Two Bay Area perennial powers advanced to the FHSAA state football finals with wins on Friday night.

The Lakeland Dreadnaughts earned their first championship game appearance since 2008 with a 56-21 win over Orlando Edgewater.  Running back Demarkcus Bowman continued his record-breaking season, leading the Dreadnaughts to a 40+ point performance for the 11th time this season.  The defense made their own mark by scoring a single-season team record 8th touchdown of the season.

Lakeland will face national powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in the 7A Championship on Friday at 8PM.  Legendary coach Bill Castle will look to win the seventh state title of his career and first since 2006, when the Chris Rainey and the Pouncey twins led Lakeland to a 45-42 win in double-overtime over Aquinas.

Meanwhile just west on I-4, the Armwood Hawks faced their toughest test of the postseason against 6A Region 1 Champion Crestview, from the Panhandle.  The Hawks trailed 22-21 at one point in the third quarter, but sophomore quarterback Cam Ransom led a rally that saw the Hawks score two touchdowns and hold Crestview scoreless over the rest of the game for a 35-22 win.

The Hawks will make their seventh title game appearance in the past nine seasons, and have the chance to avenge last year's state championship loss.  They will once again face Miami Northwestern, who beat the Hawks 21-16 in the 2017 title game.

The two teams face off Saturday at 3PM at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.

Spectrum customers can watch the FHSAA football state finals for free!

Log on to www.myspectrumsports.com/floridagames/schedule for the full schedule.