Lakeland exposes Manatee's weaknesses
By ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com
LAKELAND
- Why Lakeland? Why the dreaded Dreadnaughts, winners of three consecutive state titles, 45 straight games and the defending national champions? Why play them in a spring classic?
Because Manatee High football coach Joe Kinnan wanted answers.
How good was his defense? It dominated the offense during spring practice, but then how good is the offense?
How good are the first-year starters along the offensive line?
The new linebackers and defensive backs?
How accurate is the depth chart?
"The better your opponent, the easier it is to make those decisions, because they will expose your weaknesses," Kinnan said Friday morning.
Nearly 12 hours later, he walked off the field at Bryant Stadium in front of a scoreboard that read: Lakeland 47, Manatee 21.
Kinnan and his staff had answers, maybe not the ones they hoped for, but answers nonetheless.
"I didn't expect it to be like that," Kinnan said. "Offensively we couldn't run the ball, and their defense gashed us."
There was talk of next fall being a down year for the Dreadnaughts, who lost six starters from last year's state Class 5A title team to the University of Florida alone.
Ha.
Ben McRoy, who will be a junior next season, rushed for 180 yards and four touchdowns, while Jason Guzman, who will be a senior, ran for 109 yards and a score.
"Their front line just completely dominated our front seven," Kinnan said. "They were into our secondary. They are a heck of a lot better than we are right now."
Lakeland's defense was just as dominant, holding the Hurricanes to just 10 yards of rushing. Ben Axon, who will see time as a tailback and fullback next fall, led the Hurricanes with 16 rushing yards.
Most of the Hurricanes' offense came on big plays - a 42-yard catch and run by Axon for the game's first points on the Hurricanes' first possession, a 6-yard halfback pass from Axon to Ace Sanders for the Hurricanes' second touchdown, and a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brion Carnes to Sanders late in the fourth quarter.
"I think with time our offense will come around," Kinnan said. "I was a little disappointed we didn't run the ball better."
Graduation wasn't kind to Manatee, either. The team that won its district title and advanced to the 5A state semifinal, one win shy of playing Lakeland for the state title, is breaking in a new offensive line, linebacking unit and defensive backs.
The offense is where the Hurricanes have their most experience, even though they are young. Carnes and Sanders are still freshman, yet they both started in the Hurricanes' state semifinal game last December at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas before playing their first spring game.
Now, Kinnan said, comes the time when he and his coaches study the game tape and decide their next move. Do they move some players to certain positions? Did some backups outplay the guys ahead of them?
"That is what this (game) was about," Kinnan said. "Now we have to find the pieces to the puzzle and put them together."
We got some Coverage things to work on d. And a few other problems here and there. But all we did was reload. And heck call me crazy but with a qb that can move around and throw. We threw for 157 yards. And anyone who knows lakeland knows that it is a big step up. So right now in L-town we are feeling pretty darn good about next year.
By ROGER MOONEY
rmooney@bradenton.com
LAKELAND
- Why Lakeland? Why the dreaded Dreadnaughts, winners of three consecutive state titles, 45 straight games and the defending national champions? Why play them in a spring classic?
Because Manatee High football coach Joe Kinnan wanted answers.
How good was his defense? It dominated the offense during spring practice, but then how good is the offense?
How good are the first-year starters along the offensive line?
The new linebackers and defensive backs?
How accurate is the depth chart?
"The better your opponent, the easier it is to make those decisions, because they will expose your weaknesses," Kinnan said Friday morning.
Nearly 12 hours later, he walked off the field at Bryant Stadium in front of a scoreboard that read: Lakeland 47, Manatee 21.
Kinnan and his staff had answers, maybe not the ones they hoped for, but answers nonetheless.
"I didn't expect it to be like that," Kinnan said. "Offensively we couldn't run the ball, and their defense gashed us."
There was talk of next fall being a down year for the Dreadnaughts, who lost six starters from last year's state Class 5A title team to the University of Florida alone.
Ha.
Ben McRoy, who will be a junior next season, rushed for 180 yards and four touchdowns, while Jason Guzman, who will be a senior, ran for 109 yards and a score.
"Their front line just completely dominated our front seven," Kinnan said. "They were into our secondary. They are a heck of a lot better than we are right now."
Lakeland's defense was just as dominant, holding the Hurricanes to just 10 yards of rushing. Ben Axon, who will see time as a tailback and fullback next fall, led the Hurricanes with 16 rushing yards.
Most of the Hurricanes' offense came on big plays - a 42-yard catch and run by Axon for the game's first points on the Hurricanes' first possession, a 6-yard halfback pass from Axon to Ace Sanders for the Hurricanes' second touchdown, and a 69-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brion Carnes to Sanders late in the fourth quarter.
"I think with time our offense will come around," Kinnan said. "I was a little disappointed we didn't run the ball better."
Graduation wasn't kind to Manatee, either. The team that won its district title and advanced to the 5A state semifinal, one win shy of playing Lakeland for the state title, is breaking in a new offensive line, linebacking unit and defensive backs.
The offense is where the Hurricanes have their most experience, even though they are young. Carnes and Sanders are still freshman, yet they both started in the Hurricanes' state semifinal game last December at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas before playing their first spring game.
Now, Kinnan said, comes the time when he and his coaches study the game tape and decide their next move. Do they move some players to certain positions? Did some backups outplay the guys ahead of them?
"That is what this (game) was about," Kinnan said. "Now we have to find the pieces to the puzzle and put them together."
We got some Coverage things to work on d. And a few other problems here and there. But all we did was reload. And heck call me crazy but with a qb that can move around and throw. We threw for 157 yards. And anyone who knows lakeland knows that it is a big step up. So right now in L-town we are feeling pretty darn good about next year.