Football Preview: Land O' Lakes Gators vs. Sunlake Seahawks
Land O' Lakes has been on the road for two straight, but on Thursday they'll finally head home. They will host the Sunlake Seahawks at 7:00 p.m. Both might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 1,063 yards in their previous games.
Land O' Lakes will head into Friday's contest on the come-up: they were handed a three-point loss in their last matchup, but they sure didn't let that happen against Wesley Chapel on Friday. Land O' Lakes blew past Wesley Chapel, posting a 42-14 victory.
Land O' Lakes found their leader in sophomore Chance Houston, who threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 11.4 yards per attempt, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Land O' Lakes also got a significant boost from Tj Morrow, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 138 yards.
Land O' Lakes was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 211 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in six consecutive matches.
Land O' Lakes wouldn't let Wesley Chapel keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Land O' Lakes can thank Jake Mason and Donovan Faria for forcing both of them.
Meanwhile, after only seven points in their last game, Sunlake made sure to put some points up on the board against Cypress Creek on Friday. Sunlake blew past Cypress Creek 55-28. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Seahawks had established a 21 point advantage.
Ace Missbach was a one-man wrecking crew for Sunlake as he rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also picked up 33 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Missbach a new career-high in rushing yards.
Another reason for the win was Sunlake's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for seven sacks. In that department, Matthew Madley was the leader with two.
Sunlake moved to 4-5 with that win, which also ended their four-game losing streak. As for Land O' Lakes, their victory ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 3-6.
Land O' Lakes strolled past Sunlake in their previous meeting back in October of 2023 by a score of 20-6. Will Land O' Lakes repeat their success, or does Sunlake have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
