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Football: Osceola 29, Seminole 8

 
Published Nov. 7, 2015

SEMINOLE — Time of possession is a big component when it comes to coach George Palmer game plan on Friday nights, and his squad executed as well as he could have asked for.

Osceola gained more than 275 yards on the ground while maintaining possession for more than 35 minutes as the Warriors ran past and around their crosstown rival, Seminole, en route to a 29-8 victory at home.

"That's what we try to do," Palmer said of winning the time of possession battle. "We try to hold onto the football. It's a little easier to control the game when we have the ball.

"Anytime it's against a rival, it's a big win. We knew they were going to play with a lot of emotion, but we knew they we're going to play well and we were able to stop them."

From the moment the Warriors received the opening kickoff, they were running right through the opposition. Osceola (7-3) took a quick eight minutes off the clock after Nick Shytle punched it in from the 1-yard line.

Seminole (2-8) struggled on its first two possessions, but was able to piece together an impressive 80-yard drive late in the first half that was led by quarterback Andrew Schaedler. After converting on fourth down, Schaedler connected with Lakendrick Staley for a 5-yard pass to get the Warhawks on the board with less than 30 seconds remaining.

That was as close as the visitors would get in trying to upset at Osceola as the Warriors led 14-8 entering halftime. Osceola's defense would not let up, holding Seminole to only 24 yards rushing on the night.

"They made some plays in the first half," Palmer continued. "We knew if they scored to start the third we were going to be in trouble, but fortunately we were able to hold them and we were able to go on and score a few more times after that."

On the other side of the ball, Seminole failed to stop the run for most of the evening as one player they know far too well, former Warhawk Travis Wateska, scored twice while rushing for 90 yards.

Up next, Osceola will travel to Charlotte in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.