Bradenton, August 23, 2018- In 2017, the Manatee Hurricanes finished at 5-4 and 5-1 in their 7A districts, with the Lakeland Dreadnaughts tying their successful knot at 10-1 and 3-0 in districts, earning spot 30 in the state rankings. They will put their all their blood and sweat preparation to the test tomorrow- this matchup has some action-packed sights in store, sure to hear some oo’s and ahh’s out of the crowd as they kick off with a bang.
“Treating it like every other game, focusing on nothing else but the game; it’s a regular week for us, just going to go out there and be physical and disciplined, don’t beat ourselves and control the controllable. Our quarterback is developing well, these are the real games now, so we’ll see what really counts from him this Friday night,” Head Coach Yusuf Shakir remarks intuitively.
Both teams have extensive historical accolades, with Manatee wearing their most recent crown in 2011 with a 14-2 season record, achieving 7A State Champions, reaching rank 8 nationally- their most prevalent successful years took place throughout the 80’s and 1 Cup in 92’ in which they amassed 4 other State Championships all under Head Coach Joe Kinnan in division 5A.
The Dreadnaughts one-upping them with 6 total State Titles, including years 86’, 89’, and 99’, then again proving their status with a trifecta, holding up the trophy in 04’, 05’ and in 06’ which is also their most recent; posting an undefeated 15-0 year and after coming very close throughout the next 5 years with a minimum of 10 wins with Head Coach Bill Castle calling the shots.
“The main things I want to see is that they don’t make the same mistakes twice- they’re learning the schemes, improving and get better every time, so preaching to reinforce the things we did good on, thing about becoming a successful team is knowing what went on each down, sometimes you make more mistakes in a win than loss.”
“Participated in a lot of camps this summer, including camps held at Florida State University, Florida University and University of South Florida campuses, seeing them come together. Summer is for building on cohesion and gelling the team as one. I don’t veer off from my plans and we’re going to continue to move forward with our progress. I just enjoy the daily process of things, take pride and joy in the small daily events and watching these kids grow as they progress as young men,” Head Coach Shakir further states.
Head Coach Yusuf Shakir and the Manatee Hurricanes will head to Lakeland without home-field advantage to face off against Head Coach Bill Castle and the Lakeland Dreadnaughts in this week’s Friday night lights, both squads are coming off preseasons wins, Manatee pulling ahead to beat North Miami 16-9, and Lakeland showing up East Bay with a 43-0 blowout.
Vaughan Sixbury, BCP Contributor