skyway

Cross some arms, legs and eyes too!

Been there, done that.  Looks good on paper but at what cost?  Win a state title, damn a vote .  Also keep in mind, Lakeland/STA are probably the only programs in America that have actually played in a high school National Championship game.  Let that resonate...

I hope so too. Steel sharpens steel, always!!

There's no good reason for them to play IMG. They should stick to playing high schools, specifically those that play by the same sorts of rules they have to play by.

Well, that's amusing, if nothing else.
IMG is able to offer housing to players. Imagine, if you must, how things might go should anyone so much as get the idea that someone associated with Lakeland's program offered any sort of assistance, whatsoever, with the housing of players. 
ANY program with any sort of chance to compete with the elite teams in the state has players who are talking to players on other teams, trying to convince them to take advantage of school choice/free transfer rules. Of course, the Dreadnaughts obviously have a "special" place in your heart, so they get special attention from you. 

Fingers crossed there is a stream available!

Venice @ Lakeland May 19th at 7pm. 

The *only* difference for Osceola is its relative remote location, further away from other programs. If they were close in to Orange or Polk county, they'd be in the same ball game.

Yes, I do aim to be provocative through unabashed honesty. Whether we speak of the FHSAA or the NCAA, the point remains the same: cowardly "management" by both organizations has created a world in which my post above accurately reflects the truth of the times. And, it's all frequently displayed on what has become THE determining factor in ALL policy, be it sports, state government or that from the White House: Twitter reactions are ALL that matters. Study twitter if you want to know what the Biden, Trump (or insert your favorite politician here) will do. You can view players' Twitter feeds and see mentions of how "such and such school's players showed the love, but I am in a committed relationship with____)". Saint Frances and IMG regularly take the best players from other teams. If Venice is to compete with them, they must do the same. They did as much last year to Sarasota Riverview, deftly stealing both their QB and best skill player (Browne and Haynes). Both Lakeland and Lake Gibson lost their starting QBs and recruited Pleuss from Ridge. Lakeland won that one; LG won the battle for Winter Haven's RB. It is what it is, until somebody grows some testicles and says "enough is enough".

Well, that's amusing, if nothing else.
IMG is able to offer housing to players. Imagine, if you must, how things might go should anyone so much as get the idea that someone associated with Lakeland's program offered any sort of assistance, whatsoever, with the housing of players. 
ANY program with any sort of chance to compete with the elite teams in the state has players who are talking to players on other teams, trying to convince them to take advantage of school choice/free transfer rules. Of course, the Dreadnaughts obviously have a "special" place in your heart, so they get special attention from you. 

There's no good reason for them to play IMG. They should stick to playing high schools, specifically those that play by the same sorts of rules they have to play by.

There's no good reason for them to play IMG. They should stick to playing high schools, specifically those that play by the same sorts of rules they have to play by.

Venice doesn’t have to be the overall better team to defeat St. Frances; they just have to be the better team for 2 hours on Friday night when 9/16 rolls around. When Coach Peacock scheduled IMG in 2017 he wanted to beat them to have a chance at the national championship. Unfortunately, in spite of a really hard fought defensive battle they could not get it done. The Ascenders have crushed us twice since then, in 2019 and 2020, including a brutal 49-7 beatdown against SFA in 2019. 
I can assure you that the Indians are not scheduling either game with the expectation of a 21+ point loss. Those kids don’t want to get their butts kicked, they want to win the damn game. We have major unfinished business with both teams. On any given Friday or Sunday anything could happen on the field so the game has to be played. Both IMG and SFA are obviously amazing teams but a few mistakes in the game could mean that Venice brings in a shiny W against a national powerhouse. Just have to wait and see what happens but I think Venice will have a decent chance in either game if they play a strong game and limit their mistakes. 

I don't think beating SFA etc is a goal for most schools. It looks like it is a goal for Venice (really, John Peacock), as they've now faced both IMG and SFA multiple times.
The "rules" at the moment are such that it's not clear that any are being broken. The kids are the ones chatting each other up at parks, camps and social events. You're not going to be able make and enforce rules prohibiting kids from socializing and saying things like " we really need a QB, you'd start for us!" at some outing in a public park. But, when such things are said, if it piques their attention and they decide to transfer, there's nothing to keep them from doing that. That's how we end up where we are. The only thing that will curtail it is a change in culture, to where all-star team building falls out of popularity, and/or rules requiring transfers to sit a season out if they can't provide proof of residence in the new school's zone.

