Five Takeaways from the Lakeland's 32-13 Win Over Lake Mary

Dreadnaughts pull away with a strong fourth quarter finish

The Lakeland Dreadnaughts returned from California and defeated Central Florida rival Lake Mary, 32-13, on Friday. / Jeff Romance / Special to the USA Today Florida Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

LAKELAND, FLORIDA – Lakeland broke open a very tight game in the closing minutes with Lake Mary on Friday and pulled away with 19-unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a 32-13 win at Bryant Stadium. 

The Dreadnaughts improved to 2-1 on the season while Lake Mary suffered its first loss after two come-from-behind wins to open the 2025 campaign.

Last year, Lakeland pulled out a 35-34 overtime win against Lake Mary in a game that featured two teams that would make state championship game appearances at season’s end. Lakeland was the Class 5A runner-ups and Lake Mary finished second in 7A.

Here are five takeaways from the rematch … 

The plane truth and the effects on a team

Lakeland head coach Marvin Fraizer said he installed next week’s bye week on the schedule by plan. After soaring out to California and back to tangle with Concord De La Salle this past week, it was obvious the Dreadnaughts experienced jet lag upon return and it showed up in the first half against Lake Mary. Lakeland is looking forward to its week off.

“I give credit to these kids. Last week when we started that game at 7:30 Pacific time, it felt like 10:30 Eastern. I felt the difference,” Fraizer said. “So getting back on our regular team schedule and playing a team like Lake Mary, which we had circled on our schedule as one we really needed to bring the energy, was important to do.”

Making a pivotal point

Special teams played a huge role in keeping Lake Mary in a tight game with Lakeland. Lake Mary junior Damarion Simmons blocked two extra-point attempts which gave the Rams a chance to snatch the lead, trailing just 19-13 in the fourth quarter. But Lakeland was able to halt the late Lake Mary drives.

Also, Lake Mary picked up two field goals from Lucas Parker to keep the game close. He connected on 23- and 38-yard attempts in the game and just missed a third attempt from 36 yards out.

“Our kicker did a great job and Simmons really stepped up with those blocked kicks,” Lake Mary coach Scott Perry said. “We really emphasized special teams this week and our kickoff coverage was good but we have to handle things on offense and defense.”

After the two blocks, Frazier admitted he was fretting a bit on those late Lake Mary drives.

“Scary, hugh? That is the No. 1 thing you can bet on this bye week that we are going to clean up,” Frazier said.

“In California we missed four points and we lost 10-6. So tonight it was the same deal, and we are putting ourselves in a bad hole. It’s fundamentals and technique and we have to get better at that.”

Hendrix was huge through the air and on the ground

Lakeland junior quarterback Kelin Hendrix accounted for four touchdowns, two passing and two rushing.

He  connected on a 22-yard touchdown strike to Jasper Hebel and a 61-yarder to Joseph Howard in the first half.

In the pivotal fourth quarter, Hendrix ripped off touchdown runs of 59  and 21 yards to ice the Dreadnaughts victory.

Closing it out

After three quarters of nip-and-tuck football, Lakeland answered the bell in the fourth quarter with the 19 unanswered points to close out the win.

“This is what it is about. (Lake Mary) was down two weeks in a row against Miami Norland and Kissimmee Osceola and came back and won,” Frazier said.

“We knew we had something in us and so we wanted to be a team that came back and won the game in the second half, and we did that.”

Bouncing back

Lake Mary scheduled Miami Norland, Kissimmee Osceola and Lakeland to start the season. And now, the Rams will host Jacksonville Raines Friday at 7 p.m. and hopes its tough early season schedule will pay dividends down the stretch run..

“Raines is another big, physical team just like Lakeland, Norland and Osceola was,” Perry said. “We knew the first four games, we were going to be battle tested.”