Legion37

But in a way all private school kids are "recruits" whether they play a sport or not.  All students at a private school choose to go, usually for lots of reasons other than sports. Private schools are in the business of getting students to attend, period. Private schools need to make profit in order to survive. Some are established enough to have a core of "legacy" families but they still need full numbers and thus actively recruit both the local area and sometimes around the nation. 
When I was leaving Southwest Jr. High (now Middle School) to go to Lakeland High, 1/3 of our team went to Lakeland High, about 1/2 to Kathleen High (depending on which side of US92 you lived on) and the remaining to Santa Fe Catholic HS, including our really good QB. Santa Fe has never been much of a Football power but his parents wanted him to go to Santa Fe for academic reasons. 
Santa Fe, Admiral Farragut and Bolles all had booths set up at our Jr. High at one point or another and were offering up info on their schools, sports etc... to be honest if I had lived closer to Admiral Farragut I might have pressed my parents to go there. 
 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.  If we are going to give Lakeland the benefit of the doubt, I think we need to give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt, unless there is proof of cheating.  No need to point out what others are/are not doing if one's own house is clean, ie "how about Plant?"..."how about south FL?"  etc etc as I have read in some posts(not yours Legion).  
For good reason or not, private schools have been questioned and accused for 50+ years.  Now maybe some public school folks know what it feels like to be in the spotlight....and it's not always fun.  Like the old saying, time for some of their own medicine.  No need to be offended by questioning.  It comes with the territory.  I'm not a private school homer, but I see the hypocrisy that some of the private school folks talk about today. 
From a strictly selfish standpoint, if I am having to accept things the way they are today in the hs game, fine.  But if we are going to have superteams, please act like superteams and don't bore us with 50+ point non-district blowouts.  Picking on totally outclassed teams is boring and leading to disinterest in the game by some fans.    
 

I can respect this post.  I would be willing to bet no Lakeland coaches are cheating.  That doesn’t mean all the transfers are legal.  Lakeland has a great program and a great coach.

As a fan I would cheer my team's success. There would be no asterisk next to the title in the record book. I don't hold it against my College teams for taking transfers nor my Pro team picking up free agents as that is how the system works. Right now transfers in HS football can play and are allowed. Lakeland won its title in 1986, in no small measure, by the transfer of the Kathleen QB his senior year (Shane Willis IIRC), a kid I booed the year before, I cheered his success a year later at Dunedin for the 86 state title.
Unless evidence (and not one text from a teenager) could be shown that coaches were directly cheating, false addresses etc... or buying players, then yes that would be a problem. But coaches are paid to win football games within the rules. And that means playing the best starting 22 that gives you the best chance to win.
Ultimately it is still up to the parents to decide what is in the best interest of their child. And if they are willing to make the effort to make a legit transfer, it seems unlikely that there is much that can be done. And unless the kid transfers back after the season, it would be real difficult to prove it was for athletic purposes only. I had friends from Junior High who lived in the Kathleen zone but attended Lakeland because of some legit transfer reasons that had to do with music, so it is allowed for other than athletic purposes too.
As far as legislation, sometimes it is the only thing that will change things. Perhaps a team like Lakeland will go too far and it will force the hands of some governing body. 
I wish the game was like it was in 1984, but it's not, not at any level. 

But arguably, that would defeat both the letter of the law (i.e., to allow free transfer) and the purpose of the law (to allow football players from neighboring Polk County schools to transfer to Lakeland and immediately play). 

My bad...the scoreboard I looked at had it wrong, or I read it wrong. 

Armwood stopped being a wannabe a long, long time ago. 3 state titles and 7 runner-up finishes (10 total trips is really good given how young they are as a program!) While a "newer" high school (1984), they are a perennial powerhouse. They did get toasted in the KOC this year 28-0 by Jacksonville Lee. But I wouldn't discount the Hawks. 
 

I and I think most Lakeland supporters were OK with the first half scores from last season. In none of those games did it really feel like those teams were hanging around. It felt like the tsunami had not fully churned on them...but inevitably it engulfed them all. 
On to whoever Superior Collegiate is.

You make some good points as you were with IMG for awhile and I am sure know them better than most.  However, I would bet that schools like Bolles, STA, Jax TC, Chaminade, AHD, and possibly a few others put the same effort in as does IMG. All of them have dedicated coaching staffs, recruit on a regular basis (yes it is recruiting although it's called something else), and have the funds to build and maintain top notch facilities. Yet IMG is the school that takes all of the criticism and mostly from the football community. When Chaminade routinely puts running clocks on their opponents they are praised instead of criticized. IMG is criticized for just defeating their opponents although most of IMG opponents are national powerhouses.  I am neither an advocate for or against IMG. I just believe in fair treatment for all HS football teams in Florida no matter what their status.

I worked at IMG for 2 years. I am aware of their operations. And I wasn't surprised by the SAT fixing scandal. Nor that they field a great team year in and year out. But their games are boring, more like a small college game than an exciting HS game. No band that cares, no cheerleaders from the school and a student body that mostly doesn't care, they have their own sports to work on.
They have way more practice time than regular HS players, they live on campus and coaches can be in their ear and face almost at all times. Some students practice in the morning and go to school later in the day. Others go to school in the morning and practice later in the day. Allows for real individual coaching of units. Some of the coaches live in the dorms with them. So they are not like any other HS in that regard. 

Yeah, that score is rough...but IMG is more like a jr. College team.
Losing to IMG is nothing to panic over. Just move on to the next game and take it for what it was. Taking on a professional high school.

I have never concerned myself with what teams might or could beat Lakeland, there are likely plenty of them. No one's invincible. The next game on the schedule is at Bryant stadium next week against the Superior Collegiate Legions. At this moment can Lakeland beat them? 

I believe Venice like it Championship team of two years ago, has the physical maturity it possessed then on its offensive line this year. Its IMG 1st game out the gate, and like you indicated in your post IMG is young. Peacock likes the nickle and dime passing attack and Venice has 2 WR's that will enable Venice to attack IMG all night long  there......with a very physical QB, that understand the read option as well as he does. I'm not as sold on Taylor for Venice at the RB spot, but with that QB Venice has he'll make up for any short comings of Taylor at RB with his own feet....I pick this one for my upset special this week. Only because its IMG's 1st game of the season.......

Parrish Community High School will begin play in 2019 - the school will begin with a Jr. Varsity schedule (despite what the photo shows) as the school will have only or at least the bulk of 9th and 10th graders. They will primarily be taking students from Palmetto High School as they are the only other HS north of the river in Manatee County.  Originally named North River HS .

Parrish Community High School will begin play in 2019, however since the school will only really have 9th and 10th graders to start they will be playing a Jr. Varsity Schedule to begin with.  

Parrish Community High School will begin play in 2019 - the school will begin with a Jr. Varsity schedule (despite what the photo shows) as the school will have only or at least the bulk of 9th and 10th graders. They will primarily be taking students from Palmetto High School as they are the only other HS north of the river in Manatee County.  Originally named North River HS .

Get Naught - Y

33-20

33-20

Lakeland 7A State Champs

In each of their 6 state title game meetings, the team that has led at halftime won.  This was the lowest first half score of any of the games.  It was 13-6 Lakeland at halftime in 1996.

Lakeland played one hell of a game!  Bowman is a stud.   STA made too many mistakes and just didn't play good enough to win.   Happy for Coach Castle and the Naughts! 
 
PS....I know you guys were nervous when it looked like we got that onside!!!

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

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