Plant City took a little while to find a rhythm in Friday's preseason game against Spoto but, once the Raiders found it, they were nearly unstoppable.
The Spartans managed to have possession of the ball for the entire first quarter, marching all the way down to the goal line just before time expired. Plant City sent the game into the second quarter by completing a goal line stand on fourth down. When the Raiders finally got the ball, they were quick to hit paydirt.
Running back Zamir' Knighten carved up Spoto's defense to keep the chains moving and wideout Demario Williams showed his connection with quarterback Braxton Plunk is as strong as ever. Williams burned the Spoto defense on a 35-yard touchdown catch shortly into the Raiders' first drive on offense and, a few minutes after Michael Coton scored a catch-and-run touchdown of his own, made his second scoring play of the night catching a pass deep in the left corner of the end zone. Plant City's 35-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left in the quarter was no good, but they went into the locker room with a 21-0 lead and would start the second half receiving the ball.
Plant City's defense continued to force the Spartans to punt or turn the ball over on downs and Williams continued to make big plays all over the field. After D.J. Gordon IV scored a rushing touchdown to cap off the first drive of the second half, the Raiders again shut down Spoto's offense and got the ball back in Plunk's hands. When the senior signal-caller cramped up in the third quarter the team experimented with Williams and Gordon taking direct snaps. With two minutes left in the quarter, Knighten broke off several defenders on a 22-yard run to put the score at 35-0 and cue the running clock.
Spoto scored in the fourth quarter after blocking a punt firmly in Plant City territory and scooping up the ball for a quick score. But with a 35-7 lead and a running clock, Plant City just had to kill time. The Raiders ran down the clock until there was 1:25 left to go, when Williams scored his third and final touchdown of the night on a rushing play.