CHARLESTON -- Over the past several years, few if any defenses have been able to stop the high-powered Charleston offense.
Until Osceola came to town Friday night.
OSCEOLA 37, CHARLESTON 14
Osceola ^7 ^10 ^17 ^3 — ^37
Charleston ^14 ^0 ^0 ^0 — ^14
First Quarter
Charl – Dinkle 44 blocked punt return (Taggart kick), 8:20.
Osc – Brown 27 run (Leon kick), 6:15.
Charl – Turner 77 pass from Caudle (Taggart kick), 5:56.
Second Quarter
Osc – Leon 25 FG, 10:55.
Osc – Brown 67 punt return (Leon kick), 8:03.
Third Quarter
Osc – Leon 23 FG, 8:24.
Osc – Brown 1 run (Leon kick), 6:42.
Osc – Flie 3 run (Leon kick), 3:43.
Fourth Quarter
Osc – Leon 22 FG, 1:07.
The Seminoles allowed just one touchdown to the Tiger offense and 170 total yards in pulling away to a 37-14 3A quarterfinal victory at Alumni Field.
"We had a great week of practice and we executed the game plan like we wanted," Osceola coach Robert Hooks said.
Osceola (11-2) will travel to Junction City next week in the 3A semifinals. The Dragons rallied past Clinton late 50-43 Friday.
The loss ended a 12-game home playoff winning streak for the Tigers (12-1).
"Charleston is a great team with great tradition. They expect to be here (playing on Thanksgiving week)," Hooks said. "In the preseason, we told our team to believe we will be here and not make any Thanksgiving plans."
The Seminoles led 17-14 at half. But they dominated the second half, outscoring the Tigers 20-0 and limited Charleston to just 39 yards of offense in the final two quarters.
"Sean Michael Flanagan and (Mason) Wisdom are great receivers, so we wanted to take them out and make someone else beat us," Hooks said. "We gave up the one big play early. We bent but we never broke."
Charleston quarterback Brayden Caudle was just 4-of-22 passing for 113 yards and his lone touchdown pass was a 77-yard pass to Sean Turner. That score gave Charleston a 14-7 lead midway in the first quarter. That was the last points the Tigers would score.
"We wanted to control the line of scrimmage and pressure the quarterback," Hooks added. "(Caudle) is a good quarterback and if we gave him time he would pick us apart."
Ivan Leon booted three field goals for the Seminoles, including a 23-yarder early in the second half to increase the lead to 20-14.
A bad snap on a Charleston punt led to Osceola possession at the Tiger 1. Derrell Brown Jr. scored two plays later and suddenly the Seminoles were ahead two scores at 27-14.
The Tigers never recovered from that.
Brown finished with three touchdowns (2 rushing and a punt return) while rushing for 122 yards on 16 carries. The Seminoles gained 287 yards of its 402 total yards on the ground.
Osceola led 17-14 at halftime thanks to Derrell Brown's Jr.'s two touchdowns, including a 67-yard punt return for a score with 8:03 left in the first half. That punt return gave the Seminoles its first lead.
The Tigers had a chance to take the lead or tie just before halftime when Issac Verkamp picked off a Files pass and returned it 20 yards to the Seminole 21.
Charleston faced a fourth-and-goal at the Osceola 2 with just under a minute to play. Instead of going for a tying field, the Tigers went for the touchdown. Sean Michael Flanagan took the handoff but he was tripped up a yard short of the goal line giving Osceola the ball. The Seminoles then ran off the final 46 seconds of the half to preserve the lead.
The Tigers scored first when J.J. Dinkle broke through the line untouched, blocked an Osceola punt, scooped up the ball and scampered 30 yards for the score. With Josh Taggart's PAT, Charleston led 7-0 with 8:20 left in the opening quarter.
Sports on 11/25/2017