Teams:
Bartow
Kathleen
Lakeland
Winter Haven

Lakeland Back?
With a 21-1 record versus these three teams in the past ten seasons, we didn’t realize Lakeland had ever left. The question is valid though if the context is based on how Lakeland judges themselves and that’s by playing for state championships. It’s been a hot-minute that feels like centuries since the ‘Naughts have made it to Orlando, but once again they have the studs and the schedule that’s conducive to a fantastic regular season finish. The road in the playoffs will be full of potholes that could potentially damage the expensive equipment on this hot-rod, but that’s a moot point if Lakeland’s playing to their potential with all-stars everywhere. It’s safe to say this season begins-and-ends with the Dreadnaughts in the trenches on offense though and with QB Holden Hotchkiss running things as efficiently as possible. As long as unforced errors aren’t the issue, this team could do some big things.

Is this Winter Haven’s season?
Things might get interesting if the Blue Devils hit their stride. Just like everyone else in Polk County they’ve taken their lumps from Lakeland going 0-8 in the past ten seasons versus the ‘Naughts losing by a combined score of 48-7 the last two years even though Winter Haven has gone 19-5 during those two seasons. Things are noticeably upgraded for the Devils this season and their move up to Class 7A from Class 6A just makes things all the more difficult for those around them that have to face their bruising style of ball control and defense. We will get a pretty good gauge for what Head Coach Charlie Tate and his squad have under the hood as they’ll host the preseason Class 8A #1-ranked and state runners-up Miami Columbus in their preseason fall classic on the 21st.

The rubber meets the road October 16th…
Although there’s only three district contests on the docket for these teams thus making all three of them of equal importance, we can point to one single, solitary moment in time this fall when this district could be sent to it status quo or chaos could ensue. On October 16th, Kathleen will travel to Bartow and Winter Haven travels to Lakeland. We know about Lakeland’s dominance versus Winter Haven and that game is the marquee match-up that night for reasons already mentioned. The Red Devils will have faced the Blue Devils the week before however and will likely have a slim margin for error when they face a young, but increasingly talented Bartow squad who will have faced Lakeland the week before. A Lakeland win and a Kathleen win sets us up for yet another Lakeland-Kathleen game with playoff lives at stake, which is status quo given the series histories between the teams. A Winter Haven win and a Bartow victory means Lakeland-Kathleen and Bartow-Winter Haven results on the 30th could send us into tiebreaker territory which would be chaos.