Lakeland High School Football Dreadnaughts 5A State Champions

Dear Dreadnaught Fans,

Welcome to the Kickoff Classic for the 2019 football season as the Dreadnaughts open up at the friendly confines of Byrant Stadium against familiar foe the Kowboys of Kissimmee Osceola High.  Welcome back to the Friday Night Live experience at Bryant Stadium as well as the Dreadnaught Wave.  Nulli Secundus!!

The Dreadnaughts are coming off a magical 15-0 season as they look to keep the momentum going into the 2019 season. The Dreadnaughts ended the spring on a high note defeating 2018 state semi-finalist Venice HS. The culmination of those spring practices and the grueling morning conditioning of the summer will finally come to fruition as the Dreadnaughts open the 2019 season. Gone are 32 seniors from last year’s state champion team and we welcome a new batch of Dreadnaughts looking to raise another banner in 2019.

OFFENSE
This year the Dreadnaughts welcome a few new faces on offense to go along with some familiar faces returning a Dreadnaught offense that broke every school scoring record last year.

At quarterback the Dreadnaughts are in good hands with senior QB #8 Chayil Garnett, an Auburn commit, and sophomore #12 Mason Martin both taking snaps for the Naughts.

The Running Back position welcomes back reigning 7A player of the year and Clemson commit, in a new number, as Demarkcus Bowman will be donning #1 this season. In addition to Bowman, the Dreadnaughts will unleash senior #5 Jha’Kari Martin and junior #21 Reggie Kellum.

The Playmakers at Wide Receiver will look to carry on their tradition of big plays with Jaylen Rolle wearing the infamous #9, worn by the top WR for the past decade, as well as senior #10 Arian Smith, the fastest returning high schooler in America

Senior tight end #14 Andrew Proctor will be called on to replace former All-American Keon Zipperer. The Trench Mob, Offensive Line, will welcome back senior #57 Willie Lampkin and junior #63 Navelli Dixson while welcoming seniors #56 Anthony Smith and #53 T’Kouri  Smart in addition to #52 junior Denard Smith to the fold.

DEFENSE
On defense the Dreadnaughts will be tasked with replacing the entire front 7 of their defense and 9 of 11 starters on one of the best statistical defenses in Lakeland history.

The Dawgs (Defensive Line) will look to replace four D1 linemen with seniors #19 Cleo Anglin, #51 Dadrian James, and  #96 Ryshawn Glinton in addition to the “young pup” #99 Gabe Dindy. The linebacking unit will have huge shoes to fill and will look to rotate several bodies to start the season until leaders emerge.

Senior #7 Shawn Smith will be joined by senior #4 Quadir Hall, who moves down from his strong safety spot, as the returning linebackers.

The Skypatrol (Defensive Backs) welcomes back do-everything #2Fenley Graham, a Florida commit, who will be joined in the secondary by seniors #3 Zay Roberson, #6 Jalen Christian, #11 Tyrell Jones, and #23 Kendall Dennis. 

THE OPPONENT
The Osceola Kowboys will serve as an early test for the Dreadnaughts as they come in as early favorites in 8A to play in Daytona, this year’s site of the state championships.  The offense is led by quarterback #2 Davon Wells, who is lightning quick at the quarterback position and is the director of the Kowboys running attack.  Don’t look for fireworks through the air as the Kowboys prefer to pound the ball on the ground as their bread and butter, which could lead to big pass play here or there.  The Kowboysdefense will be up to the task of trying to slow down the Lakeland offense..  The Kowboys are not scared to bring multiple guys near the line of scrimmage to stop the run and daring the opposing team to make plays through the air. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm and tickets are available at the gate. Thank you again for your continued support of Lakeland Dreadnaught Football. You’re part of the team behind the team that helps us strive for excellence both on and off the field.