A week after moving to 3-1 with a Redman Cup victory over rival Durant, the Plant City Raiders fell to 3-2 with a 42-40 loss at the hands of Hillsborough High School.
As the Raiders won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, the Terriers lined up deep to receive and a strong return that set them up at their own 41-yard line to open their first drive of the game. Despite the strong opening field position, the first snap of the game sailed over the head of quarterback Darryon Jones and he was met by defensive end Simeon Hogan all the way back at the 20-yard line. Backed up with a nearly impossible distance to overcome, the Raiders ultimately got the defensive stop and forced a punt – one that sailed over the head of Plant City’s return man, leading to a fumble as he attempted to recover the rolling kick that was recovered by Hillsborough to give them new life at the Raiders’ 23-yard line. And given a second chance to open the contest, Hillsborough took quick advantage with a 23-yard touchdown run on the first play of the drive.
The two teams exchanged long drives that ultimately resulted in a turnover on downs before special teams once again cost the Raiders. Backed up to punt from near midfield, Plant City once again turned the ball over in their own territory as the snap was too high for the punter to handle, rolling all the way down inside the Raiders’ 10-yard line and to the eight where it was recovered by the Terriers. Once again taking quick advantage of a special teams miscue, Hillsborough extended their lead to 14-0 with a short touchdown run three plays later.
Taking over at the 20 following a touchback, the Raiders moved right down the field with a balanced mix of completions from quarterback Chris Denson and strong runs from running back Tony Marshall, aided by a pass interference penalty drawn by speedy receiver Trae’veon Smith, that set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Denson to Travont Panier.
After another defensive stop, the Raiders’ offense answered back once again. Despite a strong punt return from Smith up to the 43, Denson was immediately sacked back at the 35 to set up a second-and-18. An incompletion on second down set up a third-and-long when Denson made one of the most incredible plays you’ll ever see as he dropped back, evaded pressure in the pocket, continued to stay upright and shake off defenders before finding daylight and breaking free up the left sideline for a miraculous 65-yard touchdown run to knot the contest at 14-14 just before halftime.
Hillsborough pulled back ahead with a touchdown on their first drive of the third quarter and Plant City once again responded with a strong drive that culminated in a huge 50-yard touchdown run from Marshall, tying the game at 21-21, but the Terriers wouldn’t let it stay close any longer. With a 50-yard touchdown coming off of a screen pass to running back Syncere Styles on the ensuing drive, Plant City fell victim to another pair of special teams mistakes that Hillsborough continued to capitalize on as they built a 42-21 lead with 7:24 remaining in the game… but the Raiders persevered.
Needing yards and points quickly, Plant City opened their next drive at the 20-yard line and immediately moved into Hillsborough territory as Denson found Josh Gueh deep over the middle for a 40-yard gain to the Terriers’ 40. A pair of completions set the Raiders up at the Hillsborough 20 and Denson pulled the Raiders’ within two scores with a picture perfect touchdown pass up the seam to Haven Pierce.
The onside kick attempt was recovered by Hillsborough, but their attempt to run the ball and chew the clock was ultimately thwarted with a Plant City stop that forced a turnover on downs at their own 41. One play later, the Raiders cashed in as Denson hit T.J. Knighten deep down the left sideline for a 59-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing extra point was blocked, leaving the raiders training 42-24 with 2:29 left in the game and needing a successful two-point conversion, should they find the end zone again.
Another onside kick was recovered by Hillsborough at their own 47 but with Plant City in possession of just one lone time out left, the clock ran down to 44 seconds by the time they had made the crucial final stop and left Hillsborough bringing out the punt team.
Down to their final chance, Plant City’s Judah Bendorf flew through the Terriers’ protection and was able to come up with a massive punt block to potentially save the game for the Raiders, recovering the loose ball at the Hillsborough 15.
With time winding down and no way to stop the clock, Denson fired incomplete to Zykee Joyce before hitting Gueh over the middle, evading tacklers on his way to the end zone and pulling the Raiders within two. Lining up for the two-point conversion, trailing 42-40, Plant City was moved back to the eight-yard line on a false start penalty before Denson took the snap, kept the ball on a read option to the left and crashed through the middle of the Hillsborough defense where he was ultimately stopped just short of the goal line.
With one final game-deciding stop, the Terriers were able to hold on and secure the thrilling 42-40 victory as the Raiders fell to 3-2 on the year.
“We had four turnovers on special teams,” Hicks said. “They scored 28 points off of special teams, that’s a killer, that killed us, that’s easy. Four turnovers on special teams, we can’t do that and we can’t win games like that… We know that we can play football, we can play football with the best of them but we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s simple, we can’t play against them and against ourselves.”
From the Raiders offense, Denson completed 14 of his 23 attempts for 268 passing yards and four passing touchdowns while adding 97 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on six carries. In the backfield, Marshall totaled 100 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries. At receiver, Gueh led the unit with 82 yards and one touchdown on five receptions, followed by 75 yards and one touchdown on three receptions from Knighten, 42 yards on two receptions from Marshall, 36 yards and one touchdown on two receptions from Panier and 33 yards and one touchdown on two receptions from Pierce.
Across town, Durant moved to 4-1 on the season as they defeated the Lennard Longhorns by a final score of 47-17.
Offensively for the Cougars, quarterback Michael Ryan completed 17 of his 27 attempts for 282 yards and four touchdowns. Four running backs combined for just 27 rushing yards on 16 attempts as most of Durant’s damage was done through the air, with Emmanuel Lee totaling 16 yards on 12 carries, followed by seven yards on one carry from Parker Klangthamniem, three yards on two caries from Kristien Cook and one yard on one carry from Kendrick Jean. Out wide, Damari Styles led all receivers with 110 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions, followed by 75 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions from Jaylin Torres, 60 yards and one touchdown on three receptions from Jayden Cornelius, 29 yards on three receptions from Treon Williams and eight yards on one reception from Chris Lankford.
Defensively, Hale Sollmann and Brant Bovee each notched double-digit tackles with 12 and 10 respectively, and Sollmann led the group with two tackles for loss. Sollmann and Quentin Pope each notched one sack as well while Pope added two interceptions, Cornelius added one interception and one forced fumble and Bovee forced a fumble of his own.
The Raiders will hit the road this Friday as they make their way to 5-0 Alonso while Durant will host 5-0 Sumner and Strawberry Crest will host 3-2 Plant.