Lakeland Ranked No. 1

[E.T.]

http://theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060826/NEWS/608260426/1002/SPORTS

Lakeland wins big with Rainey EXPLODING !!!

[E.T.]

How is posting an article "rooting" ?

Are you "rooting" for Rutgers ?

[E.T.]

Lakeland is playing St. Xavier (I think) Saturday ... Ohio team.

[E.T.]

Lakeland is playing St. Xavier (I think) Saturday ... Ohio team.

From Cincy ... they played in the Bearcats stadium ... Lakeland won in OT.

[Bull Dozer]

That program has been bonkers for a while now.  Resembling a mid 90's union country program that has a ridiculous winning streak and sent many many kids D1 during their run.  Since they arent a private school they run wont be forever.  It does help that they arent in a major metropolian area though.  

[E.T.]

But it has a good program with LOTS of backers!

No Slump, 'Naughts Cruise to Victory

By Mike Cobb

The Ledger

LAKELAND -- A week after traveling to Cincinnati and winning a game at the national level, the one thing Lakeland coach Bill Castle didn't want to see from his team Friday night at Bryant Stadium was a letdown.

He didn't.

The Dreadnaughts, ranked No. 1 in Class 5A and No. 3 nationally, took just 58 seconds to score their first touchdown and wound up scoring 49 first-half points on their way to an easy 49-7 homecoming win over Miami Dr. Krop.

The Dreadnaughts, 5-0, played without running back Chris Rainey, who sat out with a deep thigh bruise. Jamar Taylor and T.K. Lamb, however, combined for 242 rushing yards with 229 of them coming in the first half. As a consolation prize, Rainey was named the homecoming king.

Taylor had 148 yards and four touchdowns on just 13 carries by halftime, but said he missed his running mate.

"We've got to have him back next week for Lake Gibson," Taylor said.

After last week's 25-22 overtime win in Cincinnati against nationally ranked Cincinnati St. Xavier, Castle said he was hoping his team would put that win behind them.

"It was hard. That was a big game for us," Castle said of last week's win. "Plus, this was homecoming.

"We came out and executed and got the game over in a hurry."

Taylor's first touchdown, a 1-yard run, came just 58 seconds into the game set up by a 54-yard run by Lamb.

Taylor added touchdowns of 15, 7 and 23 yards and six of his 13 carries were for 15 yards or more. Lamb had 81 yards at halftime and finished the night with 94.

Quarterback Blair Castle threw a pair of touchdown passes of 6 and 31 yards to Keon Broxton. And cornerback Steve Wilks, who sealed Lakeland's win over St. Xavier last week with an interception in overtime, scored on a 31-yard interception return.

Dr. Krop, 1-4, scored midway through the fourth quarter on a 3-yard pass from Athon Harris to Nate Ferguson after the Lightning got the ball at the Dreadnaught 10 following a blocked punt.

Because of Lakeland's 49-0 halftime lead, the second half was played with a running clock. The Dreadnaughts ran only nine plays from scrimmage in the second half.

A crowd of 4,000 watched the game. Lakeland plays at Lake Gibson next Friday in a Class 5A, District 8 game.

[E.T.]

GAME OF THE WEEK: LAKELAND 46, LAKE GIBSON 7

Not Even a Contest; 'Naughts Whip Braves

By Roy Fuoco

The Ledger

LAKELAND -- The expected Class 5A, District 8 showdown between No. 1 Lakeland and No. 9 Lake Gibson on Friday night wasn't much of a showdown.

Lakeland had too many big plays. Lake Gibson had too many mistakes. The result was a typical Dreadnaught rout.

When Chris Rainey and Jamar Taylor finished running, Lakeland had a 46-7 victory before about 8,500 fans at Virgil Ramage Stadium.

Rainey scored three touchdowns, including touchdown runs of 77 and 73 yards to finish with 186 yards on 11 carries. Taylor scored two touchdowns, including a 73-yard touchdown run and finished with 98 yards on 14 carries.

"It was important for us to make a statement and show we could run on Lake Gibson," offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey said. "They have a great defensive line, and they have a great defense. But we have two great backs and an offensive line, and we just wore them down."

Lakeland head coach Bill Castle didn't expect the game to end with such a one-sided result.

"We didn't make any mistakes," Castle said. "They made some mistakes, and we didn't. When you play these city rivalries, they can kind of bounce like this. One team gets up on the other a little bit."

Lake Gibson's mistakes helped the Dreadnaughts break open the game in the second quarter.

