Polk Perspectives

So last night I attended a high school football game not as a reporter for the first time since I was in college. It was a little different not being in the press box or on the sideline, especially not having to keep track of every detail of every play for my stats or play-by-play.

But it was a lot of fun just being a fan and cheering on Lakeland as the Dreadnaughts faced longtime rival Kissimmee Osceola in the Class 7A playoffs. For the first time in years the two teams were not in the same district, but they still met in the second round of the playoffs after Osceola beat Ridge in the first round last week.

After a pretty slow start in the first quarter, Lakeland righted the ship behind strong defense and a very effective passing game under quarterback Raheeme Dumas. The Dreadnaughts won 20-7 and will face Tampa Gaither next week at Bryant Stadium.

There were three takeaways I had from the game:

1. Bill Castle should win Coach of the Year: I gave Castle the award last year because I felt the Naughts truly had the best team in the county, and he got a lot out of his players. There really wasn’t another coach who stood out from the rest. This year, I’m not sure Lakeland has the best team (they didn’t play Winter Haven like last year, for instance) and they played a lot more close games than a typical undefeated Lakeland squad. But here’s the thing, they won all those close games. Castle has gotten just as much as, if not more, out of this year’s team than last year’s. Lakeland also overcame a tremendous amount of off-field adversity with the ongoing eligibility battle regarding the George Jenkins transfers. For the first half of the season, the story about Lakeland was who wasn’t on their roster as opposed to who actually was. Despite all of that, Castle has taken a team that entered the season with somewhat lower expectations and brought it to the same place Lakeland is almost every year: Deep in the playoffs. A win next Friday, and Lakeland will be in the state semifinals for the seventh time in eight seasons. So no offense to Winter Haven’s Charlie Tate, or Jemalle Cornelius as Fort Meade, or Lake Wales’ Rod Shafer, or even Lakeland Christian’s Wayne Peace. But Castle’s got my vote again this season.
2. Ricquan Southward lived up to the hype: When I covered Lakeland last season, Southward wasn’t a big factor in the offense. Javares McRoy was still the team’s top playmaker, while Teddy Wright became a huge target in the passing game for QB Tim Evans. Both of those guys are now playing D-I college football. With the news that Jenkins transfer Jadrian Clark wouldn’t be playing QB at Lakeland this season, I figured the passing game would be an afterthought for the Dreadnaughts. But boy was I wrong. Southward exploded on the scene this season, breaking school receiving records while helping lead Lakeland to another district title. I hadn’t really seen Southward until last night, and he’s the real deal. He’s got really good hands and good body control, as evidenced by a leaping grab on the sideline last night, as well as a perfectly-run fade pattern for a touchdown just before halftime. And he’s not afraid of contact, carrying the ball multiple times on reverses. My only critique might be his vision while running because there were a couple of times he had quite a few blockers in front of him but couldn’t make his way through for a big gain. But I didn’t have a great angle and there might not have been anything there. Overall, he looks like a legit D-I prospect, which his recent commitment to the University of Miami confirms. Consider me impressed.
3. I miss being out there: But I need to qualify that a little bit. I don’t really miss having to keep play-by-play, or stay out until 2 a.m. on Friday nights finishing the sports section, or the overall work schedule itself of covering events multiple nights per week and always being on call in case news breaks. What I miss is the people. It was great to see familiar faces last night such as Lakeland Principal Tracy Collins and assistant coaches John Flath and Danny Williams, and my old colleague at The Ledger, Dick Scanlon. There were plenty others with whom I didn’t have a chance to visit. But I miss telling their stories and building relationships, it’s something that just can’t be replicated without being fully immersed in that job. But, it’s a nice option to be able to still make a trip out to events every once in a while and get a taste of that, while enjoying all the benefits of my new career. So life is great, and last night was a chance to look back on some fond memories

Well, that’s about it. Great win by Lakeland last night, and hopefully the Dreadnaughts can keep on rolling and making Polk County proud in the postseason.

