The Lakeland High School football team opens its season on the road against Wilson High School Thursday.

Lakeland High School (0-0) at Wilson High School (0-1)

The Cavs will open on the road Thursday night as they go face Wilson.

Last season, the two teams met in a contest split into two games due to lightning. They started the game on a Friday and finished the following Monday with Lakeland taking the victory.

Wilson is coming off of one Suffolk opponent as they took on King’s Fork High School last Friday. At times, they made the game interesting, but the Bulldogs were able to run off with the game towards the end.

Lakeland knows they will be getting a team excited to be on its home field for the first time with its new coach, but the Cavs are ready.

“We have had a good week of practice so far,” Cavs Coach Kevin Knight said. “I feel pretty positive about everything and the direction that we are going. Wilson has some athletes over there, so we have to be disciplined and if we do that, we will be fine.”

Lakeland will have to watch for the big plays Wilson likes to make through the air. Of the three touchdowns Wilson scored last week, all of them were through the air for big plays. The secondary will have to be disciplined to make sure Wilson receivers do not get behind them.

Lakeland will be without a couple of pieces from last season but returns a strong core. Tyquan Holloman will be under center at quarterback for his last year. Since a freshman, Holloman has been the team’s starting quarterback. Nate Edghill will provide big playmaking ability for the Cavs. Defensively, the Cavs return Antonio Vaughan. Vaughan made the switch to linebacker last season and has embraced the position. Lakeland is looking for a big year out of him with this being his last season as well.

“We are expecting a lot of our guys to do some good things for us this season,” Knight said. “We feel good about this team.”

The Cavs are excited about the opportunity of a fresh season and the fact that it all starts to count when they officially step on the field.

“This is what you work hard for,” Knight said. “We were ready to go last week. The guys are excited. We all can’t wait to get out there. We want the guys playing smart, hard and fast. Let’s go out there, have some fun and make some plays.”

Game time for Lakeland at Wilson High School is 7 p.m.