December 10, 2005

'Naughts cruise to first 'national championship'

MIAMI -- Lakeland left no doubt it has the best high school football team in the state and perhaps the country Friday night, capturing its second straight Class 5A championship in a 39-10 rout of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

Going wire-to-wire as America's No. 1 team in the USA Today poll, the Dreadnaughts (15-0) posted their 30th straight victory before a crowd of 16,147 at Dolphins Stadium. It was Lakeland's fifth state championship and fourth in the last 10 years. The national championship that becomes official on Tuesday will be its first.

"I definitely didn't expect the score to be like that," said Billy Lowe, who was the quarterback in the Lakeland High program's biggest victory. "We're national champions, undefeated. It's the best feeling I've ever had in my life."

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