There’s a running joke around Lakewood High School these days.

Come Sunday night, the football power in St. Petersburg, Fla., is going to be a Super Bowl champ.

At the root of that brag-worthy accomplishment is the fact that each team playing in Super Bowl LIII has a former SEC star who’s a Lakewood graduate.

There’s Dante Fowler Jr., the former Gator great and No. 3 overall pick in 2015 who was a key midseason acquisition for the Los Angeles Rams (the Rams’ scouts did their homework by talking to Fowler’s Lakewood coach, Cory Moore, about that move). And on the Patriots roster is first-round pick and former Georgia standout offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn, who saw his rookie season come to an abrupt end when he suffered a torn Achilles in the preseason.

So technically, only 1 Lakewood grad will be active Sunday night. But the running joke still applies.

“There is definitely a buzz,” said Moore, who coached Fowler and Wynn at Lakewood. “Just getting to see guys that we know play on that stage is gonna be pretty awesome.”

It actually marked the second consecutive year that Lakewood was represented in the Super Bowl. Last year, Bernard Reedy Jr. was on the Patriots roster when they fell to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII. However, the journeyman receiver didn’t register a catch.

It’ll be a different story with Fowler.

The last time Fowler was on the field, he got the hit on Drew Brees that forced the interception in overtime that allowed the Rams to close out the NFC Championship.

Moore couldn’t help but flashback when he watched Fowler make the game-changing play.

“I started laughing because whenever Dante flips that switch on, there’s not many things you can do with him,” Moore said. “When he makes his mind up that he’s gonna beat you, there’s just nothing you can really do about it. I’ve seen that out of him so many times.

“There’s not a lot of players with that mold.”

That’s why Fowler was a 5-star recruit coming out of Lakewood. Moore would line him up all over the field. When he wasn’t wreaking havoc on St. Petersburg-area quarterbacks on defense, Fowler would line up at running back, tight end or really anywhere Moore needed him.

“He actually punted the ball,” Moore said. “Dante could’ve played any position he wanted to … a kid that big who can run like that with hips like that, Dante is just a different strand.”

Oh, he’s not kidding about that punting thing.

On Sunday, though, Fowler will have a single responsibility — get after Tom Brady.

History shows that’ll be the key to the game. Pro Football Focus pointed out that in the 3 Super Bowls that teams generated pressure on at least 40 percent of Brady’s dropbacks, the Patriots lost all 3 times. When that didn’t happen in the other 5 Super Bowls that Brady played in, the Patriots won every time. Brady has only been pressured a league-best 17.9 percent of the time this season.

"If Dante comes into that game and flips that switch, they can’t block him."
Lakewood High School coach Cory Moore

In other words, Fowler has his work cut out for him. But Moore is confident that the former First-Team All-SEC selection is plenty capable of turning that number around.

“To be honest with you, if Dante comes into that game and flips that switch, they can’t block him,” Moore said. “He does stuff so instinctual, you can’t really textbook play him because he’s not playing by that same set of rules. He bends further than somebody else, he dips further than somebody else.”

Well, Moore admitted that Fowler might not be totally un-blockable.

“The only guy I know that might’ve been able to block him is on injured reserve on the other side,” Moore said with a laugh.

That of course, would be Wynn.

The 2014 Lakewood graduate still hasn’t made his regular season debut, but Moore said he’s been in good spirits throughout his inactive rookie year. The two keep in contact via text. Moore checked in on his former star offensive lineman when he went down in August.

“Sure, he was upset. But he’s moved on from that,” Moore said about Wynn. “He’s going to have an amazing year next year. But he’s fine. He’s so mature.”

That assertion is based on what Wynn did as a senior at Lakewood. When he needed shoulder surgery that would have sidelined him for the year, Wynn decided to postpone it until after the season was over. At that time, Wynn was already committed to Georgia, so he wasn’t gritting his teeth to get more scholarships. That didn’t stop him from earning U.S. Army All-America honors and eventually becoming an indispensable 3-year starter for the Dawgs.

“The only guy I know that might’ve been able to block (Fowler) is on injured reserve on the other side.”
Lakewood High School coach Cory Moore

When he returns to full strength, Wynn could get the opportunity to face Fowler or a couple of other Lakewood graduates in a future Super Bowl.

Former UCF stars and current Seattle Seahawks defenders Shaquill and Shaquem Griffin both played with Wynn at Lakewood. As for when the Griffin brothers will be representing Lakewood in the Super Bowl, “it’s coming,” Moore says.

Lakewood, which has had 15 players drafted in the NFL, could be in the midst of an impressive Super Bowl streak.

In 2017, it was 1 of 10 high schools with multiple players drafted. Shaquill Griffin was a third-round pick and Marquez Valdes-Scandling — a 2013 Lakewood grad — started as a rookie after he was a fifth-round pick by the Green Bay Packers in 2018. Auburn all-time receptions leader Ryan Davis could be the next former Lakewood receiver to make a splash in the NFL.

“All I know is the good Lord is shining down on us at Lakewood,” Moore said.

On Sunday, though, all the talk will be about Fowler and Wynn. Moore said there are some tentative plans to have a watch party of sorts at Lakeland with his players. Even though Fowler will be the only Lakewood grad in action, just having a pair of former Spartans on both sides of the Super Bowl is something Moore hopes inspires his team.

Who will the locals be rooting for, you ask?

“Hey, man,” Moore said, “all I know is, Lakewood’s gonna win.”