Nulli Secundus

Great job lakeland
 
Made 7a proud and gave the north some credibility 

Pulled for Lakeland to beat STA. Some amazing plays, and that 99 yard run touchdown. What a game! 

Congrats Lakeland, cant think of any other private school I'd want you to beat to claim your 7th title!

This may not have been Lakeland’s most vaunted team but they never gave up.  The mountain was high but dammit not impossible to climb.  Damn the naysayers, the hell with the critics.  Always underestimated, never intimidated. DREADNAUGHT NATION!!!!!!!!  L-TOWN, POLK COUNTY!!!!!
Congratulations to the nationally ranked St Thomas Raiders on a great season.  
 

This may not have been Lakeland’s most vaunted team but they never gave up.  The mountain was high but dammit not impossible to climb.  Damn the naysayers, the hell with the critics.  Always underestimated, never intimidated. DREADNAUGHT NATION!!!!!!!!  L-TOWN, POLK COUNTY!!!!!
Congratulations to the nationally ranked St Thomas Raiders on a great season.  
 

This may not have been Lakeland’s most vaunted team but they never gave up.  The mountain was high but dammit not impossible to climb.  Damn the naysayers, the hell with the critics.  Always underestimated, never intimidated. DREADNAUGHT NATION!!!!!!!!  L-TOWN, POLK COUNTY!!!!!
Congratulations to the nationally ranked St Thomas Raiders on a great season.  
 

This may not have been Lakeland’s most vaunted team but they never gave up.  The mountain was high but dammit not impossible to climb.  Damn the naysayers, the hell with the critics.  Always underestimated, never intimidated. DREADNAUGHT NATION!!!!!!!!  L-TOWN, POLK COUNTY!!!!!
Congratulations to the nationally ranked St Thomas Raiders on a great season.  
 

This may not have been Lakeland’s most vaunted team but they never gave up.  The mountain was high but dammit not impossible to climb.  Damn the naysayers, the hell with the critics.  Always underestimated, never intimidated. DREADNAUGHT NATION!!!!!!!!  L-TOWN, POLK COUNTY!!!!!
Congratulations to the nationally ranked St Thomas Raiders on a great season.  
 

33-20

Bowman goes over 200 yards rushing

That can happen when you have been at one place for 43 years......and have a spotlight on your program year in and year out. You are dealing with 14-15-16-17 year old kids. How many other programs have similar issues......but the light on them is not quite as bright....
If colleges can’t eliminate issues....with 18-19-20-21 year olds living ON CAMPUS...and countless full-time coaches keeping track of things, I don’t know how a public high school coach Is supposed to have complete control over everything with kids that leave the campus when school/practice is over.....and still dealing with their day job (teaching). 
Try to calculate the number of kids that have come through Lakeland since Castle became head coach (1976). I would say he has a pretty good success rate with these kids. 

2003 4A Armwood vs Lake Gibson as well.

3 private school recruiting factories. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Tenoroc was anticipated to have a larger student body due to the Florida housing boom that eventually went bust.  Of all the newer schools constructed in Polk County, Tenoroc is the most isolated in terms or nearby population.  Although technically in Lakeland and a stone’s throw from Auburndale, there is literally nothing around it.  If the Polytechnic area matures and planned developments take shape, Tenoroc will mostly likely see a bump in population.  However until that time, the Titan program will be at the whim of established neighborhoods miles away to the east and west.  I always felt like the high school in that area was built too soon.  The county should’ve started in Southwest Lakeland.

Ray Lewis.  Aside from knowing through mutual friends in high school, I’ve seen him a couple of times throughout his UM years when he used to dance with Boyz of Poison (BoP) out of Lakeland and once after the Ravens’ super bowl win.
I also see Fred Williamson on a somewhat regular basis here in Atlanta.  He’s a cool ass guy and loves smoking cigars and hanging out at the Intercontinental in Buckhead.

