Lakeland (FL) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2026 high school football season.
The Dreadnaughts defeated USA TODAY Sports Super 25 No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, FL) 27-24 in overtime of FHSAA Open Division pool play on Friday, Nov. 13.
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Lakeland pulled off the stunning win when Kelin Hendrix connected with Joseph Howard for a touchdown for the walk-off victory at Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium located on campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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The walk-off touchdown came just three plays after the Dreadnaughts held St. Thomas Aquinas to a field goal to start overtime.
Hendrix opened the scoring with a 48-yard touchdown in the first quarter. The Raiders evened the score just before halftime on a punt-return touchdown by Zayden Gamble, a Notre Dame football commit.
St. Thomas Aquinas took its first lead of the game when Blake Calixte connected with Gamble for a 54-yard touchdown in the third quarter. The Dreadnaughts scored twice more to take a 21-14 lead with 5:47 left in the game and actually missed a field goal with 3:29 left to make it a two-score game.
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Jase Watkins scored on a walk-in touchdown with 37 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
Despite the loss, St. Thomas Aquinas is not done this season. The Raiders are still alive in Open Division pool play on Friday, Nov. 20 and Friday, Nov. 27. If they can advance, the Open Division semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5.
The Florida High School Athletic Association introduced the new postseason format for the 2026 season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lakeland football stuns No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas on walk-off TD in OT
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
