ONE LAST CHANCE TO WIN A TITLE

Florida high school football is quite competitive, and here in Polk County several schools have very good programmes. Three prep teams here reached the state semifinal level, but now only one remains.

Victory Christian Academy of Lakeland lost it's bid to become the Class 1B state champion Friday at Miami's Dolphin Stadium to Tallahassee's FAMU DRS High School Baby Rattlers 14-10, and Bartow was defeated at Glades Central 48-0 in the 3A semifinal round.

Only the Lakeland High Dreadnaughts remain to play for a title, which if successful would be their third consecutive 5A championship. They will travel to Miami next week to take on Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas in a matchup of the number one and number three teams in the final 5A poll.

Last night the 'Naughts defeated number two Daytona Beach Mainland 35-24 for their 44th straight victory. They have a remarkable talent in running back Chris Rainey, who last night made touchdown runs of 72, 92, and 57 runs and gained a total of 326 yards on 22 carries. Rainey has a total of 2,166 yards for the year, a school record.

Of all the kudos the running back has received, what Mainland coach John Maronto said after the game was something worth paying attention to:

"I coached against Desmond Howard. I coached against some big-time backs in Ohio,'' Maronto said. ``He reminds me of Desmond Howard (former Heisman winner at Michigan) and I think he's probably a little more explosive.''

BTW: Rainey and six other Dreadnaught seniors have made verbal commitments to the University of Florida.