Saturday, July 26, 2008

PrepNation 101 Preseason FB Countdown: No. 56 Lakeland

56. Lakeland (Fla.)
Last season’s record: 10-2, lost in second round of Class 5A playoffs
Coach: Bill Castle
Key players: QB Jarred Haggins (5-10, 170, Jr.), LB Jordan Jones (6-1, 220, Jr.), LB Quayshawn Nealy (6-0, 200, Jr.), OG Corey Swanson (6-3, 265, Sr.), OL Brenton Clayton (6-2, 310, Sr.), DE Deonate’ Gary (5-11, 215, Sr.)
Biggest strength: Team speed
Question mark: Inexperience
Outlook: The Dreadnaughts, who return three starters on each side of the ball, are young but have talent and experience in key positions. Lakeland could seriously challenge for its fourth state title since 2004 if a reliable running back emerges to complement Haggins in the veer option attack. As a sophomore, Haggins led the team in total yards and accounted for 15 touchdowns. The offensive line should be a strength again with Swanson and Clayton anchoring the interior. The defense features are pair of talented linebackers in Jones and Nealy, who shared the team lead in tackles as sophomores with 112 a piece. Gary added 71 tackles including a whopping 31 for losses.
Toughest games: Sept. 1 vs. Pittsburgh Central Catholic (at Wheeling, W.Va.), Sept. 26 vs. Boyd Anderson, Oct. 3 vs. Miami Killian, Oct. 10 at Lake Gibson, Nov. 7 at No. 85 Osceola

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

the word is jason guzman is returning as running back so they should be explosive out of the back field

Jamie DeMoney said...

If that does indeed happen, it could greatly improve Lakeland's chances.

Anonymous said...

I tought he was kicked off the team.

Either way they should be higher. I freking St.X team losing all its key starters is going to come in higher then this team. That is just dumb.

Lets go Naughts. I love it how people say Lakeland does not return enough starters blah blah blah. When all they need to do, is to look over the facts and see that lakeland did not have true starters last year. They played many many people.

15-0 State Champs. Were they will play Manatee, who will beat highly overrated STA. STA a team that needed Osceola Key Players to be out to win. Had they not been hurt the week before Osceola wins.

You may ask what more respect do they deserve. Well after going 54-2 over 4 years. Winning Two National titles and three state titles. They deserve higher then no.56 when returning many of the key offensive players.

But maybe we sould be like St.X. Have like 200 players on roster, have a 10-2 season and then maybe we will get respect see St.X 2006 to 2007. Also Finishing #1 because Jamie had to follow through with his promise at the being of the season. When we all know MNW's D lived to play an offese like the bombers they would not have ran on the bulls. And we all know St.X's secondary would have been torn to shreads. They matched up awful with Northwestern wideouts. Heck that kentucky team shreaded them and MNW would had way more power then that.

Anonymous said...

hey 6:03PM anon.....
WHY THE HATE? These are pre-season rankings. You're upset because St. X will be ranked above Lakeland? Give everyone a break.
Why wouldn't X be ranked above Lakeland? We are not talking 2 years ago, and you certainly must not know much about the X program for having to take "shots" at them.
As for Jamie DeMoney and PrepNation ranking X at #1 at the end of the season, if you followed closely, he said if they (X) ran the table, with the schedule they had, they would be CONSIDERED for the Top Spot. No promises. He just laid out his criteria, and at the end, evaluated based on the season. Next time: find a different team to bash, and find some logic for bashing them.

Anonymous said...

You're correct when you say "Why the hate on St.X". Just let the play determine the outcome of this season. This poll means nothing in regards to where they WILL be when the season ends. I spoke with a Lakeland coach last night and you can bet this team will have speed, speed, and more speed. The weakness will be on the D-line, where they need some kids to step up and fill the run gaps. Linebackers, Special Teams (sorely lacking last year), Offensive backfield, and O-line will be tremendous strengths. The linebacker triplets are sideline-to-sideline motorscooters that come with bad intentions. DE will also be strength if they all stay healthy. The bulk of this team will be Jrs.- which bears watching again next year for repeat titles- if they can do it like they do it when they do it SO well...The L is back....enjoy!

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