Durant and Plant City scored so often Friday night that, near the end of the fourth quarter, they broke the scoreboard.
Thanks to perhaps their best rushing performance of the season, the Cougars completed the first successful Redman Cup defense since 2011 with a 55-41 win over the Raiders at Plant City High School.
“Unbelievable,” head coach Mike Gottman said. “Every time we come here, it’s never easy. It feels really good to do it in back to back years.”
Plant City came out swinging, catching the Cougars by surprise with 13 early points, courtesy of running back Eric Wilson’s two first-quarter touchdowns. But the Cougars were able to block the second PAT attempt, and Cameron Myers scored his first of four touchdowns on Durant’s subsequent drive. The Raiders and Cougars traded scores to close out the first quarter, with Plant City quarterback Braxton Plunk finding Chris Wilson for a 65-yard touchdown with 2:45 left and Durant fullback David Tabakovic breaking off a long run with 28 seconds left. Down 19-14, the Cougars turned on the jets in the second quarter.
Myers opened the quarter with a 64-yard touchdown run to put Durant ahead for good, this time by a score of 21-19. Two minutes later, with 8:48 to go before halftime, Myers finished a Durant drive with an 18-yard rushing touchdown on a pitch from quarterback Carlton Potter. He struck again with 3:24 to go, scoring on a 55-yard run on the same pitch play, and this prompted the fans in the visitors’ section to start a chant of “This is our house.”
The Raiders nearly scored with just under a minute left in the half, driving all the way to the Durant red zone, but the Cougars shut down Plunk’s attempt to scramble at the goal line.
Durant kicker Kelly Kash nearly scored the first points of the second half on a 22-yard field goal attempt with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter, but Plant City was able to block the kick and ignite a rally. With some creative playcalling by head coach James Booth, the Raiders were able to find the end zone on a drive capped by a screen pass Mario Williams used to burn the Durant defense. Plunk’s two-point conversion attempt was good, putting the Raiders within one possession facing a 34-27 Cougars lead.
Plant City caught another break when it forced Potter to throw a pick to Jaquez Green with 2:48 remaining. Plunk, Williams and Tyler Hood kept the Raiders moving downfield but could not score, as Plunk was sacked by Aaron Novo on fourth down and 15 from Durant’s 30-yard line.
Tabakovic was the star of the fourth quarter, breaking tackles left and right and scoring three touchdowns in eight minutes. He capped off a drive with 8:27 left in the game on a 16-yard run, putting Durant ahead, 41-27. After Hood scored on an 18-yard pass, cutting the lead to 41-35, the fullback teamed with Myers to put the Cougars at the Plant City 1 and score again with 4:32 to play. He then answered Plunk’s one-yard rushing touchdown on the ensuing drive with the game’s final score, a one-yard plunge coming in with 23 seconds left after a Raiders personal foul put Durant in their territory and he and Myers again kept moving the chains.