Who’s the top rival?

[Nulli Secundus]

11 hours ago, skyway said:

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.

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.

[Ray Icaza]

Osceola and St. Cloud are the two oldest HS in our county so still a rivalry although more adequately fits the Perspective definition of "Tradition".  They still want to play as do the locals even though in recent years the games haven't been very competitive and I applaud them for wanting the challenge.  It is one of the oldest traditional games in the state of Florida and began back in 1925 so it is featured as part of the "Great American Rivalry Series".  I think it will be the 98th meeting and they should be improved this year over last as they return a bunch of kids that got better as the season progressed so they should have more success this year overall.  Other rivalries for us change within our landscape as certain teams get strong providing competitive games with playoff implications, then fall back being replaced by someone else.  Over the years it has fluctuated alot for this reason so we have no consistent school for more than just a few years.

[Jambun82]

On 3/12/2022 at 10:54 AM, Nulli Secundus said:

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.

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

[skyway]

19 minutes ago, Jambun82 said:

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

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.

[Nulli Secundus]

1 hour ago, Jambun82 said:

Was Lakeland down for a few years in the early 90's? It is hard to imagine the Dreadnaughts not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. 

 

57 minutes ago, skyway said:

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.

As @skyway stated, those were rough years and only the district champion made the playoffs.  After Lakeland's first title in '86, the Naughts didn't sniff the post-season again until '93.  During that time, Manatee played in 3 title games, winning 2.  

[Jambun82]

On 3/13/2022 at 8:09 PM, skyway said:

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.

Thank you for the information. 

[Jambun82]

On 3/13/2022 at 9:22 PM, Nulli Secundus said:

 

As @skyway stated, those were rough years and only the district champion made the playoffs.  After Lakeland's first title in '86, the Naughts didn't sniff the post-season again until '93.  During that time, Manatee played in 3 title games, winning 2.  

Thank you for that information. My high school football team played at Bryant Stadium in 1994.