August 25, 2005

Lakeland takes ranking in stride

By Pete Williams
Special for USA TODAY

LAKELAND, Fla. — Bill Castle knows it's futile to try to temper expectations surrounding his Lakeland High School football team, which was 15-0 last season and won Florida's Class 5A state championship, its third in nine seasons.

More than 5,000 fans routinely follow the orange-clad Dreadnaughts to road games. The team has a state-of-the-art, remodeled weight room, a 60-seat theater to view film, alumni in the NFL and an elaborate pregame spectacle college programs would envy. Lakeland was No. 18 in USA TODAY's final ranking last season and begins the 2005 season at No. 1.

"You try and downplay the rankings," says Castle, in his 30th season as Lakeland head coach. "But every year after we win state, expectations are enormous. That's OK. We'd rather try to live up to those than have no expectations."

The road to a second undefeated season could be tough. The best player on last year's team, two-way tackle Kendrick Stewart, is a freshman at Florida State. Chris Griffin, last season's quarterback, is at Georgia Southern.

Still, the team returns 13 starters, including six to a defense that held Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas to minus 35 yards rushing in the state title game. The Dreadnaughts added transfer Scott Bryant, an all-state linebacker at nearby Class 3A Kathleen High. Given the team's history of success (23 consecutive winning seasons), Castle does not have to spend much time on motivational speeches. Last season the team did not miss a single practice, even when hurricanes closed the school.

"Our kids were awfully hungry last year, and I'm just hoping they'll stay hungry and not be content with last year's success," Castle says. "Each year's team chemistry is a little different."

Castle, watching practice on a sultry mid-August afternoon, says his offense includes just three seniors and many of the best players are juniors, including 5-9 running back Chris Rainey, who rushed for 1,780 yards and 23 touchdowns last year. Left-handed senior Billy Lowe inherits the quarterback job.

Castle, 59, a former Tennessee Tech defensive back, came to Lakeland as an assistant in 1971 and became head coach five years later.

Since 1996, Lakeland is 106-11, including a state-record 60-game regular-season winning streak between 1996 and 2001. Besides last season, Castle's teams won state championships in 1986, 1996 and 1999 and finished 16th in the nation in '96 and sixth in '99.

Lakeland alumni in the NFL include Rod Smart, the Carolina Panthers running back and former XFL star of "He Hate Me" fame, and Cincinnati Bengals tight end Ronnie Ghent. Among former NFL players is David Williams, a lineman for the Houston Oilers. Lakeland, located in rural but growing Polk County (Lakeland's 2004 population was just over 88,000, up about 18,000 from 1990), is home to Florida Southern College and longtime site of the Detroit Tigers spring training camp. The city has a small-town feel, even though it's just 35 miles from Tampa and 55 from Orlando.

"You get recognized a lot of places," linebacker Troy Johnson says. "Everyone knows about Lakeland football."

More than 8,000 fans gather on Friday nights for home games at the city's Bryant Stadium. Most come early for the pregame show. Players run through an intricate tunnel framed by orange Christmas lights. A golf cart resembling a giant team helmet leads the players onto the field. There are cannon blasts, horn blowers and the show's signature feature, a 1,200-pound bell.

The bell, which once hung at the Goat Island Light Station in Cape Porpoise Harbor, Maine, creates such noise that several teams have asked Lakeland not to bring it on the road.

These days the bell tolls for the No. 1 team in the nation.

"We have a huge target on our backs this year," wide receiver Paul Wilson says. "It's fun to look at rankings, but you still have to go out and play."

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