Lake Gibson at Land O' Lakes tonight at 7:30

[Ricky the Bull]

I'm going tonight to see Matt Grothe in action!  Anyone else?

[Velcro]

Will be at the USF vs St Leo exhibition, desperate for my college bball fix.

[Guest HowieP1]

Good luck to Matt and his team in the 4A playoffs:

DESTINATION GAINESVILLE – 4A

NORTH

REGION 1

FIRST ROUND

Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee (5-2) at Pensacola (8-1)

Lake City Columbia (7-3) at Tallahassee Lincoln (6-3)

Pensacola Washington (3-5) at Fort Walton Beach (7-2)

Tallahassee Leon (7-2) at Gainesville Eastside (6-3)

REGION 2

FIRST ROUND

Spring Hill Springstead (7-2) at Belleview (10-0)

Lakeland Lake Gibson (9-1) at Land O’Lakes (5-4)

Ocala Forest (7-2) at Clermont East Ridge (9-0)

New Port Richey Mitchell (7-2) at Auburndale (8-2)

SOUTH

REGION 3

FIRST ROUND

Seffner Armwood (8-1) at Clearwater Countryside (8-1)

Cape Coral Mariner (7-3) at Punta Gorda Charlotte (6-3)

St. Petersburg Dixie Hollins (8-1) at Tampa Middleton (6-3)

Bradenton Bayshore (4-5) at Fort Myers (6-3)

REGION 4

FIRST ROUND

Sebastian River (5-2) at Miami Booker T. Washington (9-0)

Port St. Lucie Centennial (5-1) at Titusville Astronaut (6-3)

Boca Raton (4-3) at Merritt Island (7-1)

Fort Lauderdale (5-4) at Jupiter (6-1)

[Guest HowieP1]

Lake Gibson at Land O'Lakes

Where: Gator Stadium.

Coaches: Keith DeMyer, Lake Gibson; John Benedetto, Land O'Lakes.

Last week: Lake Gibson defeated Lakewood Ranch, 58-10; Land O'Lakes defeated Hudson, 27-8.

Records: Lake Gibson 9-1, Land O'Lakes 5-4.

Top players: Lake Gibson -- QB Matt Grothe, RB Isaac Harris, WR Roger Frazier, LB Mike Williams, DL Aubrey Bowers; Land O'Lakes -QB Joe Weatherford, WR Develin Robinson, TE Caz Prurowski, FB/LB Scott Mays.

Quick Hits: Lake Gibson defeated Land O'Lakes in the regional finals last year, 44-35. Grothe threw for 243 yards and former running back Travis Buford ran for 205 to offset a 323 yards of passing from Drew Weatherford, who is now at Florida State. . . . Grothe leads the county with 1,654 yards of passing, needing 346 yards in the playoffs to reach 2,000 yards for the second year in a row. Frazier leads the county with 41 receptions and 655 receiving yards. Harris is fifth with 1,062 yards. . . . Lake Gibson is in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year and is 10-4 in that span. . . . Land O'Lakes is 5-12 in the playoffs dating back to 1978, all coming under Benedetto who is 161-139 in 29 seasons. . . . Joe Weatherford is Drew's younger brother and has thrown for 1,125 yards. Mays has rushed for 856 yards and was the county's leading tackler last year. Robinson and Prurowski have combined for 54 recetions for 1,072 yards.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041112/NEWS/411120453/1002/SPORTS

[Guest HowieP1]

Published Friday, November 12, 2004

Eight Polk Teams Start On Long Road to the Finals

By Roy Fuoco

The Ledger

roy.fuoco@theledger.com

LAKELAND -- Lake Gibson and Fort Meade played on Florida Field in Gainesville 11 months ago in the state championship games in their respective classifications. Will there be teams from Polk County this year?

The answer to that question begins tonight when eight county teams open the playoffs. Lakeland, Auburndale, Kathleen, Frostproof and Evangel Christian all play at home, while Lake Gibson, Bartow and Frostproof open on the road.

These are seven of the eight teams that made the playoffs last year. Bartow replaces Lake Wales in the postseason tourney.

For some teams, the challenge is to win games despite missing key players. Kathleen is without leading rusher Marcus Okobi, while Lake Gibson is without top tackler linebacker Mike Williams, who injured his knee in last week's season finale against Lakewood Ranch.

Okobi's loss is a big blow to the Red Devils, who returned only a couple of starters on offense this season to go with their veteran defense, who gained playoff experience last season.

"I think last year helped us," Kathleen coach Richard Tate said. "The playoffs were unchartered territory. We got a chance to get in and lost to the eventual state champion (Pace)."

Lake Gibson coach Keith DeMyer expects to have Williams back next week if the Braves defeat Land O'Lakes tonight. DeMyer also hopes to have back linebacker Cameron McCalpin, who has battled knee and hand injuries this season.

The Braves, the Class 4A runners-up last year, have a strong core of key returning players with playoff experience, including quarterback Matt Grothe, wide receiver Roger Frazier, offensive lineman Kenny Odom and defensive players Van Alexander, Aubrey Bowers and Chris Duvalt.

Lake Gibson faces Land O'Lakes, a team the Braves defeated last season in the region finals.

Last season, Land O'Lakes knocked off Auburndale in the first round. The Bloodhounds avoided a first-round rematch with Land O'Lakes when they beat Lake Gibson to win their first district title under Bob Williams.

The Bloodhounds had injury problems earlier this season when they lost tight end Cory Powers for the season and Dedrick Davis and Everett Laster for a game or two.

In terms of experience, Lakeland is in the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year. The Dreadnaughts received a scare when Chris Rainey left last week's game with a shoulder injury, but he is expected to play.

Bartow gets back running back Carl Edler, who missed the last game because of a car accident, but loses receiver Todd Sims.

Yellow Jackets coach Shawn Killets knows that his team has its hands full against the No. 2ranked team in the state.

Fort Meade and Evangel embark on their trek to meet again in the region finals in two weeks.

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041112/NEWS/411120378/1254

[Guest AstroBull]

Gonna be at my brother's football game.  Astronaut vs. Centennial.  

[Ricky the Bull]

Lake Gibson wins 39-6... and it wasn't that close.   I was very impressed with MG's decision-making and scrambling ability.  Great vision and field awareness.  Checked off and went to secondary recievers or ran, when required.  Comfortable throwing from the pocket or on the run, doing so with nice touch and accuracy.

Met Matt, Sr. and he said his son is ready to go next June.

Lock and load!

[Guest HowieP1]

Thanks Ricky for the update. I hope Matt can bring Frazier with him and then maybe Harris will come the following year so they can all be together again.

[bulls96go]

hope grothe signs on the dotted  line. he may be the man here for all four

years

[Ricky the Bull]

From the Trib article:

Lake Gibson's (10-1) victory was the product of a dominating ground and air attack. The bulk of the damage came from Braves quarterback Matt Grothe.

The senior rushed seven times for 135 yards - mostly on option keepers - and three scores, and completed 13 of 15 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first 11 passes.