Lakeland storms into Class 7A state championship game with runaway 56-21 win over Orlando Edgewater before 5,000 fans at jam-packed Bryant Stadium on Friday night.
LAKELAND — It has taken 10 years, but Lakeland is back in the state championship game for the eighth time under Bill Castle, and the Dreadnaughts made it look easy.
A close seven-point halftime lead became a running clock by the end of the third quarter after a 28-point eruption by the Dreadnaughts. By the end, Lakeland was toying with Orlando Edgewater as Jahari Martin rumbled down the middle of the field on a kickoff return for the final score in the Dreadnaughts’ 56-21 victory on Friday night in the Class 7A state semifinals at Bryant Stadium before more than 5,000 fans.
No. 3 Lakeland (14-0) will play No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas in the 7A championship game at 8 p.m. next Friday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. It will be the sixth time the two teams will meet in the championship game. Lakeland won the first four meetings, including three in a row from 2004 to 2006, but the Raiders routed the Dreadnaughts 56-7 the last time the teams met in 2008.
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