Football powers DP, Osceola to open 2018 at new stadium
Two of the top high school football programs in the area will open the 2018 season by helping break in the new facilities at Osceola County’s Austin-Tindall Sports Complex.
Defending state champion Dr. Phillips faces Kissimmee Osceola for a preseason Kickoff Classic at Austin-Tindall on Friday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m.
The newly expanded sports complex, located at 4100 Boggy Creek Rd. just east of Kissimmee and south of Lake Nona, is nearing the completion of a $10.7-million expansion that began in 2016.
The complex includes the addition of 10 athletic fields.
“We’re going to make this thing look like a bowl game for these schools so they both have a great experience,” Austin-Tindall sports facility manager said. “We can’t wait for the teams to get here.”
The Kickoff Classic will be the first game played at the complex’s new Championship Stadium. And if the past is any indication, another thrilling finish may again be in the cards.
Osceola defeated Dr. Phillips 30-27 in a Kickoff Classic to open the 2017 season. DP then went on to avenge a one-point playoff loss in 2015 against the Kowboys by prevailing 17-13 in a region semifinal in November.
Commemorative tickets for the preseason game are currently on sale at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex office.
Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Kids 5 and under will be admitted free of charge. Former Lake Brantley state champion
now an Oklahoma State sophomore, qualified for next month’s NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a huge career-best effort last weekend.
She clocked a time of 4 minutes 11.57 seconds in the women’s 1,500-meter run. That was No. 1 out of the NCAA West Preliminary meet in Sacramento and ranks second in OSU history.
The First Academy’s second-year head coach, and
the superb sophomore who led the Royals to a boys state championship with four first-place finishes, are finalists for Florida Dairy Farmers’ 2018 track and field awards.
Fields, who had firsts in the long jump, both hurdles finals and the 4x400 relay, was voted Class 1A track athlete of the year and Robinson was the coach of the year.
The other classification athletes were 7-foot high jumper of Sarasota (4A), double distance winner
who ran a state-best time of 4 minutes 8.17 seconds in the 1,600-meter run for Tallahassee Chiles (3A), and Plantation American Heritage sprint sensation who set FHSAA state meet records for both the 100-meters (10.07 seconds) and 200 (20.41) and anchored the victorious 4x100 relay in 2A.