LAKELAND — When fans last saw Lakeland on the football field, its offense was sputtering its way to the state championship game where it came up empty in a 34-0 loss to Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.
As the Dreadnaught work their way through spring practice, one of the goals is to retool the offense and meld the newcomers on both sides of the football with the returning players from last year’s state runners-up.
Lakeland is coming off a 13-1 season and a third consecutive trip to the state championship game for the second time in school history. The Dreadnaughts previously went to three straight title games from ’04 to ’06.
The big change on offense is at quarterback. Last year’s quarterback Zander Smith has graduated and backup Chad Williams, who started most of the playoff games, is now at Lake Wales.
Lakeland coach Marvin Frazier said there is competition this spring for the starting role, newcomer Joaquin Kavouklis is the favorite. A transfer from Tarpons Spring where he threw for 2,404 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, Kavouklis faced the Dreadnaughts two seasons ago when he was at Clearwater International. He threw for 200 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in a 35-34 Lakeland victory. He is ranked No. 77 in Florida for the Class of ’27 by 247Sports Composite Rankings.
“This kid has one of the quickest releases I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Frazier said. That’s why the University of Arkansas and Virginia Tech and some of the other schools that are big names are still recruiting him. He’s only about 6 feet tall. He’s not the tallest, he legitimately has Division-I, SEC offers. He has those and it’s because he…
Source link : https://www.theledger.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2025/05/08/spring-football-lakeland-looking-to-add-depth-and-rebuild-offense/83455576007/
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Publish date : 2025-05-08 20:00:00
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