Land O' Lakes, Sunlake Football Heading to New Districts?

Next fall, both teams will most likely find themselves in a realigned district.

Land O' Lakes, Sunlake Football Heading to New Districts?

Next fall, both Land O' Lakes and Sunlake football teams will most likely find themselves in a realigned district.

Will Sunlake and Land O' Lakes high football players find themselves in new districts when the gridiron action heats up again next year? That's the question on a lot of minds and one that will likely pan out with some changes next season. The realignments are still tentative, however. When districts and classifications were realigned two years ago, they went very much the way of the original, "tentative" realignments though.  The main thrust behind realignment is to keep up with enrollment numbers at the hundreds of high schools in the state. Newer schools tend to move up in classification as older schools tend to simmer back down into smaller ones. Don't worry; the budding Land O' Lakes/Sunlake football rivalry isn't going anywhere. The …

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Senior Seahawks Etch Records, Tradition into Sunlake Football

The last two seasons have defined Sunlake football more than any in the program's brief history.

Last year was a major one for Sunlake's football record book— first playoff appearance, first win over Land O' Lakes High and first playoff victory, among others. The 2012 Seahawks, however, are going to come up just short of making the playoffs but their legacy, and records will be set in stone. With only one returning offensive line starter and losing their top three rushers from 2011, the Seahawks had the look of a cellar-dweller in Class 6A District 6. They proved to be just the opposite and showed it from the very first game. During the season opener against Hudson, the Seahawks broke the single game rushing record and they did it with converted receiver, senior Eddie Burgos. "We had a need there (at running back), he's (Burgos) got …

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Land O' Lakes High Forced to Forfeit Games for Recruiting Violations

The FHSAA rules that two sibling student-athletes were illegally recruited, the Pasco Times reports, resulting in a $3,200 fine.

Land O' Lakes High must forfeit 44 athletic contests, including 23 football games, over two years and pay a fine because of recruiting violations, the Pasco Tribune reports. The Florida High School Athletic Association ruled Wednesday that two sibling student-athletes were illegally recruited, according to the Tribune. The school self-reported the violations earlier this month, the Tribune reports, which led the FHSAA to reduce the fines from a possible $80,000 ($2,500 per game) to $3,200 ($100 per game). The Tribune cited a report from FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing, which said the athletes' family "was assisted by a coach and a football booster parent, who helped them to obtain and submit a false address to attend Land O' Lakes …

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Land O' Lakes' Kent Taylor Commits to Florida

Saying "Once a Gator, always a Gator," the nation's top tight end recruit announces he will attend the University of Florida.

After what Land O’ Lakes High School’s Kent Taylor described as a “long” and “stressful” process, the nation's No. 1 tight end recruit verbally committed to the University of Florida to play football on Thursday afternoon. Taylor went into great detail about the process he went through to decide between Florida State, Alabama, Penn State, Georgia and LSU. He described going to LSU and sitting in Coach Les Miles’ office, talking about stories of the program and walking through Tiger Stadium, the famed "Death Valley." He discussed talking to Alabama Coach Nick Saban and playing for the Crimson Tide in front of 100,000 people every game. Taylor even talked about sitting in Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s house before revealing his selection …

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