The Setup
Lake Nona (8-2) will travel to Lakeland (10-0) tonight for round 1 of the 2014 FHSAA 7A playoffs. Lake Nona enters with a high powered offense averaging a staggering 46 points per contest. The Dreadnaughts boast a freakish good defense only allowing 8 points per game.
On the line
The winner of this game gets the winner of the Bartow (5-5) at Osceola (9-1) game in the regional semi-finals.
The Challenge
Lake Nona senior quarterback Tucker Israel joined a short list of the most prolific high school quarterbacks of all-time when he surpassed 12,000 career passing yards last week.
According to a list compiled by Kevin Askeland of MaxPreps.com, only 27 players prior to Israel had hit that mark.
Israel, who broke Florida career records for completions, yards and touchdown passes earlier this season – See Orlando Sentinel Article. This season Isreal has completed 297 of 444 passes for 4191 yards, 53 TD passes and 12 TDs.
The History
The last two seasons, Lakeland’s season ended 9-2 with district runner up honors and a disappointing first round exit. 2004-2006 (3 seasons), Lakeland did not lose a single game. Lakeland went 45-0 in that span and won 3 district titles, 3 regional titles and 3 state championships. The following year, Lakeland went 10-2 and was the district runner up. Lakeland would advance to the state title game once more in 2008 (14-1), win 3 more district titles and 3 more regional titles. That gives Lakeland 4 state title game appearances, 3 state titles, 6 regional championships and 6 district titles.
Sophomore X-Factor
James Robinson, Lakeland 2017 WR leads the team in receiving yards and TDs this season. Robinson should be a matchup nightmare for the Lake Nona defense. His 6-3 Frame will allow QB Aaron Johnson to put the ball anywhere in his catch radius and Robinson will likely come down with it. Robinson says Lakeland must “Stand alone as one, eat every crumb and take it game by game to go to state.” They are not looking past this formidable opponent. But looking directly at them. As just a sophomore, Robinson had to fill the TE position though he is a natural receiver. Doing whatever it takes for the team to win. Though he holds several division 1 verbal offers, Robinson is able to block out the attention. “I block it out and just grind and eat everyday.” What’s it gonna take to beat Lake Nona, “Keep the Horses and when in doubt air it out. I look forward to our defense playing some good D. We don’t look forward to losing!” – James Robinson