Excitement and anticipation are in the air as the football season approaches. Once again, Viking Country will show up to support their beloved Vikings on Friday nights at Viking Stadium. The Vikings are coming off an impressive 8-3 record during the 2025 season, finishing second in their district with a plus-130-point differential.
The Viking are led by head coach Daniel Williams who is heading into his 10th season as head coach for the Vikings. During his time as Head Coach Daniel Williams has a 48-18 record all time, which is an impressive .727 winning percentage.
With another season on the horizon, the Viking faithful are looking forward to more great football as Lakeland Christian enters the 2026 season with plenty of returning talent. Some of these top players include senior Quarterback Brody Brenneman, who during his 2025 season had a 67.1% completion rate, 25 passing touchdowns, and 8 rushing touchdowns as well as 2,607 yards of total offense. Senior Running back AJ Truedell who during his 2025 season, had 1,184 rushing yards and had 11 rushing touchdowns. Lastly there is Junior Linebacker Joseph Bustos who had 7.8 tackles a game, 12.5 sacks, 8 Quarterback hurries, and 1 interception.
With this returning production and talent to the team Lakeland Christian aims to continue to have success that they have had in previous years and maybe even go further than they have before claim that illustrious state title that has eluded them for so many years.
Although Lakeland Christian has some much-needed talent returning they will have to deal with the talented players they have lost. Some talent that Lakeland Christian has lost includes players such as wide receiver/ defensive back Devonte Howard, Mr. Howard will be a huge loss for the Vikings on offense as he averaged 97 receiving yards per game, had 13 receiving touchdowns, and had 3 interceptions on defense. Another player the Vikings will miss heading into the season is defensive end/ tight end Davin Sirmons Jr. Who had a productive 2025 season with 6.9 tackles per game, 4 sacks, and 6 quarterback hurries, he will truly be a big loss on defense for the Vikings. Lastly, a star player that will be missed for the Vikings is linebacker/ fullback Caleb McDonald who during the 2025 season had 6.9 tackles per game, recorded a fumble recovery, and was a regular contributor on defense. Despite these losses on the roster for the Vikings, they look to build off what they did last year.
The Vikings will begin their season on August 21 against the Santa Fe Catholic Crimson Hawks. In order to get off to a strong start and open the season 1-0, Lakeland Christian will need to execute in several key areas. Here are the Vikings’ keys to victory. First The Vikings must establish the run early, this means that they need to make their opponent Sante Fe respect the ground game. If the Vikings can consistently create 4–5-yard gains, that should open up their ability to have play action passing and give them an easier chance offensively. Another Key to Victory for Lakeland Christian would be winning the line of scrimmage, this means by them controlling both sides of the line it will limit the game from getting out of hand and give them a fighting chance to win the game. Lastly, The Vikings will have to limit explosive plays; this means Sante Fe cannot be allowed to gain momentum especially when it comes to letting up big plays. If the Vikings are able to limit this from happening and keep everything happening in front of their secondary, Sante Fe will have to fight for every yard they get. Although nothing is guaranteed heading into the 2026-27 season, one thing is certain: it is once again time for football in Viking Country.
Under the Friday night lights, the Viking faithful will once again pack the stands, bring their energy, and support their team as Lakeland Christian begins its pursuit of another successful season and, ultimately, the state championship that has eluded the program for so long. Before the Start of the 2026 season for the Vikings, I had a chance to talk to some of its star players including quarterback and recent University of South Florida Commit Brody Brenneman and offensive lineman and University of Central Florida Commit Ty MontsDeOca and asked them some questions regarding the upcoming season. When talking to Mr. Brenneman I asked him about his time at Lakeland Christian and how it has helped prepare him for the next level and this was his response “I say it’s been very good, a lot of schools differentiate from LCS in the way of schedule wise our practices are very scheduled you go lift and then you go into a scheduled practice, everything is timed out everything is organized so that is one thing that has helped me going into it that I also see at the next level.” Later on in our conversation I asked him about how he feels about the team as a whole heading into the season, and this is what he had to say. “As a whole I feel great we got a bunch of star guys, a bunch of guys that are just playmakers, but the most important thing is the people behind them.” When it came to Mr. MontsDeOca, I asked him what he Believes the teams greatest strength is heading into the season and this is what he had to say. I think we have a lot of guys that are really versatile, I think our offense is going to be good other than that we have guys that are willing to give it there all.” As the season begins, only time will tell what this team is capable of and what they will be able to accomplish.
