanced and fair schedule,” Beeken said . “Almost every team we face is similar to our team in terms of talent and numbers. We should have a chance to win every game we play but the opposite is also true. The decision was fairly simple, play a fair schedule or be placed in a district with three or four teams powers where we had no chance of being competitive against. “
Similar to when Harmony opened and took quite a few students from St. Cloud, Liberty drained a good portion of the Poinciana student body when it opened in 2007. Unlike St. Cloud and Harmony, however, the Liberty-Poinciana rivalry has been one-sided with the Chargers winning all 15 previous contests.
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St. Cloud salvaged what was turning out to be uncharacteristic dismal football season last year with a huge 31-30 upset over arch-rival Harmony in the final game of the year. And although that win did not totally heal the wounds of a 3-6 campaign, it created a lot of momentum for a young Bulldogs team heading into the upcoming season.
“We were a pretty young team last year and it’s going to be more of the same this year,” Short said after directing a summer workout. “Normally that would be a huge concern, but these kids are a pretty fearless lot and want to playThefootball.”offense
ST. CLOUD BULLDOGS
will revolve around one of those young players, sophomore quarterback Logan King. The brother of former three-year starter Garhett King, Logan is a big (6-2, 215), strong-armed player who made several starts last season for the Bulldogs and finished with a 55.4% completion percentage and three touchdowns and six interceptions as a freshman.
YOUNG PUPS TO LEAD ST. CLOUD IN 2022 BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
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It will also be a season of change for the Bulldogs, as Michael Short takes over for Bryan Smart, who resigned after spending nine years as head coach to become the school’s new Athletics Director.
Connor Howes (6-5, 270) is a massive presence and is starting to come into his own after seeing some varsity action as a freshman. “He has improved by leaps and bounds since last fall and has already caught the eye of recruiters from his work at summer camps,” Short noted. Although young, Short said his defensive line might be the deepest position on the team.
As mentioned Carr will receive some play at running back but it is at linebacker where he is most effective. The rising senior and all-state weightlifter led the Bulldogs in tackles (126), tackles-for-loss (13) and tied for the lead in quarterback sacks (6) and is probably the one player St. Cloud cannot afford to lose. Although listed as a safety, Clukey often plays close to the line and recorded 60 tackles. Griffin (2 interceptions) and Clukey will shore up the defensive backfield; while Wyatt Castellucci returns as the starting placekicker and punter. He average 31 yards per punt, made all 19 extra points and was a solid 5 of 7 on field goal attempts last year. Under the new Suburban/Metro alignment, St. Cloud has been placed in Suburban Class 4A, District 10 with county opponents Osceola, Tohopekaliga, and Celebration. The seven non-district opponents include Central Florida Christian Academy, Winter Springs, and Ambassador Christian Academy at home and road games with Pine Ridge, Liberty, Gateway and Harmony. The Bulldogs will travel to Windermere for its season-opening Kickoff Classic exhibition on Aug. 19.
Joe Clukey, a defensive stalwart for the Bulldogs last year, will become a fulltime two-way player for St. Cloud this year. Short has praised him at wide receiver this summer. “He had a great spring and has been unreal during these seven-on-seven tournaments,” Short said. “Joe is a big target at 6-4 and rarely drops a ball.” Senior Jake Dabrowski will be a part of the regular receiving rotation and Owen Conner, a transfer from Lake Minneola, has looked good in summerSophomoredrills.
Short believes King has made tremendous strides in the off-season. “Although we tried to bring him along slowly last year we still threw him into the fire,” Short said. “It’s a really tough position to step in and start as a freshman. He looked so much more comfortable this spring and during the summer.” St. Cloud will most likely use a running back by committee approach. Senior Isaac Nieves (182 yards, 1 TD) is the top returning running back. Look for linebacker Noah Carr to go both ways and see a lot of action in the offensive backfield; while sophomore TJ Griffin, started as a freshman defensive back, has looked good at running back both this spring and during summer drills.
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Jose Martinez, Bobby Madden and Elvis Quetzal are others to watch on the defensive line.
Junior Kareem Elgin (6-0, 230) is an extremely mobile lineman who recorded 25 tackles and three sacks last year. “We’re expecting a big year out of Kareem this year,” Short said. “He can play both inside and out so we are going to move him around a lot and try to create some mismatches.”
“We’re playing a challenging schedule,” Short said. “And we are going to be playing that schedule with a lot of sophomores and juniors on the field. Our biggest key is that we have to stay healthy. We simply do not have the depth to withstand a lot of injuries.”
UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON Meet St. Cloud High School Coach Mike Short PositivelyOsceola.com Page 28
#GoBulldogs
“Tyler is simply a phenomenal athlete and a better person,” Head Coach Don Simon said. “He’s so special though, people tend to overlook how important Cooper Richards is to our offense. He can run through or around people, catch the ball out the backfield and is an exceptional run blocker. Not sure Tyler would be quite as good without Cooper there to do the things he does.”
Tyler Emans and Cooper Richards both had sensational years last season in leading Harmony to a 5-4 mark. Emans rushed for almost 1400 yards and 24 touchdowns and Richards gained nearly seven yards a carry (78-532) and scored seven times as Harmony averaged 230 yards rushing per game.
HARMONY LONGHORNS
The Harmony offense has been a ground and pound attack for the last two years and if the Longhorns are to return to the post-season for the first time since 2018, a pair of senior running backs will most likely have to play a key role in getting them there.
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EMANS, RICHARDS HOPE TO LEAD BACK TO POST-SEASON
LONGHORNS
BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
If Harmony is to make the playoffs, Simon believes they will have to be a bit more balanced on offense and throw the ball more. But he also has total faith in senior quarterback Ayden Parks to accomplish that. “Ayden is a smart quarterback who knows our offense every bit as well as the coaches. Scoring points was not the issue last year and we were a run oriented offense,” Simon said. “But we worked on our passing game a lot this spring and although we are not changing our base offense, I know we will need to throw it a little more thisKalyear.”Amen and Ivan Ramos are two wide receivers that should benefit the most by a more open throwing game.
The Longhorns also have a potential standout in sophomore Jeremy Hilliard, who excelled in spring ball and summer workouts. “He has too much talent not be of field for us somewhere,” Simon said.
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“A few years ago, we started a lot of sophomores,” Simon said. “Those kids took a few lumps along the way but I knew if they stuck together they would have a chance to be pretty good. That time has arrived for these guys.”
While Marcos Romero is the only starter back, but a young defensive line could be bolstered by the return of defensive end Tyler Mcmorrow (6-2,210), who missed most of last season with an injury.
Harmony, which has been designated to play in Class 4A Suburban, remains in a district with Melbourne, Heritage and Viera. They will play a solid nondistrict schedule including Palm Bay and Haggerty. “It’s a tough schedule but it’s an absolutely fair one,” Simon said. “If we play our best, there is not a game on that schedule we can’t win, but if we are not at our best, there’s not a team on that schedule that couldn’t beat us.”
Although its offensive line lost three starters to graduation, the Longhorns have took steps to rebuild that unit. Senior co-captain and former defensive lineman Jayden Gomez has stepped up to secure the center spot; while massive Michael Capranica (6-5, 345) is a sophomore that has shown tremendous promise this spring.
Defensively, the Longhorns are solid at both linebacker and defensive back – where both those units return the majority of their starters. Dalten Phelan led the team in both tackles (71) and tackles-for-loss (15) and is already getting D-1 offers from colleges. Alex Nash, Brayden Shelton and Nate Butler are all returning starters in the secondary.
Meet Harmony High School Coach Don Simon
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UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON PositivelyOsceola.com Page 32
LATE START TO CHALLENGE SMITH AS HE HOPES TO BUILD ON LIBERTY MOMENTUM BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
“Learning the names of my players,” was Smith’s half-joking response when asked what the first few days were like. “Every day gets a little better and a little more organized but there has been a lot of challenges and very little time to find answers.” One of his main goals is to hopefully build on the momentum Brandon Pennington and Munroe created in the last two years. After a 1-10 campaign in 2018, Pennington went 4-6 the next year and Munroe won five games last season -- but were just a few points short of an 8-2 season With more than 90 percent of their rushing yardage and 100 percent of their receiving yardage graduated, Smith will face a tough rebuilding task as junior quarterback Jeremiah Pierre-Louis returns as the lone skill player with any significant playing experience. Pierre-Louis threw for 561 yards and five touchdowns last season, while rushing for 146 yards and one other in seven games last season. Smith will keep the spread offense in place to maximize Pierre-Louis’ skill set. “He’s a tremendous athlete and has looked good in the pre-season,” he said. “Right now our biggest issue is depth.
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LIBERTY CHARGERS
Ideally it is not the way you want to take over a program. After being named head coach on Aug. 4 – three days AFTER the start of fall camp – new Liberty football boss Antony Smith faces a ton of challenges as he hopes to continue the path to success that Brett Munroe started last season. Smith was selected by new athletics director Lonnie Flores after Munroe stepped down in late June for health reasons. It’s been a whirlwind of duties, as Smith has been busy recruiting players from the general student body, getting to know his assistant coaches and installing his offense and defense with this new team.
UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON PositivelyOsceola.com Meet Liberty High School Coach Antony Smith Page 35
At the opening of camp we only had about 24 players in uniform. We had an open house on Aug. 6 and about 45 kids expressed an interest in playing. If we can get the majority of those players out, it will help us significantly.” Smith is hopeful that sophomore Jaylin Vaughan can step in and become the Chargers’ featured running back this season. Vaughan will replace departed senior Kervalis Scott, who rushed for nearly 900 yards last season. Victor Hernandez and Matt Tyler have stood out at wide receiver in the early going; as will Jerry Raymond – the only returning player to catch a pass in 2022.
“Between those guys, new players and a few transfers, I am not too worried about what we lost to graduation. Historically, Liberty has always had some good athletes and hopefully we will find those guys and they will emerge,” Smith said. Defensively, Liberty will employ multiple formations. Junior transfer linebacker Julius Chaves, senior defensive end Damarco Howard, and Tyler –who will play both ways – at defensive back are expected to be the leaders of the Charger defense. Smith says installing his system and building numbers will be the main goal in his first season. “Obviously any new coach and system is going to take some time to install and get everyone on board with and we are going to have our share of challenges to overcome, especially with the late start we had,” he said. “But the players have been responsive to what we are trying to do. Our goal is to just try to get better every day.”
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For a program that had traditionally struggled, the FHSAA did Celebration no favors last year when they placed them in arguable the toughest district in the state with football powers Osceola, West Orange, and Dr. Phillips.
BY: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
CAN CELEBRATION CONTINUE ON PATH TO SUCCESS?
And although the Storm lost all three of those games, they still had an outstanding season under first-year Head Coach Rich Pringle – winning a school record seven games and recording just the second winning season in the school’s 19-year history. But if Celebration is to build on that momentum, they will have to do so without Pringle – who resigned after one season to return to Polk County powerhouse Lake Gibson, where he was named that school’s new head coach after serving two years as that school’s defensive coordinator.
New coach Jeremy Palmer took over in late May and said he is optimistic that the Storm can indeed continue on a path of becoming a respectable football program. “Coach Pringle did a great job of changing the culture and expectations of Celebration Storm football. My goal is to continue to build on it. It’s not going to be easy, but we have a lot of great kids in this program that bought into what happened last year and want to see it continue.”
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“No doubt we are going to be an extremely young team, particularly at certain positions,” Palmer admits. “But we do have some really good senior leadership on this team and if we can stay healthy we have a chance for a successful season.”
Four seniors, led by Searcy and Nick Kendall, headline a solid linebacker group; while Mccuiston and Davis lead are two-way guys who will also start in the defensive backfield.
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season.Thebiggest
The move, will allow Searcy – who saw significant time at quarterback last year – to replace Senatus as the featured running back. He was the team’s leading tackler a year ago and will continue as the starting middle linebacker for the “FosterStorm.isan incredibly important part to our team and we will rely on him to be on the field most of the time,” Palmer said. “He is a big, physical kid and we definitely want to run the ball this year.”
Mccuiston is the only receiver returning with more than 10 catches (44 receptions – 490 yards – 3 touchdowns) but between some younger players and two transfers, Palmer believes the receiving corps can be a major asset this concerns come on the offensive and defensive lines, where Celebration with be mostly young and inexperienced.
“Griffin spins the ball pretty good and had a great spring,” Palmer said of the former wide receiver/defensive back. “We knew going in to the spring we were going to have to move some athletes around and this one made a lot of sense.”
Anthony El Dib and Gavin Konopka are a pair of sophomores that will be counted on to anchor the offensive line.
Those senior players include athletes like Griffin Davis, Foster Searcy, Brian Cui and Chip Mccuiston. Davis, who played wide receiver and defensive back last season, moves to quarterback where he is expected to take over for his older brother Dylan, who graduated last spring.
Duplicating the success of last year, may prove difficult. In addition to losing a significant amount of talent to graduation from last year’s 7-4 team, Celebration saw record-setting running back Oniel Senatus (1800 rushing yards, 27 touchdowns) transfer out of the program -- which added to some massive holes on the Storm roster.
Celebration moves into District 10 of the new Class 4A Suburban where they will play Osceola, Tohopekaliga and St. Cloud. “I like this new setup as the district is a lot more compact and frankly manageable,” Palmer said. “We are playing a tough schedule, especially with some of our non-district games, but we looking forward to the challenge.”
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Meet Celebration High School Coach Jeremy Palmer UPCOMING GAMES THIS SEASON PositivelyOsceola.com Page 40
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Ten award-winning hospitals. More than 100 medical specialties. 14 ERs. 4200 expert physicians. So many reasons to choose well. OrlandoHealth.com