ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Lakewood head coach Cory Moore has a routine.

Before every game he does the same things.

Friday nights still stir up all the emotions for this veteran coach. 

“I played ball at all levels but there is nothing like Friday Night Football,”Moore said.

Friday nights are for family. And there’s a familial feel at Lakewood. This is one big family. And Coach Moore needed his family because he lost a very special member of it.

“True family,” Moore said. “When one hurts, we all hurt.”

Coach Moore is hurting because his beloved nephew Logan McNeil was tragically shot and killed. Logan wasn’t just his nephew, he was a former Spartan who played on a talent laden team that included future NFL players Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin, Rodney Adams, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Isaiah Wynn. Lakewood quarterbacks coach Tracy Johnson played on that stacked Spartans team with Logan. 

“Energetic, kind hearted, he just overall just a teammate, like a real teammate,” Johnson said. “He’s a Lakewood standard.”

It’s hard to understand the game plan when a young life is taken too soon. But Coach Moore is a man of strong faith and he believes we are all following a higher power’s game plan.

“We’re going to try and find the brighter side of it,” Moore said. “And of course we miss him and we love him, but I believe he is going to be in a better place and I believe sometimes a seed has to die for other things to grow.”

Coach Moore missed most of the week’s practices for Lakewood’s regional semifinal game against Glades Central. But he knew he needed to be there on Friday night. And not just for himself.

“I wanted to be here with my young men for them to be able to see that it’s OK to cry,” he said. “It’s OK to love on each other. It’s OK to be genuine. It’s OK to express your feelings in a positive manner.”

Lakewood defeated Glades Central to advance to the regional finals. This was more than a win that will send the Spartans to the regional final round. This win was for Coach Moore.

“We really wanted to make this win,” Lakewood senior Devyne Mason said. “Coach has been going through a lot this week so we wanted to go hard for him this one time.”

It’s a true family. And this Lakewood family collectively wrapped its arms around their beloved coach. You don’t hear the word love spoken often around a football team. You hear it at Lakewood.