Land O’Lakes (2-2) at Lakeland Christian (5-0)
Head Coaches:
Land O’Lakes – Brian Wachtel (6th season, 18-37 record)
Lakeland Christian – Wayne Peace (5th season, 36-11 record)
It’s the Gators making their way southeast from Pasco County into the heart of Polk to take on the Vikings in a non-district matchup this evening. The Gators have alternated wins and losses this season with victories against Wesley Chapel and Anclote–giving up a total of just seven points in those wins, while losing to county top-dogs River Ridge and Sunlake in which they only scored a total of seven points.
Lakeland Christian has given up more than 12 points just once this season while posting two shutouts. The Vikings have racked up 181 points to just 43 for their opponents while averaging 29 points in the first half alone. LCS is adjusting to life without their starting QB Tyler Wilkerson who suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago.
Land O’Lakes is brining a 2-1 road record into Lakeland tonight, and will look to lean on a stingy defense led by Tommy Farmer and company. Their plans to play ball control and keep the game low scoring will fall on QB Spencer Childress and a trio of running backs. Rashawn Kindell, Quentin Smith and the aforementioned Farmer are the top three rushers for the Gators this season.
Lakeland Christian has instant offense in the absence of Wilkerson with Ben Sirmons and R.B. Marlow looking to get even more work than they previously were seeing. Sirmons has rushed 50 times for 637 yards and 11 touchdowns in addition to catching 4 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Marlow’s caught 15 passes for 387 yards and five touchdowns for Lakeland Christian this season.
Land O’Lakes wins IF:
They can play keep-away on offense and force the Vikings off-schedule in down and distance early in series’. LCS loves to operate on offense at a specific rhythm. Forcing them to dance to a different tune could open doors for the Gators if they can find a way to squeeze some more yardage out of the offensive sponge–or perhaps create some points from their defense. This one is simple–get the Vikings into the meat grinder and make it as ugly as possible.
Lakeland Christian wins IF:
They simply do-what-they-do on offense in the first half. They’re putting up nearly 30 points in the first two quarters alone and if the Gators can’t break their offensive mold of scoring six points in the first half, then this one is in the books early. Even without their starting QB, the Vikings have enough talent (as evidenced by their top five ranking in Class 3A) to stand with anybody in the state.
Next Week:
Land O’Lakes is at Tampa Catholic
Lakeland Christian is at Melbourne Central Catholic