Lakeland Head Football Coach Marcus Cutler chats with VirginiaPreps.com's Matthew Hatfield while the Cavaliers compete along with Churchland and host Denbigh at a Team Camp in Newport News on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
A Suffolk native who played at the now defunct John F. Kennedy High School before playing at Virginia Union, Cutler is gearing up for his second season at the helm of the Lakeland Cavaliers. Previously, he coached at Northumberland and Portsmouth Christian, plus had an assistant coaching stint for five seasons tutoring linebackers and running backs for Churchland.
His 2022 Lakeland team won its season opener 25-10 over Manor before dropping its next nine games. While their numbers in terms of total participants doesn't match some of the Southeastern District counterparts that play in Class 6 and Class 5, the Cavs are encouraged by the work they've gotten in this off-season with better days likely ahead.
"Our young players are really answering the call. We graduated 11 seniors last year and we're re-building. Lakeland is building from the ground up. Adversity is not something we're going to shy away from. We're going to meet that head on," Cutler told VirginiaPreps.com.
The heartbeat of the defense is senior linebacker Jacob Callis, who was among the top tacklers in the Southeastern District a season ago.
"Jacob is a natural leader and linebacker at heart," stated Cutler, noting several of their key players will line up on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Cutler feels the group is four-deep at running back, headed up by senior Allen Dockery, once the team's QB.
A breakout season likely awaits Na'Miah Mayfield (6-3, 215), a sophomore wideout with soft hands who's aggressive and also serves as their backup QB. There's also a two-way factor in sophomore LB/RB Kamonza Jones that they expect will develop into playmaker.
Lakeland, which last crashed the postseason party in 2017, opens its season on September 1st at Indian River.
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