What can I say?  This will be the 6th time the Naughts and Raiders have met in the finals in two different classes and 8th overall dating back to 1996.  Combined, both teams have appeared in the finals 24 times with 16 state titles and 2 national titles a piece.
Forget the history between these two programs.  
Who takes it?

Only an upset to people who don't know nothing about panhandle football.

Is it really an upset if Venice wins?  No team is invincible and history has proven that time and time again. Sooner or later, even the mightiest will fall.

Its worse than that.  Imagine taking someone who can't pass basic math, putting them in an advance class like college algebra, then when they get an F saying that because they were in a more difficult class, their F is better than an A in basic math.  That is the logic being used here. 

Bloomingdale indeed.  I remember at time when having B’dale on the schedule was a guaranteed win.  They’ve come a long way and I hope that program continues to improve.
 

Bloomingdale indeed.  I remember at time when having B’dale on the schedule was a guaranteed win.  They’ve come a long way and I hope that program continues to improve.
 

Jesuit 21 Osceola 7 - respect?
Fort Meade 21 Avon Park 14 - throw out record books when two Heartland teams play
Lake Wales 20 Winter Haven 14 - Lake Wales is back! Showdown with Sebring is coming!
I feel bad for some of y'alls pickems.
 

The final score was 37-20 in favor of Lakeland. But it does not tell the whole tale; in fact the score was not even close to reflecting the relative merits of the two teams. 
Issues I see with this Apopka team:
1. You could almost say it is star crossed. Three other key pieces of the puzzle sustained injuries: 2 Eric Wright; 88, Jaylin Carter; and, 95 Curtis Williams. Add to that the fact that 58 Antonio Meriweather did not play due to injury sustained before the game and Jecoryan Davis-Hamilton being out for the season off his injury last week, and it's not a pretty picture.
2. Special teams - our kicker is accurate with respect to PATs. However, the snapper is inconsistent; and our kicker lacks range, particularly on kickoffs. In fact Lakeland took their first kickoff received to the house and thereafter the team resorted to more or less squib kicking/almost akin to onside kicking the ball on kickoffs. It is hard to beat teams of equal stature if they are consistently starting near midfield. If TV cannot develop his range, and if there is no one else that can do the kickoffs, then he should probably look to kick the ball out of bounds inside the 35, at least against teams that are competitive with Apopka. Our punter has a problem too. For while he has a good leg and range, being an offensive lineman he is slow and unless the snap is near perfect he can be blocked because of this. In fact this accounted for Lakeland's second touchdown where they extended the lead. 
3. The defense - I am not going to give them a hard time. For they were constantly put into bad field position both due to miscues by the offense and our kicking issues. In fact aside from one big play, a run of over 70 yards for a touchdown on second or third and 20 (I forget which), I thought they did a reasonably good job. 
4. The offense - Without Davis-Hamilton, and missing a key offensive lineman, we had trouble sustaining our running game which is our bread and butter. However, although we did not throw the ball much, the passing game came up with three critical plays to both extend drives and flip the field position. Sometimes out of adversity talents are discovered. We shall see. 
Obviously I am not a happy camper and I may come over as being overly critical. But I deeply love Apopka football and to some degree I am typing this from an emotional perspective. We get Dr. Philips next week and should consider ourselves fortunate in that while they still have a lot of talent, it is young talent that is perhaps a year away from being at its best. Thus, even with our injuries we have a shot. 
With all of the above said, this team still has a shot. Certainly the talent is there. But we need guys to step up and assume leadership and can afford no more injuries if Apopka is to have a shot.   

Oh boy.....
 
No , I haven't been to Tiger "Stadium"  but how does it compare to the SIXTH biggest in Texas?
 

 
 
 
versus Tiger Stadium Lake City:
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What am I missing?
 
Go get your head examined, kid....

Congratulations to the Chiefs on the championship.
 
The Braves had a stellar season and capped it off with a runner-up finish to a Carol City team that many thought would absolutely run you off the field. Final score 14-6. Polk County is proud of you.