Preview: Largo Packers vs. Osceola Warriors
The Largo Packers will head out on the road to face off against the Osceola Warriors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Largo is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games.
Largo put the finishing touches on their fourth blowout victory of the season on Friday. Everything went their way against Lakewood as Largo made off with a 40-16 victory. Given Largo's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 108th, while Lakewood is ranked 249th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Among those leading the charge was Jeremy Thomas, who rushed for 72 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, and also threw for 75 yards and a touchdown. Largo also got a significant boost from Malachi Peterson, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 105 yards.
Meanwhile, Osceola got themselves on the board against DeSoto County on Friday, but DeSoto County never followed suit. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat the Bulldogs 42-0 at home. The win made it back-to-back wins for Osceola.
Osceola's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Nate Gooden, who rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. The team also got some help courtesy of Nathan Carter, who rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries.
Largo's win was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 7-1. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 0-7 Gibbs and 2-7 Lakewood (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 27.4% over those games). As for Osceola, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 4-4 record this season.
Largo came up short against Osceola in their previous meeting back in October of 2022, falling 17-13. Can Largo avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
