It’s a new era for Osborne football.
The long-suffering Cobb County program is 3-0 for the first time since 1994 after overwhelming Lakeside of DeKalb County 55-0 Friday night in Marietta. The Cardinals scored on seven of their eight first-half possessions and then cruised through a second half that was played with a running clock.
Osborne coach Luqman Salam, now in his second year at the school, and his staff made big strides with the defense in 2021, cutting the team’s points allowed in half from the previous season. The Cardinals were more competitive than they had been in years, but they were still losing, finishing the season 1-8.
Now, with an explosive offense to complement that defense, they aren’t losing any more.
The Cardinals came into Friday’s game averaging a Class 7A-best 44.0 points per game, and they eclipsed that total in the first half against Lakeside, building a 48-0 lead. Osborne’s 143 points in three games are the most the Cardinals have scored in an entire season since 2015, when they last recorded three victories. Osborne was just 2-46 in the five seasons before Salam’s arrival and hasn’t had a winning season since 1994.
“It’s been great,” Salam said of the community support. “To give you an example, I had the Class of 1982 email me and say, ‘Coach, we’re just so proud of you, so happy for what you guys are doing, and we’re going to come to the game. We just want to see and be a part of this. For people in this community to just have something to hang onto and feel good about is a really good thing.”
Running back Khalif Walters did most of the damage against the Vikings. Playing only the first half, the senior scored four touchdowns, had 124 yards rushing on 13 carries and caught five passes for 165 yards.
Walters scored on a 10-yard run on the Cardinals’ first drive. On their second possession, he picked up a mishandled snap in the backfield and went up the middle untouched for a 41-yard score.
His touchdown receptions came on screen passes from Edward Burr that he took 64 and 61 yards.
“All praise to the O-line, man,” Walters said. “Without them I wouldn’t have had four touchdowns, and I really appreciate them for doing that. I just put the team on my back and do what I’ve got to do.”
Burr, also playing just the first half, was 11-of-19 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns. His other scoring passes went for 66 and 5 yards to Joshua Horton.
Osborne finished with 471 total yards. The Cardinals’ offense is being led this season by new coordinator Phil Ironside, the longtime Hillgrove head coach for whom Salam worked before moving eight miles down the road to Osborne.
Lakeside, a Class 6A team playing a non-region schedule, came into the game on a hot streak of its own, winning its first three games of the season for the first time since 2003. But the Vikings had no answers for Osborne on either side of the ball.
The Vikings were outgained 418-35 in the decisive first half and finished with just 29 yards of total offense. Lakeside crossed midfield only once, reaching the Osborne 46 on its first possession.
The road ahead will bring big challenges for the Cardinals, who play in Region 5-7A with sixth-ranked North Cobb, No. 8 Walton and No. 10 Kennesaw Mountain. But for now, at least, Osborne is one of the biggest surprises in the state.
“I think it’s a combination of just the process we’re going through,” Salam said. “We’re just trying to improve little by little, and we’ve been fortunate to have had some success in these first few games.”
Lakeside - 0-0-0-0 - 0
Osborne - 20-28-0-7 - 55
First quarter
O - Khalif Walters 10 run (Placidus Onwudinjo kick), 6:38
O - Walters 41 run (kick blocked), 5:06
O - Joshua Horton 66 pass from Edward Burr (Brenno Olivera kick), 1:18
Second quarter
O - Burr 4 run (Olivera kick), 8:27
O - Walters 64 pass from Burr (Olivera kick), 6:46
O - Walters 61 pass from Buff (Onwudinjo kick), 3:06
O - Horton 5 pass from Burr (Onwudinjo kick), 0:37
Fourth quarter
O - Emilio Cervantes 18 pass from Joshua Tattershall (Onwudinjo kick), 0:03
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