skyway

There were knocks on STA's qb at the beginning of the season.  The kid is committed to Harvard, so you know he is smart.  From what I can tell, he doesn''t make a lot of mistakes.  He has great tools on offense and has been good enough to connect with them. 
Not that it would hurt them to have a Power 5 quality qb, but he is probably just fine for STA this year.  Sometimes just having a kid with a head on his shoulders who makes good decisions is the best bet over a stud who makes a bad decision for every 2 great plays he makes, and Lord knows there have been plenty of those in FL. 

Really appreciate your post.  Tommie Frazier was not the greatest passer, but boy he knew how to run that offense.  Go back to the late 1970's...Johnny Little at Texas and Thomas Lott at Oklahoma.  As you say above about the Lakeland qb, they were not the most exciting qb's to watch.  But they were incredible generals on the field and ran their offenses to perfection.  They were just what their teams needed. 

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

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.

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

I think that what you'll find as you go through the years is that, no matter what you think about "strength of schedule", you'll almost never find a team that's gone through and won all of the first 14 games by a minimum of 17 points. At least not the public schools north of Broward. Memories fade and, a lot of times, it's just the showing in the state final that people remember.

This can be measured, mostly objectively. Who do you have in mind? I'm sorry, but two-loss teams like 2011 Manatee fail to do the job.

We'd have to agree upon some criteria from which to judge. Talent on the roster, results on the field, and what else? Then break it down. Just please don't use calpreps computer rankings for anything 

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.

Worth mentioning. BTW ended the season as State Champs. Whats impressive is the schedule they played that year and they beat  3 states champs in Miami Central, Norcross, and Bishop Gorman. Lets see if Lakeland can even beat STA.
Booker T. Washington 2013
Norcross (Norcross, GA)(W) 55 - 0  ranked 53rd nationally
Central (Miami, FL)(W) 28 - 17   ranked 8th nationally
Carol City (Miami, FL)(W) 45 - 0
Jackson (Miami, FL)(W) 35 - 6
Monsignor Pace (Miami, FL)(W) 49 - 7
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, NV)(W) 28 - 12   ranked 66th nationally
Northwestern (Miami, FL)(W) 21 - 9
Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL)(W) 41 - 7
Norland (Miami, FL)(W) 41 - 14
Edison (Miami, FL)(W) 62 - 0
Glades Central (Belle Glade, FL)(W) 40 - 18
University (Fort Lauderdale, FL)(W) 45 - 17
Cocoa (Cocoa, FL)(W) 49 - 10
Bolles (Jacksonville, FL)(W) 40 - 21
Total points scored 579, Average points per game 41.3 
Total points allowed 138, Average allowed 9.8

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

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

Carol City has played in 4 state title games over the past 25 years(1996, 1997, 2003, 2016), and won each time.  In those 4 games, they gave up a total of 30 points.  In the 20 playoff games they played those years, they held their opponents to 1 TD or less in 14 of the games.   For some perspective, Northwestern, who is known for its defense, has given up 58 points in their past 4 title games and in 20 playoff games those title years held their opponents to 1 TD or less in 3 of the games.   
Very few teams have held a state final opponent to less than 100 yards of total offense.  Carol City has done it twice in the past 15 years, something no other team can claim.  In their 13-0 win against Edgewater in 2003, their defense gave up only 93 yards of offense and 7 first downs.  In their 14-6 win against Lake Gibson in 2016, their defense gave up only 89 total yards of offense and 5 first downs.   That included only 19 net rushing yards in 26 carries. 
 
 

Among small schools look at 2015 Trenton
 
14 out of 15 games were running clocks, only team they didn't running clock was Madison County in state semifinals 

...some great teams of the past.  That 30 point margin of victory by Coral Gables 50 years ago compared to today...suffice it to say it would be the equivalent of some astronomical figure in today's game.  They were facing some powerhouse teams of the day on their schedule.     
 
1967 2A state champion Coral Gables (declared national champions that year) outscored opponents by average of 32-2.
1972 4A state champion Merritt Island averaged 40 points per game, an incredible average for that period of time.
1988 5A state champion Pine Forest (declared national champion by USA today) outscored opponents by average of 31 points per game.
2005 5A state champion Lakeland outscored opponents by average of 42-6.

Teams added

I know the 24-0 score was over Bradenton Southeast!

Yup bingo

Fair enough. So, Columbia '97 pre-Carol City?

Columbia '97 pre-Carol City?

based off what?  2015 beat a bad Viera team.  If Osceola would have still been in 7A they might have lost.

you only say that because they beat you.  they had 5 losses.  They were not real good.  Weak 7A.  Osceola had moved up to 8A that year and the panhandle teams dropped to 6A and weakened the region.

Best Florida team ever couldn’t beat this STA team by 40

I'll do some looking and get back to you 

No, I really believe it to be true. Even if STA "running clocks" Lakeland. This is the closest thing possible to a Polk County all-star team. There's nowhere else with a couple hundred thousand residents in the area that a public school can end up with such a monopoly on the local talent.  I'm not wild about how teams like this come to be. All of the transferring is bad for sports in general. But, those dynamics I describe combined with a legendary coach/program just don't exist anywhere else. I don't think we'll ever see a better public than this Lakeland team in November. It serves no purpose for me to say this team is better than Lakeland '99, '05 etc. I'm just certain it is true. And they may still get running clocked by STA.  Because this STA team is also better than any of those teams Lakeland faced back in the day.