St. Cloud travels to powerful Lakeland

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Coach Mike Short said his players have been looking forward to Friday’s 7 p.m. regular season football opener at Lakeland High since the game was announced last winter.

“We needed a chance to go and see what we can do against the big boys,” Short said. “The guys have been talking about this game since January.”

The Bulldogs tuned up for the game at the Kickoff Classic at West Orange Friday, where the Warriors rallied for a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter to win, 34-30.

“Our guys played pretty well, I was real happy with them,” Short said. “We were up 30-18 in the fourth quarter and we pulled our ones and they went ahead and left theirs in and scored 16 points and won the game.”

Short said it was more important for his second tier players to earn some playing time than it was to try to hold on for an exhibition win.

The Bulldogs offense looked as good as advertised as quarterback Phillip Steinmetz ran for one touchdown and threw for two more during a 17-of-25 effort that impressed his coach.

“Phillip was on point. His accuracy has improved,” Short said.

Brett Biller and Eric Pfeifer caught touchdown passes and Austin Ocasio, a transfer from Harmony, ran for another. Ocasio left the game in the first half after hurting his knee while playing linebacker, Short said, but the injury does not appear to be serious.

“We held him out as a precaution,” Short said.

The first-team defense played well, according to Short, as E.J. McKenzie intercepted a pass and Jeff Spelman made six tackles. Defensive back Anthony Ellis had six tackles and linebacker Pat McCloskey added five.

Lakeland learned Friday in a preliminary investigative report from the Florida High School Athletic Association that five players who transferred from George Jenkins High, including starting quarterback Jadrian Clark, may be ineligible for falsifying their addresses on transfer papers.

The players did not suit up for the Dreadnaughts 35-0 win against Lake Gibson at the Kickoff Classic. Their status for Friday’s game is questionable.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to see,” Short said. “They looked like they were more of a passing team in the tape we have of them at the spring game, but with the different quarterback in there it looks like they probably will run it a little more. Like I told the guys, be prepared to see those starters back on Friday.”

Short said regardless of whether the suspended players return, Lakeland still has one of the best offensive and defensive lines his team will see this season.

“Their interior offensive line is huge. Defensively, their front seven is as good as we’re going to see this year, and that’s taking anything away from the other teams on our schedule,” Short said.

But, Short said the Bulldogs may be able to take advantage of the Lakeland secondary.

“If we can get the time to throw, that might be the weakest part of their defense,” Short said.

Steinmetz, a senior, sounded confident about opening at Lakeland, a six-time state champion.

“When I first heard of Lakeland, I was thinking that they were this huge team, but after looking at them on tape, they aren’t a whole lot different than we are,” the quarterback said. “They have a pretty good defensive line, and their linebackers like to hit. But, their secondary doesn’t look that strong. We’ll be mixing in some things to take advantage of that.”

Spelman said Lakeland’s 8,000-seat Bryant Stadium might be intimidating to some of the young Bulldogs.

“But, as a senior and a leader it is my job to make sure that none of that stuff matters,” he said. “What matters is what happens from sideline to sideline.”

Short said the Bulldogs can make a statement Friday.

“If we can somehow pull off the ‘Miracle on Turf,’ it will be great,” he said.