Winter Haven Blue Devils (5-2, 0-1) at Lakeland Dreadnaughts (4-2, 0-1)
Head Coaches:
Winter Haven – Charlie Tate (11th season at Winter Haven, 91-33 record)
Lakeland – Bill Castle (40th season at Lakeland, 365-99 record)
Series Record:
Lakeland leads the series 31-6 since 1972
Last Meeting:
2014 – Lakeland 20, Winter Haven 0
Key Players: Winter Haven
QB – William Tate
CB – Ohaji Hawkins
RB – Tekendrick Roberson
WR – Terrance Anglin
Key Players: Lakeland
RB – AJ Davis
WR – James Robinson
QB – Holden Hotchkiss
LB – Kelvin Broome
What’s at stake:
The postseason. A Winter Haven victory–not only historic in-nature effectively eliminates the ‘Naughts from title contention and puts their postseason plans on life support for the runners-up spot. The same applies to the Blue Devils.
The Quick Hitch:
The Dreadnaughts have not lost to Winter Haven since 1992–the year that Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” debuted on cassette.
The Skinny Post:
Last week, William Tate went off on Lake Wales completing 14-of-17 passes for 291 yards and 4TD’s in a 48-0 rout of the Highlanders. Lakelend blew out George Jenkins 42-7 in preparation for this gigantic tilt. Strange to think that Lakeland “could” be out of the playoffs by the end of the night, but just as strange to see the same scenario play itself out for Winter Haven if they can’t break the 23-game losing streak to the ‘Naughts.
Winter Haven wins IF:
They force Lakeland to stay hurried on offense and behind-scheudle on down and distance. Points will probably come at a premium, so ball security is more important than anything else. A defensive score or a touchdown on special teams could be a back-breaker for the ‘Naughts if the ‘Devils can produce in that area of the game.
Lakeland wins IF:
Strangely enough–the ‘Naughts can control their own destiny in this one if they simply control the penalties/mistakes. Staying on schedule while on offense, feeding the rock to AJ Davis and a monster game from the front-seven of Lakeland could see this decades-long streak continue.