TOP GAMES OF THE WEEK PREVIEW: Lake Gibson at Lakeland

Lake Gibson Braves (2-0) at Lakeland Dreadnaughts (0-0)

When: Friday

Where: Bryant Stadium, Lakeland

Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET

Internet Stream: NFHS Network (Subscription Required)

Coaches: Robert Paxia, Lake Gibson; Bill Castle, Lakeland

Skinny: As of lately this game has been traditionally played during the regular season, but in the era of COVID-19, nothing is normal, and seeing this game on the regular-season schedule is a huge deal for those who follow high school football in this state. The visiting Braves are coming into this game with a two-game advantage over the Dreadnaughts who were forced to cancel their first two games against George Jenkins and Plant City after several COVID-19 cases impacted the team and causing them to quarantine. Now looking at Lake Gibson, they have opened the season with lopsided wins over Haines City and Auburndale, and as such this could be the first big challenge for the Braves. The biggest “X” factor for the Braves will be athlete Jaylon Glover (2021) who is going to be a guy the Dreadnaughts will have to find a way to contain on the field. Glover last week accounted for over 300 yards of offense and had four total touchdowns with two on the ground and two through the air. That alone enough could cause problems. Now for the host Dreadnaughts, they graduated a ton of senior talent last year including the most notable player of all, All-State running back Demarkcus Bowman who was one of the top rushers in the state over the last couple of years. As such, there is going to be big shoes to fill not only with Bowman’s replacement but with a lot of key guys who were responsible for the Dreadnaughts’ Class 7A state championship in 2018.

Joe Pinkos’ Forecast: Lakeland by 6

Twitter Poll

POLL: Who wins Friday night?

Lake Gibson (2-0) at Lakeland (0-0)
When: Friday
Where: Bryant Stadium, Lakeland
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET#flhsfb @LakeGibsonFB @coachpaxia @LHSDreadnaughts

— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) September 24, 2020