Owen Sullivan, Jaden Taylor-Irons, Tre Kelly shine in spring openers

(Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel/TNS)

The spring football game schedule opened up Wednesday night at St. Cloud it was the Owen Sullivan show, while teammate Jaden Taylor-Irons and South Lake quarterback Tre Kelly also had big games in a three-team jamboree with Viera.

South Lake 14, St. Cloud 14

The two teams fought to a tie in two quarters and Sullivan was the star for St. Cloud, while Kelly shined for the Eagles. Sullivan, a 6-foot-3, 230-pound tight end who is ranked No. 15 in the Sentinel’s 2027 Central Florida Super60, caught five passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

Sullivan, who has shown great improvement in his route running and spots up nicely to give St. Cloud quarterback Jeremiah Lattier a big target. He’s also worked on improving his blocking. On a 19-yard touchdown catch, Lattier hit him with a screen pass. Sullivan made a nice play on the ball and then twisted out of a tackle and ran 15 yards to the goal line.

Kelly, a four-year starter for South Lake, showed his ability to run the football and gained over 60 yards in the first game. He has a running back mentality and oftwn pulls handoffs, tucks the ball and heads up field in RPO play calls. He scored both South Lake touchdowns on runs of 5 and 9 yards.

A 35-yard pass from Kelly to Rome McKinnond set up Kelly’s first touchdown. St. Cloud’s Jowell Cruz had an interception, as did South Lake’s Cornelius Van Rooneyen.

Viera 21, South Lake 7

South Lake had 10 transfers sitting on the bench due to Lake County’s decision this year to not allow transfer players to play in the spring games. Also on the bench was Brian Beddingfield, a 2027 tight end who has yet to show his abilities after sitting out most of last season with injuries. He in currently rehabbing from a torn MCL, which he suffered during practice earlier this month.

Kelly scored his third touchdown of the night from 7 yards out.

Foundation transfer Sam Wood, the Eagles likely running back this season after his transfer from Foundation Academy, watched from the sidelines while punter-turned-running-back Zaide Nance showed toughness and an ability to break through tackles and get to the next level on several carries.