The fourth time in the state semifinals was unfortunately not the charm for the Buchholz Bobcats.

But again they didn’t go down without a fight.

The Bobcats couldn’t overcome four turnovers and saw their season end in a 41-35 loss to Osceola (Kissimmee) on Friday night at Citizens Field.

Osceola (12-2) advances to play West Boca Raton next Friday in the 6A state championship game in Miami.

Buchholz (10-4) lost for the fourth straight season in the state semifinal round. But as had been the case in the two semifinal losses to Venice in 2022 and Lakeland in 2023, the game came down to the last few minutes.

“We gave them short fields most of the night,” Buchholz coach Mark Whittemore said. “It wasn’t a defensive issue, just turnovers and short field and a couple of long returns on kickoffs just put us in a lot of disadvantaged situations.”

It was a tale of two different styles as Osceola attempted only six passes in the game while Buchholz only ran about four times in the game.

Junior quarterback Trace Johnson threw five touchdowns but also tossed three interceptions, one of which was returned 97 yards for a touchdown by Osceola’s Elijah Melendez, an Auburn commit, late in the third quarter to extend the Kowboys lead to 41-21.

But the Bobcats again fought back. Johnson threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game, and his third to junior wide receiver Justin Williams, on the first play of the fourth quarter to bring the Bobcats back to within 41-28.

After an Osceola punt, Buchholz cut the deficit to 41-35 with 7:26 left as Johnson found junior wide receiver DJ Hicks from 22 yards out.

Buchholz seemed to be in business after forcing another Osceola punt with four minutes left, but Johnson threw his third interception of the game near midfield.

Buchholz did force a three-and-out and got the ball back at their own 30 with 2:09 left. But a grounding call forced the Bobcats into a long-yardage situation, and they turned the ball over on downs to end it.

“We felt like teams before us had tried to be balanced and that’s not a team you can be very balanced with,” Whittemore said. “They (Osceola) are very stout up front so we knew if we were going to score 35 it would have to be in the air. Unfortunately, we gave them a couple.”

The second quarter was really the issue for Buchholz as Osceola outscored them 28-7 to take a 34-14 halftime lead. In that period, running back Jeffrey Sinophat scored two touchdowns and quarterback Camren West had a score on the ground, and Osceola returned a fumble to the five-yard line and had another interception near midfield that helped lead to 10 points.

Buchholz kept fighting back, but in the end the mistakes were just too much to overcome.

“We made more mistakes than they did and they scored six more points,” Whittemore said. “This is the winningest group of seniors in Buchholz history and they’ve never known anything but the final four. We were just hoping to end on a high note.”  

FHSAA Football playoffs 
Friday, Dec. 6 
Area teams in bold 
 
State Championship games  
Rural 
Madison County 21, Hawthorne 14 
 
Rural Florida Invitational Tournament (Division B) 
Fort Meade 21, Dixie County (Cross City) 13 
 
Class 6A State Semifinals 
Osceola (Kissimmee) 41, Buchholz 35