High school football: Legendary Lakeland head coach Bill Castles retires

After 47 years on the sideline and eight state titles, Florida icon calling it a career.

The 2006 Florida High School 5A State Championship game between the Lakeland Dreadnaughts and the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders. This series reached its peak in 2006 when Lakeland won a 45-42 double-overtime final after the Raiders came back from down 35-14 with 2:25 left in the game. The epic game came down to a field goal in the second overtime, and then facing fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line, Aquinas' RB Jeremiah Harden took the handoff and was stopped just inches from the end zone.

The Greatest Game Ever: Game of Inches 467,805 views 16:06

Bill Castle of Lakeland (Fla.) joined the list of legendary high school football coaches calling it a career Tuesday, joining the likes of Bruce Rollinson of Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Chuck Kyle of St. Ignatius (Cleveland, Ohio).

Castle just finished his 47th season as the head coach at Lakeland and all he did was lead them to a 14-0 record, 4S state crown and the No. 14 spot in the final MaxPreps Top 25. The Dreadnaughts beat Venice 21-14 to win the school's eighth state championship under his guidance along with titles in 1986, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2018.

During the three-peat from 2004-06, Castle led Lakeland to a 45-0 record. The 2005 and 2006 teams are arguably among the greatest high school football teams of all-time.

Bill Castle talks to the media after a 31-30 overtime win over California powerhouse De La Salle in 2009. (Photo: Todd Shurtleff)

In 2005, Lakeland went 15-0 capped by a 39-10 win over St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) in the Class 5A state championship. A year later, the Dreadnaughts ran the table again going 15-0. They beat St. Thomas Aquinas 45-42 in double overtime to repeat as champs in one of the best high school football games of all-time.

Castle has helped produce a steady stream of college and NFL players, including Shane Willis and Roderick Haynes in the 1980s, Johnny Jones and Chauncey Clark in the late 1990s and Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Chris Rainey and Jamar Taylor in the mid-2000s. Demarkcus Bowman, Keon Zipperer, Cormani McClain, Tyler Williams and Gernorris Wilson are some of the recent stars out of the central Florida program.

Castle retires with a career record of 474-97 and is eighth all-time for most wins. Earlier this season he surpassed Charles "Corky" Rogers for the most wins in Florida history. Rogers retired with 471 wins as head coach. Castle spent 52 years coaching at Lakeland and never had a losing season during his 47 years as head coach.

High school football: Legendary Lakeland head coach Bill Castles retires

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