Six county teams prepare for action starting Thursday

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

The end of spring football practice is in sight for Osceola County football teams, who will conclude the drills with games next week.

Three games Thursday and three more Friday will give coaches an idea of where they stand for the upcoming season.

Osceola High will hold its football alumni day today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Many former Kowboys players and coaches will gather to watch the team scrimmage and then participate in flag football games, Coach Doug Nichols said.

Many Kowboys alumni have been present at spring practice, including former quarterback/linebacker Marc Deas, now a redshirt junior free safety at Georgia.

“It’s good to come back and help out, but this is probably the last time I’ll be able to stay down here this long,” he said. “From now on, I’ll be lucky to get away for a week.”

Deas played in Georgia’s spring game last month and made several tackles.

The Bulldogs had another tumultuous offseason that saw several players earn suspensions for disciplinary violations.

“That’s been a little bit crazy, but it’s all taken care of now,” Deas said. “My job is to get better and get ready for the season.”

Georgia’s schedule was reconfigured after Missouri and Texas A&M joined the SEC.

Deas expects the team to get off to a fast start now that South Carolina, usually a week 2 opponent, has been moved back to the middle of the season (Oct. 6).

“(South Carolina) Coach (Steve) Spurrier always joked that the time to play us was early because we had the suspensions,” Deas said. “Now, Missouri is the real strong team we’ll see in the first four weeks (Sept. 8 at Columbia). It’s going to be different.”

Georgia hosts Buffalo (Sept. 1) for its opener and welcomes Florida Atlantic (Sept. 15), then it opens its SEC schedule against Vanderbilt.

Deas filled in at quarterback during his sophomore season at OHS in 2007 and led the Kowboys to a north regional playoff victory at Jacksonville Bartram Trail after starting quarterback T’Sharvan Bell went down with a knee injury. Deas was the quarterback in the Class 5A state championship game the following week in Orlando against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

Deas played quarterback and linebacker during his junior and senior seasons at OHS, when the Kowboys reached the regional semifinals.

Bell, a defensive back who won a national championship at Auburn in 2011, also attended OHS practices and is expected to participate in alumni day.

The Kowboys are preparing for Thursday’s game at Lake Gibson, which begins at 7 p.m.

The offensive line, rebuilding after losing four starters, lost senior Josh Phelps, who dislocated his kneecap. He said he will return for August workouts.

Poinciana Coach Corey Fleming said his team is making progress as it prepares for Friday’s trip to Orange City University at 7 p.m.

Josh Lopez (quarterback), Kendrick Calixte (safety), Jordan Zayas-Hall (lineman), Donaldo Nava (lineman) and Aaron Meade (safety) are among the players who have excelled, Fleming said.

Jonathan Lindstrom is another candidate at quarterback, Fleming said.

At Harmony, Coach Jerrad Butler said things are coming along well in practice.

“We have been able to get a lot of work in so far,” he said. “Our kids have had great enthusiasm. Our performance, so far, is an indication of the hard work they put in during the offseason. We look to continue to get better day by day.”

The Longhorns will host Mount Dora at 7 p.m. Friday.

Other games Thursday have Ocoee at St. Cloud and Florida Air at Gateway, both at 7 p.m. Liberty visits Cypress Creek Friday at 7 p.m.

Celebration and Life Academy played at Celebration’s jamboree Friday.