Forest is 0-1 against Lake Minneola since October of 2022 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Forest Wildcats will head out on the road to face off against the Lake Minneola Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Last Monday, everything went Forest's way against East Ridge as Forest made off with a 38-14 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Forest.
Vimel Poole looked great while leading his team to the win, throwing for 150 yards and two touchdowns, while also punching in a touchdown on the ground. Jordan Strickland also deserves a mention for his punt return touchdown.
Meanwhile, Lake Minneola had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.3 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They simply couldn't be stopped as they easily beat South Lake 62-14 at home. Given Lake Minneola's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 73rd, while South Lake is ranked 326th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Lake Minneola's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Dane Thompkins, who rushed for 94 yards and three touchdowns, and Jackson Hughes, who threw for 293 yards and five touchdowns while completing 73.7% of his passes. Another player making a difference was Braylon Knauth, who picked up 98 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Their wins bumped Forest to 4-3 and Lake Minneola to 5-3.
We should be in store for an exciting game Friday as both teams have no problem gaining yardage. Forest has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 357 total yards per game. However, it's not like Lake Minneola struggles in that department as they've been even better at 445.8 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Forest was dealt a bruising 35-7 defeat at the hands of Lake Minneola when the teams last played back in October of 2022. Thankfully for Forest, John Celestin (who rushed for 213 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
