Thoughts on Bishop Moore & Osceola and their chances next week

[DarterBlue2]

First Osceola. Let me say that I thought Osceola's chances were the least of the three Orlando area teams in the Regional finals. They have proven me wrong. Last night they raced to a 28-0 lead at the half utilizing counters and sweeps that seemed to baffle West Orange's defense. Their first touchdown was on a 60+ yard run straight up the gut by Wilson. This kid is like a miniature tank and once he gets into gear, he is difficult to stop. Early in the second quarter, facing third and long, they took a sweep 78 yards for the second score. On this play West Orange did not seem to know who even had the ball till it was about 15 yards downfield. The game was essentially over at the half as they scored twice more to take a 28-0 lead into the half. 

 

On the other side of the ball, the defense harassed Woody Barrett all night. That, and Barrett's weakness of tending to stare down his receivers before release lead to turnovers via both interception and on downs. In the second half West Orange contained Osceola by mostly keeping their offense off the field. But their offense could not mount a realistic effort to come back from the hole they dug themselves into early in the game. I will say that West Orange had two touchdowns called back on holding calls; but this, in my opinion, did not matter. They were dominated by the team that was more physical and had the better game plan. Osceola utilized the same plays used by Apopka against Miami Northwestern 15 years ago to obtain a similar result. Not surprising since they were largely called by the same coach. Earlier, I had downplayed Apopka's chances against West Orange due to the lack of an APK passing game. I believe I was right on that call as the offense could not score enough points to beat them running the ball. It is kind of ironic that WO loses to a team that went 1 of 2 on passing last night. 

 

Osceola's chances versus Flanagan. I don't like them. I think physically they will match up pretty well, as Osceola is a rugged, hard tackling team that has backs and linemen that can pound the ball. And on the defensive side they are hard tackling, pursue the QB and have a solid secondary led by Carlos Becker, a Miami kid that moved to Orlando his freshman year. However, I have a hard time believing that if Flanagan's defense is as good as advertised that Osceola will be able to score the 24 points I think they would need to win this game. They are just too one dimensional in my opinion. 

 

I am going to pick Flanagan in this one in a defensive struggle by 21 - 14.

 

Second, Bishop Moore. I believe they get the job done. Their path to state via: Palm Bay, Merritt Island, Hallandale and Jesuit is, in my opinion, much tougher than the path taken by Wakulla. Last night they contained a very prolific Jesuit team on the way to a 28-14 victory. Without a mobile, D1 quarterback or a unique running game like Lake Brantley's it is hard to put up big numbers on Bishop Moore's defense, which benefited from two interceptions last night, in the red zone, negating critical Jesuit drives. 

 

Wakulla's only loss on the season was in its first game against Spartanburg, South Carolina which for most of the year has been highly ranked nationally. Spartanburg was eliminated from the SC playoffs last nigh in an upset. However, Wakulla has has a few close games against questionable opponents. They have a big time QB, Franks who de-committed from LSU and is now pledged to Florida. I have never seen the kid play and have only looked at brief clips on film. However, I have a hard time thinking he is better than Huntley of Hallandale. Perhaps I am wrong.

 

I am going to go with Bishop Moore in the 5A title game by a score of around: 42-24.

 

After a 45 year hiatus, they bring a title back to College Park, Orlando. This would be a feat their next door neighbor, Edgewater failed to do three years in a row in the early 2000s.