skyway

Two QBs I'm wondering about at the moment: C. Garnett, mentioned above. And Cam'Ron Ransom, Arwmood's QB last year. Ransom was at Lakeland Santa Fe his freshman year. And, I randomly saw his name as Santa Fe's QB in a brief write-up of the Santa Fe spring game a couple days ago where they had 14 players. Would be a very weird mistake by the writer if it wasn't Ransom playing QB. Might one of these guys be who the coach on Twitter claimed would be the "Lakeland's QB is not on campus yet"? If they end up with either one of those guys under center, they'll be pretty unstoppable on offense.

Watching highlights, Lakeland looks to have the best pair of running backs playing together in the backfield that it has ever had. The lazy old folks that don't pay much attention these days will be mad at me for saying as much.

Word is it is Winter Haven's old QB Eric Williams who will be starting for LW. Let us know if that is the case.

Where does QB Garnett figure in this? The Ledger said he's not out there for LW this spring because he is expected to be elsewhere. And then I saw a coach from Auburndale talking smack about how Lakeland's QB isn't on campus yet. I have no information, but I am starting to wonder what's up.

I actually like Carlson as a color guy. Above average for a HS announcer IMO.

Also missing DE A.J. Thomas who was a RB/DL at Bartow as a Soph. I don't mind talented players targeting good programs they want to end up at. But, I don't like all of the transferring around from one public school in a city to another. It's a bad trend. I'm actually glad Brenden Gant stayed at Kathleen this year. He obviously would have helped Lakeland. And, I'm sure he's pals with some of the players and they probably hoped he'd come over. That said, it is entirely widespread now. At present, I don't think it is fair to get mad at any schools benefiting from this trend. Lakeland's last three playoff opponents all had several high profile players who had previously played elsewhere. What needs to happen is the trend of the best players deciding to join forces and thus deplete the other teams needs to become unfashionable. Heap praise on those like Gant who stay put.

So, is my Bowman > Rainey mantra seeming less insane?

Can't argue with you here. Only hoping for the best!

I posted this on a national forum. Flame away! Lakeland and St. Thomas Aquinas meet for the 8th time in the playoffs, and sixth time in a state title game. They have played each other for a state title more than any other two teams in state history. Lakeland is 5-2 all-time (games played between 1996 and 2008 prior to this year) and 4-1 in state title match ups. Both teams have blown the other out; both have won on the other's home field. The 2006 game is considered by many to be the most exciting finish to a title game in Florida history. When Lakeland has the ball: The strengths of Lakeland's offense are their blocking at the point of attack (both OL and TEs) and their running back. OL D. Hammond is a 4*, Under Armour All-American as is TE Keon Zipperer. Zipperer and 6'5" 250 lb. Keavis Dyer form what is likely the most punishing pair of blockers at the TE position of any team in the country. It is my opinion that, when all is said and done, RB Demarckus Bowman will go down as the best RB Lakeland has ever produced. He may well be the best RB STA has ever faced. Of course, he has a lot to do in order to prove that to be true. Lakeland's weakness is it's passing game. The QB McWilliams has "nifty" feet, but has generally been the weak point all year. He was limited the first half of the season with a hamstring injury and has come on late to keep defenses from keying on Bowman. For this unit to be successful, they must be patient and McWilliams has to make some key throws. They must force the defense to either respect Zipperer and the passing game, or hurt them if they don't. I believe they are capable of some limited success through the air, but not more than 3-4 key, difficult completions (along with some quicker, simpler throws). They can't commit stupid personal foul penalties as they have been prone to do in earlier games. STA's defense is playing with all Power 5 players. So, they are quite obviously good and without any glaring weaknesses. When STA has the ball: Lakeland is strongest on the DL, with a solid LB core behind them. The best DL at present may be A.J. Thomas, who has 17 sacks on the season. He's the size/speed of a physical safety playing DE. As such, he has zero stars. The other three DL are either 3* or 4* Lloyd Summerall. They are a bit light at DT. But, along with a physical group of linebackers (Jaharie Martin started for Lake Gibson in the 2016 state title game vs. Carol City), they've not had anyone run up the gut on them with any consistency. Lakeland's secondary features 3* Fenley Graham, who has several power 5 offers. As a whole, most recognize this unit as the weakest part of the defense. There have only been a handful of bad breakdowns all year, but the 3rd quarter showing against Plant was alarming. I don't think this is a bad unit by any means. But they must avoid getting beat deep and/or making slants and curls ridiculously easy. STA struggled at times offensively last year. But, save for a slow start against Dematha, they've appeared to be unstoppable on this side of the ball as well. Special Teams: Both teams have been lethal in generating TDs on returns and blocks. Lakeland has blocked 8 punts on the year, several safeties and has numerous huge returns. Ditto STA. Keys to the game: Lakeland is the clear underdog given they have a max of 8 guys with Power 5 offers and STA has over 20. For Lakeland to win, they'll have to do what they've done many times in the past: Have guys with zero stars play and look like better players than who they're faced up against. The OL needs to keep STA's DL out of the backfield to give Bowman a chance to get to the 2nd level unscathed. If he can get to that level unscathed with any consistency, he'll have another huge night and Lakeland has a really good shot to win. QB McWilliams will have to avoid mistakes, make a few plays with his legs and at least hit the passes that are simpler and ostensibly able to be completed. The DL needs to be in the backfield early and often. And the entire defense needs to play with patience and not overreact if STA gets several first downs. And I think Lakeland needs to outscore STA in the special teams and turnover areas. I think both teams are capable of creating big plays against the other in special teams. STA can't end up on top in that area if Lakeland is to win. Prediction: I don't f*cking know. I've conceded that STA is the favorite. But, what the hell. Lakeland has won every single game by at least 17 points. And I'm not a p*ssy. Lakeland 34, STA 17.

