Plant City-area football fans were in for a treat on Thursday evening, as Durant High School hosted a four-team football jamboree.
The games were well-attended, as fans of all four teams poured in to pack the house. There were also several college scouts prowling the sideline – hailing from Florida, Duke, Iowa State, Bowling Green State and Southeastern – and several members of the media, such as Rivals.com.
Through the first two quarters, the Plant City Raiders squared off against the mighty Armwood Hawks. Armwood went ahead, 7-0, on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 5:23 remaining in the first quarter, and scored again on a fumble recovery late in the second quarter.
Sawyer Dawson gave Plant City a chance to score with a 40-yard interception return, but the eight remaining seconds weren’t enough. The Raiders lost, 14-0.
After halftime, the Cougars and Chargers came out to play. This one was a little closer, as both teams found the end zone early on. Crest kicked off the scoring with a deep ball, after a failed Durant field goal attempt on the previous drive, and the Cougars answered back with Erick Davis’s quarterback sneak. They could not, however, convert on the two-point attempt.
Durant made up for that missed field goal at 5:39 in the fourth quarter, so it was up to wideout-turned-QB Clay Cullins to lead the Chargers to victory. Just when the game looked lost, a 20-yard carry put Crest in field goal range with just a few seconds left to play. The kick sailed through the uprights as the clock ran out, and Crest left with a 10-9 win.
