It’s now official: Most teams played their jamborees or kickoff classics last week, and everything counts beginning this week. Lakeland and Auburndale played Thursday, and the rest of the slate of games involving Polk County teams are tonight.
For many teams, the questions will be answered beginning tonight, and for many teams, the biggest questions are at quarterback. For instance, will it be Brayden Padgett or JoJo Chandler at Lake Gibson, can David Soto replace Cam Turner at George Jenkins, how big of a playmaker can Michael Kearney III be at Winter Haven or how quickly can Kingston Lloyd mature at Lake Wales?
Only two games are all-Polk matchups. They are Lake Region at George Jenkins and Kathleen at Ridge Community. And while this is just the first game of the season, the games are important. For example, Lake Region and Kathleen combined for just one win last season and have new coaches this year, so both teams want to get that first win for their new coach as soon as possible. George Jenkins and Ridge want to build on last season, when both finished .500 or better but fell short of the playoffs.
Keep checking here throughout the night to keep up with all the scores.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Live scoreboard: Keep up with Week 1 Polk County high school football games
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
