OHS KOWBOYS ESCAPE VS ST. PETE LAKEWOOD 28-22!

[Ray Icaza]

Not a good outing for our team, as we were extremely lucky to get this win against a good Lakewood team.  Rain did adversely affect both teams each fumbling the ball a couple of times in the wet conditions as it was wet throughout the entire contest.  Neither team was effective in the first quarter which ended 0-0 with little offensive output.  That all changed in the second quarter as we got our running game going and good fortune had us leading at halftime 21-0.  These are 16, 17, 18-year-old boys so don't presume to know what the mindset was going into the second half but undoubtedly it wasn't good.  Lakewood managed to claw back to 21-19 mainly thru the air as they hit big play after big play with WR running free all over the place with defenders completely out of position.  We managed one more good drive with some excellent runs by both Sinophant and Swint to increase the lead to 28-19.  With the help of personal fouls, facemask penalties and poor coverage they quickly drove down the field and settled for a FG to make the score 28-22 with about 6 minutes on the clock.  On the ensuing possession we did nothing which they were banking on and had to punt it back to them.  Again, with big plays plus a couple of major penalties they drove the length of the field and got inside our 5-yard line with 2 minutes left.  Those last 2 minutes were an eternity as we got 3 straight stops then a penalty gave them a new set of downs.  Luck was on our side as they dropped a couple of passes in the endzone which most likely would have given them the W.  This defensive performance is the worst I've seen all year and hope we don't have a repeat in the playoffs as it won't get the job done.  Will give props to the Lakewood QB as he took several huge hits throughout the game but stayed tough and escaped pressure the entire second half to extend plays and hit big play after big play against a secondary continually out of position.  Counting our blessings as the W should ensure home field for the two opening playoff games.  Next two weeks of practice better fix these problems that have raised their ugly head.  Don't like criticizing a win, but simply giving an honest assessment from an honest old man that simply want his team to be successful.  

[DarterBlue2]

Thanks for the information. I saw that score and was wondering what happened. Wile Lakewood is not a scrub team, I expected this year's Osceola to beat this year's Lakewood by a fairly comfortable margin (at least 17 or so). 

What you recounted explains it all. 

[PinellasFB]

Lakewood is young.  They are rebuilding after a certain private school raided them last year (recurring theme in FL it seems).  They should be very tough next year and back to Lakewood standards.

[Ray Icaza]

4 hours ago, PinellasFB said:

Lakewood is young.  They are rebuilding after a certain private school raided them last year (recurring theme in FL it seems).  They should be very tough next year and back to Lakewood standards.

Their QB Wallace did get sacked a couple of times but we had chances to end up with a dozen sacks but he managed to escape blitzes, make people miss and extend plays that turned into huge chuck plays throughout the second half.  They relied mostly on running the ball the entire first half with little success but went entirely to a passing attack the 2nd half that changed the whole momentum of the game.  He is only a junior and will certainly be a headaches for teams next year including ours if we signed a 2 year contract and travel to St. Pete next year.  They are definitely better than their record indicates and if as you say they return a bunch of players it bodes well for next season for them.  

[Longtime Observer]

Lakewood is 4-5, with losses to Largo, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and a blowout loss to Cardinal Mooney. "Good" is a highly charitable characterization of Lakewood.

[Ray Icaza]

2 hours ago, Longtime Observer said:

Lakewood is 4-5, with losses to Largo, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and a blowout loss to Cardinal Mooney. "Good" is a highly charitable characterization of Lakewood.

Coming from a person who's opinion I highly value.  Thanks for your take.

[Longtime Observer]

53 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:

Coming from a person who's opinion I highly value.  Thanks for your take.

You're very welcome.