Miami Northwestern, Lakeland to meet in preseason kickoff classic

Looking ahead to the 2025 high school football season has already begun, but that’s not without saying there’s some interesting preseason games before then. One tilt that just got announced may be the crown jewel when it pertains to Florida high school football itself.

The 9-time state champion Lakeland Dreadnaughts announced via its new Facebook page that they will be taking on 8-time state champ Miami Northwestern, coached by NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, in a preseason kickoff classic.

The contest will be apart of the ‘Treasure Coast Kickoff Classic’ hosted by Vero Beach High School, with the Dreadnaughts and Bulls set to square off on August 16th, 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

Both teams have combined to win 17 Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) state championships and will be in contention to win more hardware come this fall campaign.

When it comes to some of the state’s well known coaches, it might not get any better than Bridgewater against Lakeland’s Marvin Frazier, who heads into Year 3 as the Dreadnaughts’ lead man.

Bridgewater is coming off his first season as Miami Northwestern’s head coach, the alma mater of which he played his high school football at. The former Louisville star was tabbed as the Bulls’ head coach back on Feb. 2nd, 2024 and Bridgewater has turned around the program he once led under center.

The Bulls went 12-2 and dominated Florida’s Class 3A classification playoffs, out-scoring opponents 262-12, including a 41-0 victory over Jacksonville Raines in the state championship game at Pitbull Stadium in Miami.

Miami Northwestern looks to be one of the state’s top teams once again, as they’ve seen a flurry of transfers enter the program, including 2028 phenom Niemann Lawrence. Lawrence comes in as the team returns last year’s starter, Leon Strawder, to the offense.

Lakeland finished just short of its annual goal of winning a state title after winning it all in Class 4S in 2023. The Dreadnaughts fell in a 34-0 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Class 5A state championship last fall, but don’t look to be out of the picture whatsoever when official practices begin in late July.

Frazier’s squad has seen its fair share of newcomers come into the program, including 2026 USF signee CJ Cresser and 2027 quarterback Joaquin Kavouklis, whom both transferred in from Tarpon Springs during the off-season.