Preview: Gainesville Hurricanes vs Lakes Wales Highlanders

It’s an exciting time here in Gainesville this fall. Finally the first week of playoffs is set to kickoff tonight.

Gainesville High School will travel to Lake Wales to face a tough Lake Wales team. Gainesville High comes into the game with a record of 7-3 while 4-1 in the district. Lake Wales comes into the game with a record of 9-1 and undefeated in their district. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm.

Gainesville High Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are coming into this game off of a three-game winning streak. The Hurricanes are led by former Gator linebacker Pat Miller.

Miller talks about his team and how they have been playing here:

 

The Canes played Gainesville rival Eastside last week and found some success with a 42-13 win.

Quarterback Luke Matthews, son of former gator quarterback Shane Matthews, threw for 167 yards and 4 touchdowns. The running back duo of K.Z. Hutchinson and Niles Crom will look to follow up big games rushing last week with dynamic play this week.

The Hurricanes currently average 38.3 points per game and will hope to get the offense clicking early. The defense will continue to pressure the quarterback and look to disrupt the Lake Wales offense. They will be looking for another big game from their leader Caleb Washington to lead the way.

Lake Wales Highlanders

Lake Wales comes into this game seeming to have caught fire after the first game of the season.

Led by coach Tavaris Johnson the highlanders have won 9 straight. Last Friday they had a narrow victory but will try to expand on the things they did right. Highlander quarterback Chayil Garnett threw for 248 yards and one touchdown. They got a big game from one of their top receivers Kahari Taylor putting up 170 yards. This offense is averaging 36.4 points per game and will work to reach that number against the Hurricanes.

Lake Wales will also try to get their leading rusher Johnny Richardson touches early with a 131.8 yards per game average. On defense, they will try to limit the hurricane offense. The Highlanders are only giving up 17.1 points per game. Joel Hadley Jr will look to slow down the running game averaging 8.8 tackles per game. This will be a big test for the Highlanders.

Winner!

The winner will advance to the regional semifinals to face the winner of the Vanguard (Ocala)- Sebring game.