Lake Gibson joins Lakeland, Kathleen in new 7A district

LAKELAND — Lakeland's big football schools are back in the same district after the Florida High School Athletic Association released the new districts for the 2021 football season that will include Polk teams in two 7A districts.

Class 7A, District 5 will include Lakeland, Lake Gibson, Kathleen, George Jenkins and Bartow. It has the makings of a very competitive district.

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"I love it," Kathleen coach Kenny Strong said. "I think this is where it should have been the whole time. It should bring some energy back to the city and should make for some exciting Friday night games."

This will be the first time Lakeland and Lake Gibson have been in the same district since 2008. The two teams typically have played each other in the kickoff classic but played each other six times in four years from 2005 through 2008, including twice in the playoffs, with Lakeland winning each time.

Last year was the first time Lakeland and Lake Gibson played in the regular season without being in the same district in more than two decades. The Dreadnaughts won 23-22.

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Lakeland is coming off a 6-4 season in which it reached the regional semifinals. Lake Gibson was 11-2 and advanced to the state semifinals.

"It's going to be tough competition," Lakeland coach Bill Castle said. "I think it's really good. We were going to play Lake Gibson anyway this year. I think it makes for good community games. It should be interesting. There should be good crowds."

Lake Gibson coach Robert Paxia called it a city championship with all the county's big schools in Lakeland being in the same district.

"We like it," he said. "We were going to play Lakeland anyway. Now everyone has to play each other. There's no avoiding each other."

Also in the district is Bartow, which is coming off an 8-0 regular season. The Yellow Jackets lost in the first round of the playoffs to Tampa Bay Tech when starting quarterback Lin Johnson was forced into a COVID-19 quarantine.

Kathleen and George Jenkins are coming off 3-6 seasons.

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In Class 7A, District 6, Winter Haven and Ridge community will compete with Orlando Edgewater, Clermont East Ridge and Apopka Wekiva.

Winter Haven coach Charlie Tate said he expected to be in the Lakeland district.

"Bill (Castle) has done a great job for so long, and so if you were in their district, you knew that you had to be exceptional if you had a chance to beat them because they've been so good for so long, and they will continue," Tate said. "So we get into a new district, your first thought is, 'OK, we missed out on that bullet,' and then I look and I see Edgewater and I'm thinking, 'Well, if that don't beat all.' The last two years, they beat Armwood and made it to the final game against St. Thomas and scored at least two touchdowns in both games. It's like, shoot what did it get you? You get Wekiva , and Wekiva beat Lakeland last year in a close game.

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"So it's like, shoot, give us a little glimmer of hope," Tate said. "The flip side of that same argument is we're not in this because we want to schedule wins. We're in this because we want to beat good people when you can beat good people. So you don't wanna be silly and in everybody's top 10. But there's nothing like jogging out at Bryant Stadium and you're playing the Dreadnaughts. It's big-time football, and when you play Edgewater, it's going to be a big-time football." 

Tate said one advantage of not being in the Lakeland district is that it might be easier to schedule the non-district games. He said Winter Haven will play Lakeland in the fifth week of the season.

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The other districts in Classes 5A and 6A that involve Polk Schools are:

• Class 6A, District 7: Auburndale, Melbourne Eau Gallie, Kissimmee Gateway, Palm Bay Heritage and Lake Wales.

• Class 5A, District 11: Mulberry, Tampa Chamberlain, Tampa Middleton and Tampa Robinson.

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And for Classes 1A through 4A, there are only regions. The regions involving Polk teams are:

•  Class 4A, Region 3: Davenport, Discovery, Tenoroc, Delray Beach American Heritage, Clewiston, Belle Glade Glades Central, St. Petersburg Lakewood, Engelwood Lemon Bay, Parrish and Boyton Beach Somerset.

• Class 3A, Region 2: Frostproof, Lakeland Christian, Avon Park, Palm Beach Gardens Benjamin, Belle Isle Cornerstone Charter, Orlando First Academy, Lake Placid, Melbourne Central Catholic, Winter Park Trinity Prep and Windermere Prep.

• Class 2A, Region 2: Victory Christian, Spring Hill Bishop McLaughlin, Daytona Beach Father Lopez, Winter Garden Foundation, Daytona Beach Halifax, Melbourne Holy Trinity, Maitland Orangewood Christian, Deltona Trinity Christian and Zephyrhills Christian.

• Class 1A, Region 4: Fort Meade, Starke Bradford, Frongson, Hawthorne, Newberry, Pahokee, Pierson Taylor, Wildwood and Williston.

Polk has no teams in Class 8A.