Lakeland Wins 4S Title, 21-14

FORT LAUDERDALE - It had been since 2018 that the Lakeland Dreadnaughts had played for a state. That ended on Saturday afternoon.

Legendary head coach Bill Castle and his team won their eighth state title when they beat Venice 21-14 at DRV PNK Stadium – finishing up the season 14-0 and bringing home the inaugural 4S crown.

In registering his 474 career wins, Castle and his team came up with six sacks and limited the Indians to 127 yards.

After a turnover on Lakeland's first possession, Venice went ahead 7-0 on a 20-yard run by quarterback Brooks Bentley at the 10:42 mark.

The Dreadnaughts came down and tied the game on a 3-yard run by Markell Johnson with 3:49 left in the opening quarter.

The Indians went back on top with 7:31 left in the first half on a four-yard run by Alvin Johnson and a 14-7 lead.

Lakeland tied the game on the final play of the half on an eight-yard pass play from Zachary Pleuss Zachary Pleuss 6'0" | 180 lbs | QB Lakeland | 2023 FL to Omari Nixon.

After a defensive struggle, Lakeland broke the tie and took a 21-14 lead with 2:13 left in the third quarter as Pleuss took it in from the six.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

While the two teams didn't have the offensive explosion, there were some key performers.

On offense, Pleuss was 10 of 17 for 126 yards and a score.

Omari Mixon led all Lakeland receivers with 69 yards and a score.

Donares Johnson Donares Johnson 6'0" | 200 lbs | LB Lakeland | 2023 FL had 113 yards on the ground.  D'marius Rucker finished with 64.

The Dreadnaughts had 19 first downs and 377 total offensive yards.

Bentley had three completions for 41 yards. All three went to Keyon Sears.

Jamarice Wilder Jamarice Wilder 5'9" | 180 lbs | RB Venice | 2025 State FL ran for 48 yards, Bentley 35 yards and Alvin Johnson had 30.

Venice finished with 11 first downs and 127 total yards.

On defense, Lakeland was superior. Rolijah Hardy had 12 tackles, Larry Jones Larry Jones 6'1" | 230 lbs | LB Lakeland | 2023 FL finished with seven.

The Dreadnaughts finished with six sacks. Jones (3.5 sacks), Idris King had 2 and Greg Dickens had 0.5.

Venice had eight tackles from Huber Jack, Eli Seed and Jaquavious Washington Jaquavious Washington 5'9" | 150 lbs | DB Sarasota | 2023 FL . Damon Wilson Damon Wilson 6'4" | 230 lbs | DL Venice | 2023 State FL and Tyler Louis had sacks.

DREADNAUGHTS (14-0)

Clearwater, W 42-6

WINTER HAVEN, W 39-6

KISSIMMEE OSCEOLA, W 25-22

LAKELAND LAKE GIBSON, W 47-14

Bartow, W 38-0

Lakeland George Jenkins, W 49-0

CLEARWATER ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL, W 44-6

Lakeland Kathleen, W 35-0

St. Petersburg Lakewood, W 48-20

LAKELAND LAKE GIBSON, W 48-0

NEW PORT RICHEY MITCHELL, W 47-10

LAKE MINNEOLA, W 41-8

KISSIMMEE OSCEOLA, W 14-7

Venice, W 21-14

VENICE (9-4)

MIAMI NORTHWESTERN, L 33-26

NAPLES, W 12-11

BALTIMORE ST. FRANCES ACADEMY, L 24-17

SANFORD SEMINOLE, W 24-17

Sarasota, W 46-7

Sarasota Riverview, W 31-21

IMG ACADEMY, W 41-9

CLEARWATER ACADEMY INTERNATIONAL, L 26-20

FORT MYERS RIVERDALE, W 87-20

LEHIGH, W 39-0

SARASOTA RIVERVIEW, W 33-15

GAINESVILLE BUCHHOLZ, W 42-35

Lakeland, L 21-14

Contact Larry Blustein at Floridakids1@aol.com for more information.