Football Preview: Lakeland Dreadnaughts vs. Spoto Spartans
After two games on the road, Lakeland is heading back home. They will welcome the Spoto Spartans at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Lakeland's defense has only allowed 9.7 points per game this season, so Spoto's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Last Wednesday, Lakeland beat Sebring 22-12. Given the Dreadnaughts' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked third, while the Blue Streaks are ranked 108th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lakeland's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Jaysean Pritchard, who rushed for 81 yards on only five carries.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Spoto). They blew past Leto, posting a 66-23 victory. The Spartans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by 41 points or more this season.
Nathan Richardson was his usual excellent self, throwing for 289 yards and five touchdowns while completing 72.7% of his passes, and also punching in two touchdowns on the ground. He is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last four games he's played. Jaedyn Cartwright helped Richardson out on the ground, picking up 79 receiving yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 115 yards on only nine carries.
Spoto's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Leto's QB won't forget Rome Freeman anytime soon given he sacked him twice. Freeman is becoming a predictor of Spoto's success: when he posts at least one sack the team is undefeated (and 3-4 when he doesn't). Nasir Foster was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making eight total tackles in addition to snagging an interception which he returned one-yard for a touchdown.
Lakeland's win was their 11th straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-0. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 8.4 points per game. As for Spoto, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a nice bump to their 6-4 record this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