After Lakeland (6-0, 1-0) surged to a 15-0 first-quarter lead, the Braves got back in the game with a 60-yard punt return by Bilal Powell to make it 15-7. Rainey answered with a 70-yard kickoff return to the 10, but the Braves held Lakeland to a Matt Roddenbery field goal.

Then came the Lake Gibson mistakes. On first down, the Braves (3-2, 0-1) had a 10-yard gain negated by a penalty on what would have been their first first down. Then on third down, Ahmad Black intercepted Breshawn Barnes and returned it for 48 yards for a touchdown. Black had a pass go through his hands on the previous play.

"My footwork was messed up and since I was already messed up with the footwork, I'd just knock it down," Black said about the first pass. "But it went through his hands and it caught me in the face. So I got in the huddle and told them, `I owe you one. That was my fault.' So on the next play, I picked it off."

Lakeland finished with 351 yards of total offense and held Lake Gibson to 121.

[I Bleed Awesomeness]

in response to smazza's whole "leavitt should own lakeland recruits" thing, he obviously doesnt know how the whole recruiting process works.  at this point, kids that committ to school like uf, fsu, or miami are plain and simply a HELL of a lot more likely to make it to the next level.  kids arent necessarily gonna go to usf just because leavitt has a good relationship with them...they are first and foremost concerned with having the best chance to be set up financially for the rest of their lives.  at this point in usfs young football career, they have yet to establish themselves as a contender for anything, much less a national title.  the big 3 are nationally ranked EVERY year at the beginning of the season.  lets see, would i rather play on national TV in front of 70,000+ people every game, or on espnU in front of 30,000?  its not even a question of which makes more logical sense.  just look how "average" fsu and miami have been the last couple years, and still how player after player get drafted to the nfl.  until usf has a few consecutive VERY solid seasons, we will still be the little retarted brother of the big 3.

[Bullpride08]

wow you are such a douche.  did i ever say anything about selling in my entire post?  congratulations by the way on selling portable heaters....im real proud of you.  blah blah blah, yeah and i could sell ice to an eskimo, water to a fish...whatever.  

THIS is what i am saying:  if im 18 years old, and trying to decide whether or not i want to go to a school deep with tradition thats been around for 100 years, and play on NATIONAL tv every week, or to usf thats been around 10 years and is lucky to get on tv at all each week, my choice is pretty obvious.  that has nothing to do with leavitt.

by the way, you must be hell of a salesperson.  i have NO CLUE how you get people to buy into your law services.  you cant write, use logic (which basically means you can't think), and all you do is cry.  anything you say on here is complete idiocy.  i literally feel dumber everytime i read a post by you.  may god have mercy on your soul.  hey, do you think you can show me how to sell fire to a caveman?

And some of us have been dealing with his crap for 4-5 years.  He has an ax to grind with Leavitt, and USF athletics.  It is well known, leave him be because of it he will never be satisfied.

Most folks that know realize that right now Leavitt is SELLING ICE TO ESKIMOS.  Because literally the kids he's signed the past four years, there are quite a few cases where it doesn't make tons of sense why the kid signed with us from a logical standpoint.

[E.T.]

78 - 0

LAKELAND -- Lakeland High set two team records and tied another as the Dreadnaughts defeated cross town rival George Jenkins, 78-0, in a Class 5A-District 8 game Friday night.

The drubbing unfolded in front of 4,000 fans on senior night at Bryant Stadium.

Lakeland set a school record with five defensive touchdowns while placekicker Matt Roddenberry set a record with eight extra points. Lakeland equaled a school record in points.

Running back Chris Rainey rushed for 116 yards on six carries and two touchdowns including one from 75 yards out to give Lakeland a 21-0 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter.

``It was a total team effort out there tonight,'' Lakeland coach Bill Castle said.

``Believe you me, we still have a lot of things to work on during the off week.''

The win proved to be costly for the Dreadnaughts, though.

Running back Jamar Taylor injured his ankle on a running play in the second quarter.

X-rays were taken after the game.

The Dreadnaught defense, in addition to the touchdowns scored, forced 10 turnovers, including seven fumbles.

Ahmad Black started the scoring barrage as he scooped up a fumble and went 30 yards down the far sideline to give Lakeland a 14-0 lead en route to a 64-0 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Dreadnaughts played their second and third stringers with a running clock.

The Eagles (0-7,0-2) play host to Auburndale next Friday night.

Lakeland (8-0,2-0) will travel to Osceola on Oct. 27.