LAKELAND, Fla. — Saturday afternoon's Class 4S state title state championship game was a hard-fought battle between the Lakeland Dreadnaughts and the Venice Indians at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. 

The game was tied at 14 heading to the locker room, but the Dreadnaughts dominated the second half. The goal touchdown of the half came from Lakeland’s quarterback Zach Pleuss to break the tie and lift the Dreadnaughts to the 21-14 victory in front of a packed Lakeland crowd.

While many traveled to watch the Dreadnaughts close out their perfect season with a state title, arguably the team’s biggest fan couldn’t be present.

The name Andrew Mastalski may not immediately ring a bell to you, but the name Mr. Dreadnaught might.

“Another guy and I,” he said, recalling back to his time in the military, “He was going on vacation to visit some of his family, where his family grew up in Italy, a place called, I gotta think about this.”

He may not remember much these days, but two things’ll have him going for hours if you let him. 

He continued, “I became a crew chief on an airplane, and it’s just like being a truck driver. Wherever that plane landed, I was on it and landed it to it.”

He’ll talk about his time serving in the Air Force as if it was yesterday.

“I enjoyed it because the things I saw, the people I talked to, and stuff like that, it’s like a story,” he said.

Like many, Mr. Dreadnaught retired to Florida.

He’s called Polk County home for the past 40 years, Lakeland specifically, home to the Dreadnaughts, a team he’s supported since his daughter became a student. 

Belinda Mastalski Smith remembered her high school days.

“Here I am, all my friends are at the football game, and here are my parents in the stands with these hats and ringing bells and screaming and I’m like oh my God. I used to sit down in the student section and turned my head away, couldn’t see, so yeah.”

His famous hat, something his late wife made a long time ago.

“There are plastic panels. That’s what it’s made of”, and it quickly became the team’s good luck charm,” Smith said.

“We won seven state titles and two national titles while we were wearing these hats,” Mr. Dreadnaught added.

Looking out at the crowd during Saturday’s state final, its third game Mr. Dreadnaught has missed in his 40 years of being a fan, but that did not stop him from watching his beloved team bring home their 8th state title.

“Obviously it’s huge, any time you win a state title, it’s hard,” Head Coach Bill Castle told reporters after the victory.

Castle noticed the longtime fan was missing.

“You know we really missed you,” he said. “You meant a lot to us over the years. Coming in with that hat, I missed seeing that tonight.”

From his laptop at home back in Lakeland, Mr. Dreadnaught watched his beloved team hoist up the hardware.

“Congratulations Dreadnaughts. Go, Team, Go!” he said, happy to have watched this moment again.