As Lakeland makes the three-and-a-half hour road trip to Jacksonville this morning to play First Coast in a Class 7A state semifinal game, the Dreadnaughts will have one thing on their minds: the state finals.
For wide receiver Ricquan Southward, there's a bit of additional motivation to make it to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando for the title game: His mother, Kathy Howard, will be able to watch.
Howard has watched her son play in every game since he started competing in 1999.
She won't make it to Jacksonville because she can't drive that far. Two years ago, she got into a major car accident that left her car totaled and her ankle in really bad shape.
"It wasn't that serious," Southward said. "But the car was done and she had to have surgery on her ankle twice so she doesn't drive much as it is. But this is the first game she'll be missing. If we make it to states, she'll be able to get to Orlando. So we need to win this one."