He looks pretty good this year. Certainly could be on par with Ryan Becker in 2008. And he may even be as fast as Lakeland's QB. If he's light's out accurate and hits every pass Friday, STA marches to another title.

All things being fairly equal, the team with the better QB play wins. In the NFL, all things are almost always fairly equal. Not so in college and HS. So I just think a lot of folks who've spent most of their time as casual fans watching and listening to NFL broadcasts are prone to put too much stock into what the QB looks like. I remember watching Lakeland play at Lake Wales in the '95 Kickoff Classic. Lakeland had a pro-style QB, 6'5" strong arm. Lake Wales had a small guy who could barely throw a ball. My Dad says to me, "there's no way Lake Wales has a chance here". Fast forward to late in the 3rd quarter, Jeff Chaney was running wild on O and snuffing everything out on defense. Lake Wales is up 26-7 before Lakeland gets a late score to lose by 12. Lake Wales was the faster, hungrier team. Lakeland proceeded to start 0-2 (or maybe 1-2, I'm old and my memory is fading). As for this Lakeland team, only in the past few weeks has McWilliams done anything to help the team win. To be fair, he had A LOT to do with the Plant win. But, it is entirely possible that he will prove to be too weak a link for Lakeland to win Friday.

No known reason he wouldn't play. Bigger question would be how well will he play? Has to make plays with his legs, complete the simpler throws, protect the ball and make good decisions.

Yes, that can be a problem...if you're comparing one team who's every play is made available to other teams for whom the only things available are highlights and scores. Have to use the same method of evaluation. One of the things I've done which has been enlightening is watch full games from legendary teams, mostly college since they are more readily available. Something I've learned is that, for literally any team, it's fairly easy to find games or stretches of games where the team looked nothing like the legendary team we know them to be. 1995 Nebraska-the team that beat 12-0 Florida 62-24 before my very eyes-beat 3-8 Wazoo 35-21. I watched all of that team's game vs. Oklahoma both live on TV and again on youtube 25 years later. Not really impressive. We were certain going into that Fiesta Bowl we'd smash the Cornhuskers. Problem is, we were poor at evaluating teams. It was simply much more impressive and visually pleasing to watch Danny Wuerffel throw it around the park than it was to watch Nebraska run the option etc. Didn't actually translate to a very good evaluation of the power of the team as it turned out. Fact is, objectively, 1995 Nebraska always was dominate enough to rank among the best ever teams. Even with the semi-stinker vs. Wazoo and the Lakeland-over-Kathleen-rematch-esque win over Oklahoma. Lakeland's QB simply isn't impressive to watch. No debating that. And QB is obviously a very important position. But, in HS football in particular, I think lay people tend to put a little too much emphasis on the optics of the QB. Lakeland's QB, at this point in the season anyway, may be playing better than the guy they had last year. Even though that guy was 6'4" 250 and a D1 recruit...

Great team, no doubt. We've yet to come up with a single other team that won every game by 17+ heading into the state final. Yes, you can talk about perceived strength of schedule. That certainly does matter. But, if no other team in the history of the state has ever won the first 14 by 17+, than it is also notable that Lakeland has. If you were writing an article about the upcoming game or doing a broadcast, that would be a stat worth mentioning. What should start to become clear is that, should STA beat-or blow out-Lakeland, it will be a significant win. It won't be the same old thing like it was with Viera, Osceola etc.

Outstanding Trenton team. They almost got there! Is there anyone else who actually won the first 14 by 17+?

Depends on what you mean by meeting them. I shook Michael Jordan's hand once, but only because I snuck down by the sideline at Orlando Arena, extended my hand and he limply shook it. haha But, around that same time (1992ish) I was playing on an AAU team and Tracy McGrady was my teammate. So, probably T-Mac

2004 Armwood was close (though they had a forfeit loss) but beat BTW by one point in the semis.

All-time. Looking for any other teams to do this. As we can see, it's not exactly easy to find such teams.

Lakeland would have to hit 42 vs. STA to join the group you mentioned. Bolles 2004 had 13-point wins over Raines and Clay. The search continues! Is there any other team in Florida history to win their first 14 games by 17+ points?

A 17-point margin is significant rather than arbitrary because it means that no combination of two-scores, including two TDs and two, two-point conversions, would even the score. It's a three-score differential no matter what the other team were to do.

2010 STA had a 14-point win over Camden County and a 16-point win over Miramar. Very, very close. But, not quite there.

Nine-point win in state semis for Trenton. Close!

1996 Bolles beat Marist (GA) by 6. So, they're out.

I know it's hard to find all of the scores for all of the teams over the years. But, might it be that Lakeland is the first team to win all of the first 14 games by 17 or more? Bolles '96 may be worth checking on.

That was a great run for DP.! Almost matched Lakeland on the 17-point margin, save for the Seminole Ridge game. I remember being so frustrated watching that state title game vs. Central. DP just couldn't stop the gun runs for Central.