Oh, and that new turf at Bryant Stadium looks great, by the way.

If you know me, then you know that I’m pro-just about anything Lakeland.

Downtown Lakeland, local restaurants in Lakeland, shopping in Lakeland, colleges and other schools in Lakeland, government in Lakeland. You name it, and if it’s related to Lakeland, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll support it.

The Lakeland Raiders logo.

As for sports, I’ve always liked the local pro teams that have come and gone (or stayed for a long time, in the case of the Flying Tigers). I went to Lakeland Ice Warriors hockey games growing up, and even covered a Lakeland Blue Ducks basketball game while in high school. From the Thunderbolts in football to other hockey teams like the Prowlers and Loggerheads, it’s been fun to have pro sports in my hometown.

That’s why I was intrigued and excited to hear we were getting another football team, this time affiliated with the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). I was looking forward to Thursday’s announcement of the team name and logo.

And then the announcement was made. Continue reading →

I’ll try to keep this updated as things happen going forward. If you feel like I’ve missed something, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Continue reading →

Has the FHSAA completed its investigation into the transfer of five football players from Jenkins to Lakeland? And has it already compiled a report?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but the folks at Big County Preps say they do.

According to a post on the site’s message board by the actual administrator of the site, BCP, the FHSAA has compiled a 40-page report on the transfers. You can read the thread by clicking here.

Now I don’t know the guys at Big County Preps personally, so I really can’t vouch for their sources. They mostly focus on Hillsborough and Pinellas County schools, which I’m guessing is the reason they treated the Lakeland topic as a forum post rather than an actual story on the main website home page.

But that also gives me pause, because even in those counties it would be big news if the Lakeland investigation was over. So I’m surprised it’s not posted as an actual story if they are so sure that things are wrapped up.

I haven’t been able to verify if a report has been completed yet, and I haven’t seen any  news of this on other high school football forums around the state. So, I’m taking this with a grain of salt and encourage everyone else to do the same. If I can get an update on the status of the investigation actually from the FHSAA, I’ll pass that along.

Update (Friday, August 19): Heard from the FHSAA this morning, and according to them the Lakeland situation is “ongoing.” They did not want to put a timetable on when things will be resolved.

It’s taken me a while to post more info from this year’s Friday Night Football Florida preview magazine, but better late than never, right?

My first post about the magazine listed the best teams in the state, according to FNF. This time, I wanted to pass along the teams that the magazine ranks as the best in the county.

FNF actually calls our area the “Heartland,” so the teams in this region also include those in Highlands County and some from Pasco County. It’s a strange mix, but Polk’s top programs are well ahead of the best from the other counties. Continue reading →

Sorry for being a couple of days late on this one, but Lakeland coach Bill Castle became the third Polk County coach to crack the BHSN Top 20 list of Bay Area prep coaches.

Castle, who has won six state titles and two national championships during his 35 seasons as head coach, is another who has a strong case to be No. 1, but he came in at No. 3. I felt the same way about Bartow’s Glenn Rutenbar.

Castle has made the playoffs 24 times with a 56-17 postseason record. He was named the FHSAA’s coach of the century a few years ago and recently coached his 400th game for the Dreadnaughts.

I always appreciated the way Castle made time for all the media requests he got, whether it be from myself or other newspapers or TV stations, etc. One of my favorite moments with him was when I stopped by the Lakeland football locker room and offices on the high school campus for a quick interview. The place was empty except for Castle, who I couldn’t find at first because he was down a hallway taking care of the laundry (practice jerseys and pants).

The greatest coach of the past century according to the FHSAA was personally working on the team’s laundry. That said more to me about his passion and work ethic than anything I ever saw on the football field in my time covering Lakeland.

So, congrats coach Castle. I’ll do a wrap-up post on the full top 20 list once it’s released this week.