The *only* difference for Osceola is its relative remote location, further away from other programs. If they were close in to Orange or Polk county, they'd be in the same ball game.

I certainly hope to see the Naughts again but I haven’t heard anything about the spring game. Could be another Jamboree like last year but I’m not sure what will happen if the schedule isn’t released soon; infuriating considering that we are already 3 days into April with no real indications yet. 

Venice will need really good transfers to maintain their 2021 level. Just using returnees and underclassmen will mean they'll take a step back. They'll be good enough to win most all the games either way, but to compete with SFA, IMG etc, they will have to take some of the better players from other schools. Of course, this is not news. And Venice is not unique in this. I'm happy my Dreadnaughts won a tough recruiting battle with Lake Gibson for Ridge's QB. Will we see you guys in May again?

We return Keon Sears, Alvin Johnson, Austin Bray, and Jamarice Wilder on offense as well as 2 starters on the offensive line. Our Quarterback will be Michael Valentino who looked excellent as a backup to Brown last season when he saw the field in blowouts. Smooth passer who isn’t entirely mobile but willing to take off for yards when necessary.  
On defense Kintigh and Wahington return but the two edge rushers will need to be replaced. The defensive backfield remains somewhat in tact from last year but the losses of Harris, Weston, and Smith will be felt. They need to replace quite a few starters but I feel that they have the manpower to do it. Time will tell but I think that this year’s Venice team has a decent chance at winning at least one of their games against IMG, or SFA. We will have to wait but I am excited to see what happens.
Go Indians!

What kind of recruiting class has Venice lined up for 2022? They lost quite a bit from 2021, and figure to need major additions to have any shot to make a game of it vs. SFA.

That was the era where only the district champ made the playoffs, and Lakeland and classic-era Manatee shared a district. Manatee teams that won state titles (sometimes decisively) won tight district games over Lakeland to make the playoffs. At least once it happened on a Monday tie-breaker with Lake Gibson.

Bryant Stadium

We will continue to run the ball and should be more effective this year with the vast majority of the OL returning.  The last couple of years we have started to throw the ball more than in the past and I think they will continue to improve doing that.  They did get about 2000 yards thru the air last year and I know since ancient history we have never done that.  Losing our QB but have his backup stepping up this year with 80% of that receiving corps returning including the top 3 plus a couple of new faces.  Not sure if this qualifies as "Opening it Up" but teams are not going to get away with sticking 8 or 9 in the box to stop the run.

Osceola still needs to fill in a couple of weeks but looks like Edgewater in spring, Apopka KOC, Treasure Coast week 1, Seminole week 2, Rockledge week 5 and your Naughts week 7.  District games in between. 

Don't remind me.  Manatee made my time in high school miserable back when a district loss could leave you sitting at home during the playoffs.  I recall losing to Tommy Frazier's '91 Manatee team in Bradenton followed by another defeat by the Hurricanes in '92.  Plant City could be added to the mix as I recall some heated battles during my time.  The most success Lakeland had while I was in high school was my senior year in '93 season when we completed our first ever undefeated season and the only time we made the playoffs while I was at Lakeland.  We were bounced in the first round by Sarasota Riverview, LOL.
STA became a rival by circumstance.  I'd argue that STA and Lakeland are rivals only because the planets aligned and we happened to meet 7 times from 1996 and 2008.
Lakeland may be the favorite against LG on paper but the Naughts still have to prove it.

It depends some on district and playoff match ups.  There was a stretch in the 80s and early 90s when Bradenton Manatee was arguably Lakeland's biggest rivalry. There were some epic playoff games, and then they shared a district for a few years. From 1996-~2008 you could argue STA was the biggest rival. Right now it sure looks like Lake Gibson.
Lakeland is much more loaded in terms of returning talent and transfers, but LG has some awesome talent back, lots of young prospects, and a few transfers, too. One has to figure Lakeland is the favorite in 2022, but it's hard to imagine a Gibson team with Cormani McClain and Brayshon Williams in the secondary going down easily.