AUBURNDALE, Fla.- After waiting just over an hour and a half to kickoff because of inclement weather in the area, Lakeland and Auburndale couldn’t wait to take the field on Thursday night. It was the Dreadnaughts that looked clean, sharp coming off a humbling kickoff classic loss to Miami Northwestern last week and defeating Auburndale, […]
AUBURNDALE, Fla.- After waiting just over an hour and a half to kickoff because of inclement weather in the area, Lakeland and Auburndale couldn’t wait to take the field on Thursday night.
It was the Dreadnaughts that looked clean, sharp coming off a humbling kickoff classic loss to Miami Northwestern last week and defeating Auburndale, 31-21 Friday night at Bruce Canova Stadium.
Lakeland used a steady dose of Jadarius Dobe
If there was one thing that was evident about what Lakeland wanted to get accomplished on Thursday night, that was establish the run game with senior running back Jadarius Dobe.
The workhorse tailback carried the rock 13 times for a team-high 95 hard-earned yards and scoring a touchdown, to pace the Dreadnaughts’ offensive attack on the ground. Also combined with sophomore running back Ahnarri Cooper, the two helped give Lakeland’s offense a much needed lift after last week only scoring three points against Miami Northwestern.
One thing Dreadnaughts’ fans should come to know is that historically, the program likes to run the ball and they have a capable lead back in Dobe to do so.
Mother Nature remains undefeated
Like clockwork, Mother Nature always has to stick its ugly head into the high school football season down in the Southeast and it became a factor again between Lakeland and Auburndale.
Evening thunderstorms in the area pushed back what was originally a 7:30 p.m. kickoff to just after 9, but it seemingly didn’t matter much to either team once they ran out to their respective sidelines. A spirited pregame, with both teams exchanging pleasantries before getting into warmups brought a little bit of hype heading into the long-awaited opening kick.
It was just another example of how poor weather in August always seems to interfere with high school football in Southeast states like Florida.
Dreadnaughts controlled the line of scrimmage
One noticeable aspect of the game that Lakeland could do little about last week against Miami Northwestern was up front in the trenches as the Dreadnaughts did not own the line of scrimmage.
The Dreadnaughts made sure in front of legendary former head coach Bill Castle in attendance, top do something his teams did plenty of and that was bully folks around.
Lakeland did that all throughout the evening, heading into the third quarter holding Auburndale to well below 100 yards of offense before the Bloodhounds went against mostly backups in the final period. Head coach Marvin Frazier will need his team to continue working in the trenches as they prepare for a showdown out west against California’s De La Salle next Friday.
Remember the name Teo Edwards, Polk County folks
Coming in relief of starting quarterback Gunnar Needham, Auburndale freshman Teo Edwards came in and provided more than a spark on offense. Edwards made his case to be the Bloodhounds’ starting quarterback for the remainder of the season in a big way.
The 2029 entered the contest with Lakeland well ahead, but Edwards helped engineer multiple scoring drives that brought Auburndale within 10 points and if the freshman could’ve led a third in the final minute, we’re talking about potentially a three or four point game.
Edwards showed off his arm strength, gunslinger mentality and his athleticism outside of the pocket. One would have to wonder what kind of game this might’ve been if Edwards was in a little sooner.
Category: General Sports
