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Lakeland's first game without Bill Castle was tonight


badrouter

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Regardless of what's been the norm in many other places, Lakeland has always played spring and KIckoff Classics as real games. And the results almost always provide real insight that shows up in the games that count. Last year, they dominated a game with Venice, but due to some annoyances only won by 7. The two met in the 4S state title game...and Lakeland won by 7 despite outgaining Venice 394-127. Both games were marked by Venice's QB not finding any open WRs and eating it. 

In the current climate, spring games do tend to be less revealing, given how commonplace summer transfers are. Lakeland will need a couple more transfers to go undefeated against what will probably be its toughest schedule in a long time. Lakeland beat Lake Minneola 44-32 tonight. 

The good:

- Nearly all the things that were frustrating about the team under Castle are gone. They run no-huddle all game long. They have a Power 5 passing QB and three Power 5 WRs to go with one (maybe two) Power 5 backs. Penalties weren't as much of an issue (though they crept in in the 2nd half).

- Jamar Taylor Jr. (WR) looked REAL good.

- RB Jordan Henderson, a Lake Wales transfer, looks like he may end up being the next great back. 

- The back 7 on defense is really fast.

The bad:

- The DL, as it stands now, is weak. They need at least one major transfer there to beat some of the teams they'll face.

- The supposed starting RB, Rucker, appeared to have a suffered a major (ACL?) injury and could be lost for the season. 

- The most highly recruited player on the roster at the moment, is almost certainly not only overrated, but the weakest link in the secondary. He gave up some huge plays in awful situations. LM had a 4th and 14 early and easily burned them deep for a TD 🤦‍♂️

If they can get a couple of good transfers to play in the trenches, I think they'll be fine and have a good season. If not for the breakdowns on defense and the injury, it would have been a smashing success for new coach Marvin Frazier. As it was, I give it a B-.

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16 hours ago, badrouter said:

Regardless of what's been the norm in many other places, Lakeland has always played spring and KIckoff Classics as real games. And the results almost always provide real insight that shows up in the games that count. Last year, they dominated a game with Venice, but due to some annoyances only won by 7. The two met in the 4S state title game...and Lakeland won by 7 despite outgaining Venice 394-127. Both games were marked by Venice's QB not finding any open WRs and eating it. 

In the current climate, spring games do tend to be less revealing, given how commonplace summer transfers are. Lakeland will need a couple more transfers to go undefeated against what will probably be its toughest schedule in a long time. Lakeland beat Lake Minneola 44-32 tonight. 

The good:

- Nearly all the things that were frustrating about the team under Castle are gone. They run no-huddle all game long. They have a Power 5 passing QB and three Power 5 WRs to go with one (maybe two) Power 5 backs. Penalties weren't as much of an issue (though they crept in in the 2nd half).

- Jamar Taylor Jr. (WR) looked REAL good.

- RB Jordan Henderson, a Lake Wales transfer, looks like he may end up being the next great back. 

- The back 7 on defense is really fast.

The bad:

- The DL, as it stands now, is weak. They need at least one major transfer there to beat some of the teams they'll face.

- The supposed starting RB, Rucker, appeared to have a suffered a major (ACL?) injury and could be lost for the season. 

- The most highly recruited player on the roster at the moment, is almost certainly not only overrated, but the weakest link in the secondary. He gave up some huge plays in awful situations. LM had a 4th and 14 early and easily burned them deep for a TD 🤦‍♂️

If they can get a couple of good transfers to play in the trenches, I think they'll be fine and have a good season. If not for the breakdowns on defense and the injury, it would have been a smashing success for new coach Marvin Frazier. As it was, I give it a B-.

That alone can crush a team's season.    No Bueno.

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4 hours ago, 954gator said:

That alone can crush a team's season.    No Bueno.

Yup. I think LM has a bigger, better OL than people realize, but certainly no better than several teams expected to show up on the schedule. Gotta get at least one major transfer...

The RB Rucker apparently just had a hamstring injury and will be fine. 

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