The Raiders defeat the Cougars 31-10
Photos courtesy of Braden Gilley
Plant City and Durant took the field once again for the Redman Cup. Durant entered the game 1-0 after a week one win against Lakewood, while the Raiders were 1-0 after defeating Blake. The Raiders got the ball first and started inside their 10 yard line. Ty’one Cooper started the game with a nice catch for a first down. Maurian Hugee then had a nice run as they picked up back-to-back first downs. Adam Robinson got his first catch of the day, putting the Raiders in the Cougars’ red zone. The Raiders quarterback fumbled, and the Cougars took over at their own 27-yard line with 8:36 left in the first.
Maurice Keene had back-to-back runs for the Cougars, picking up a first down. A timeout was called with 7:10 left in the first. After the timeout, they fed Keene the ball again. After a near incompletion, another timeout was called with 5:45 left in the first. Durant punted it, and the Raiders took over at the 25.
Ta’Vare Miller kept it to himself for a nice gain of about 20 yards. Haven Pierce had a nice gain of 8 yards. The Raiders attempted a pass deep in the Cougars’ territory, but it was incomplete. A timeout was called with 3:03 left in the first. After a solid play, the Raiders had a third and short, and Miller kept it to himself for the first down. After the first, the Raiders had an incomplete on a wheel route, then the Cougars’ Caleb Waters had a big sack on Miller. Waters did it again, with back-to-back sacks, forcing the Raiders to punt to end the first quarter with no score.
The Cougars started the second quarter at their own 30-yard line. The Raiders’ defense was ready on the first play with a huge sack by multiple defenders. King Rivera had a nice catch to put them at midfield. A timeout by the Cougars was called with 9:52 left in the half. After the timeout, the Cougars weren’t able to get anything going and were forced to punt.
The Raiders took over at their own 20-yard line. The drive started with a nice 8-yard pass on a screen attempt. Miller kept it to himself on the read option and brought the Raiders to midfield. Adam Robinson then caught a nice play for a solid gain. Robinson caught another one down the sideline, putting them in Cougar territory. An incomplete pass brought up third and long. Miller escaped the pocket and found Maurian Hugee for a first down. A water break was called with 6:27 left in the half. After the break, Miller kept the ball himself for a short gain. On second and long, Miller found Taevion Parker for the touchdown, putting the Raiders up 7-0 with 5:26 left in the half.
The Cougars tried running early on in the drive, but Demonti Wilson had a nice tackle for no gain. Ben Hodnett had a nice catch for a first down. The Cougars quarterback, Sam Themar, kept it for a nice run, bringing up second and 2 near midfield. The QB kept it to himself again, this time putting the Cougars in the red zone for the first time in the game. Themar ran for the third time in a row, bringing up second and goal. Themar kept it for a fourth time, gained a couple of yards, making it third and goal at the 2-yard line. Themar kept it to himself again, and the Raiders stopped him, bringing up fourth and goal at the 2-yard line. The Cougars went for it on 4th down and scored, tying it up 7-7 with 1:06 left in the half.
The Raiders had a nice return by Pierce as he was tackled at the 30-yard line with 58 seconds left in the half. Pierce stayed hot after the kick return as he and Miller connected, putting them inside the Cougars’ red zone. After a short run by Miller, the Raiders called a timeout with 37 seconds left in the half. A holding on the Raiders backed them up 10 yards. Pierce got his second reception of the drive and got out of bounds on third down with 10 seconds left. The following play was offset due to penalties on both teams. That brought up one untimed down since the clock reached zero. The Raiders kicked the field goal, taking the lead at the end of the half, 10-7.
Themar had a nice run to start the second half for the Cougars. The Raiders stripped it on the very next play, and the Raiders took over at midfield. The Raiders started with a run, then Miller was tackled for a loss, bringing up third and long. The following play was incomplete, making it a 3-and-out for the Raiders.
The Cougars started the drive at their own 20-yard line. The first play of the drive was incomplete. The Cougars tried running an outside stretch, and the Raiders were all over it with multiple defenders tackling the running back. The next play was incomplete, and it was another 3-and-out.
The Raiders started the drive at their own 45-yard line. Terrance Queen had a nice catch to start the drive, followed by a big incompletion on a deep shot, bringing up third and mid. The Raiders had an incomplete on a third down with a deep attempt down the left sidelines, forcing them to punt. The Raiders had an epic punt, pinning the Cougars inside their own 10-yard line.
The Cougars started the drive with a run up the middle for a couple of yards, followed by Michael Gibson getting a big run. A timeout was called with 6:05 left in the third. After a short run, the Raiders piled onto the Cougars quarterback for a big sack, bringing up third and long. The Cougars picked up a first down, putting them at midfield. They picked up back-to-back first downs with runs. A timeout was called with 1:49 left in the third. A facemask penalty was called on the Raiders, giving the Cougars 15 yards. Themar kept it to himself for a solid gain, followed by a short run, bringing up second down to end the quarter.
The 4th quarter started with a short run. The Cougars tied it up with a field goal, making it 10-10 with 10:38 left in the game.
The Raiders had a nice return on the kickoff, putting them at the 32-yard line. Miller started the drive with a nice scramble for a first down, putting the Raiders near midfield. Michael Gibson got the sack on Miller. Miller kept it to himself as he escaped the blitz and turned it up midfield, but it wasn’t enough for the first down. The Raiders faked the punt and got the first down with a nice run to the outside. Miller kept it to himself for a short run. They tried a deep end zone shot, but it was incomplete, bringing up fourth and short with 6:18 left in the game. The Raiders went for it, and not only did they get the first down, but they got the go-ahead touchdown on a nice pass to the left corner of the end zone. The Raiders took the lead 17-10 with 6:05 left in the game.
The Cougars started the drive on their own 5-yard line, and on the first play of the drive, they turned the ball over, and the Raiders got a defensive touchdown. The Cougars got ball back with 5:50 left in the game. Lord Yair Allah-Sharief had an incredible tackle for the Raiders. Rivera picked up a nice first down for the Cougars. The following play was a run for minimal gain. Plant City kept the hard hits coming as they forced another fumble on the Cougars. This time, they took over at the 35-yard line with 4:10 left in the game. With a multi-possession lead, the Raiders started killing the clock with multiple runs. A timeout was called with 2:13 left to play. Adam Robinson scored at the end of the game for the Raiders, extending the lead to 31-10, which was the final score. The Plant City Raiders won the Redman Cup and advanced to 2-0, while the Durant Cougars fell to 1-1.
