Lakeland High School Football Dreadnaughts 5A State Champions

St. Cloud blown away, 28-0
by Jordan Thurn 

In the official season opener, Lakeland took on the St. Cloud Bull Dogs, winning 28-0.

The game started out slow, with no score until Robert Smith ran the ball 46-yards with 7:34 left in the half, bringing the score to 7-0, where it stayed until the fourth quarter.

During their first possession of the half, Isaih Walker carried the ball 53-yards on a quarterback keeper on a 2^nd and 7 attempt to bring the ball down the field, which was followed by a touchdown that was called back after a flag and resulted in a turnover. The game was filled with penalties for the Naughts, “[Next week] we need to focus, be more in shape, and get everybody going as a group,” Walker said. 

After several called back scoring attempts, the Naughts caught a break on the last play of the third quarter, when Smith ran the ball64-yards for a touchdown, giving the Naught a lead of 14-0 with 4 seconds left in third quarter. “[To be more successful,] I just need to find the holes,” Smith said.

In the final 12 minutes of the game, Timothy Simmons ran the ball 2-yards for a touchdown with 5:37 left in the game, bringing the score to 21-0. Gabriel Walker brought in the final score for the Naughts with 38 seconds left of the clock. 

Defense held the Bull Dogs to zero. “I just have to put [the sacks] in the past, go on to next weeks game and try to do better. I believe I [played] okay, I have those areas where I can improve. Each week at practice I try to get better and improve,” said junior, Sherby Saimplice. Saimplice ended the first half with 2 and a half sacks. Devin Denson completed two consecutive tackles for loss in the first quarter, including assisting Saimplice with a quarterback sack.

“The team did really well, but there’s room for improvement,” said Coach Jeremy Bennett. The Naughts take on the Tenroc Titans next week at home.