A ceremony before tonight’s
St. Cloud at Osceola rivalry football game will honor two Kissimmee officers who died in the line of duty.
One of the longest-running high school football rivalry games in Florida will serve a dual purpose tonight in Kissimmee.
Before St. Cloud (0-1) and host Osceola (1-0) take the field for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, a pregame ceremony will be held in remembrance of two Kissimmee Police Department officers who died in the line of duty two weeks ago.
Sergeant Richard “Sam” Howard, a 2000 Osceola graduate and former football player, was assisting officer Matthew Baxter when both were ambushed and shot.
Howard’s daughter is a member of the St. Cloud girls flag football team, coached by two varsity football assistants.
Osceola players wore helmet decals with the initials “SH” in honor of Howard last week during a 23-14 win at Lakeland Lake Gibson. The Kowboys started two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior along the offensive line in that game.
The St. Cloud-Osceola rivalry, which dates back to 1925 and has been played each year since 1945, will be about more than just bragging rights this time around. A new playoff format that factors in results for teams in each week has added even more importance to the non-
district game.
“The St. Cloud game will always matter to people in this community,” Osceola coach Doug Nichols said. “I expect a pretty good crowd for it.”
Osceola has won 11 in a row dating back to 2006, if you count an overtime loss that was later forfeited by St. Cloud in 2010.
St. Cloud fields 30 seniors on a team that put forth its best effort against Osceola in years last season during a 34-18 defeat that was played on a Monday due to Hurricane Matthew.
“They’re such a great team and we’re gonna have to be on point if we’re going to give them a game,” St. Cloud coach Bryan Smart said. “It’s a huge test for us, especially trying to bounce back from the Week 1 loss [43-28 at Lake Wales]. I know we’re gonna show up, I just hope we play well.” jcarnahan@orlandosentinel.com