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LAKELAND — Lakeland football opened its season with a victory over Miami Central, a team that might have been playing for a state title this week before being sanctioned by the FHSAA. The Dreadnaughts then defeated Lake Mary, a team that is playing for a Class 7A championship this week.
Since then, it appeared to be the Dreadnaughts’ destiny to reach a state championship game for the third consecutive year, and they will meet Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. It will be the seventh time the two teams have met in the championship game. Lakeland has won five of the previous six meetings, the last time coming in 2018.
The game can be watched here online at www.nfhs.com.
Lakeland (13-0) is undefeated while Aquinas comes in with three losses. But don’t expect Lakeland coach Marvin Frazier to underestimate his opponent.
“I think that that’s what people are confused about is that, they’ve lost three games,” he said. “Well, their three losses were to three of the best teams in the country. Those three teams are all in the top 15 teams (in the nation).”
On paper, it might look like Aquinas has the advantage. The Raiders are averaging just over 100 yards more per game on offense than Lakeland, 388.9 to 286.5. However, translated in to points, the Raiders are scoring a field goal more per game and giving up a field goal more per game. Aquinas’ average score is 41.7-16.3, while Lakeland’s is 38.4-12.3.
Last year, an explosive offense carried Lakeland other its ninth state title. This year, the defense has carried the team in big games, along with special teams.
“It’s OK sometimes to have the mentality of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens because your defense is going to make a play. The key is we don’t want to put them in bad situations,” Frazier said. “We don’t want…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lakeland-football-vs-st-thomas-090400651.html
Author : The Ledger
Publish date : 2024-12-12 09:04:00
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