Coming off of a unique 2020 season, to say the least, head coach James Booth is looking to build on last year’s short-lived playoff berth as he begins his fifth season with the Plant City Raiders.
2021 will certainly look different for Plant City, though. The Raiders lost plenty of major production on the offensive side of the ball to graduation, but no loss in the area is bigger than that of Mario Williams. Williams, who started 2020 as ESPN’s top-rated wide receiver in the class of 2021, was also an early enrollee at the University of Oklahoma. Plant City was far from solely reliant on its star wideout in 2020, however. In fact, Williams wasn’t even the Raiders’ leader in receiving yards. That honor went to Reagan Ealy (now at Arkansas State), who totaled 850 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns to Williams’ 743 yards and eight touchdowns. Behind Ealy and Williams, Aramoni Rhone racked up 218 yards and two touchdowns and Brent Coton had 104 yards and one touchdown of his own.
Booth orchestrates a forward-thinking offense by high school standards, utilizing a pass-first attack that spreads the field to take advantage of looks provided by the defense. Plant City thrives on high-percentage throws that essentially runs its offense in reverse, using the pass to set up the run.
That method may not come as easily this year, however, as the four aforementioned leading receivers were all seniors in 2020, along with starting quarterback Nick Felice. All 20 of Plant City’s receiving touchdowns last year came from graduating seniors.
“Our receiving corps was our depth, really our strong point for two years, and Nick was a senior quarterback. We only had him for one year and he had a great season for us,” Booth said. “So, losing that offensive production is going to be tough to replace, but [quarterback] Clint Danzey has been with me now for two years, going on to his third season, our whole offensive line is back, our running back is back, two players that played last year at receiver are back. So as we develop offensively, that cohesion with our new receivers that are coming in, we’re young but they’ve got talent.”
Raider fans can expect the Danzey-led offense to be quicker and more up-tempo in 2021, which is something that Booth has emphasized throughout the offseason.
The Raiders will see their largest dose of continuity in an experienced offensive line, with two returning seniors behind them at running back in Romello Jones and Reggie Bush Jr. Last season, Bush led the unit with 488 yards and three touchdowns on 59 carries in just six games before going down with an injury, and Jones stepped up with 604 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 70 carries.
But while the Raiders’ offense is young and remains in the process of growing as a unit, Booth is excited about Plant City’s defense—a group that enters 2021 with a ton of talent and experience.
“Defensively, this might be the most explosive defense that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Booth said. “We’re really excited about what they can do and the potential that they have. We’ve got three NCAA Division I defensive backs on the back end and our linebacking corps is extremely athletic. We’re really excited about them.”
Defensive playcaller Kyle Jones is entering his second year with Plant City—now getting his first full offseason as a member of the Raiders’ staff—after formerly serving as the linebackers coach at Jesuit High School. Key players for the Raiders defense will be linebacker Rhet Conyers and linebacker/safety Cole Highsmith in front of a star-studded secondary that features Jermarian Jackson, Ian Jolly and Romello Jones, who is playing both sides of the ball.
“It’s really been cool to watch them grow,” Jones said. “And we’re not where we want to be yet. I do feel that we’ve got a lot of explosive players, we’ve got some good leadership and guys of all different talent levels on our defense. The biggest thing, I think, for us is that they’re starting to love each other, and on a defense that’s just so important… I think that being their coach, we have the ability to be extremely explosive. They’ve just got to do their jobs. And if they do that, we’ll be tough.”
So while graduation took its toll on the Raiders’ productive offense from a year ago, they remain a talented roster that has a chance to further prove themselves as the long season grinds on.
“For the last few years, offensively, we were able to score points and if the defense held, that’s great,” Booth said. “But now we’re relying on the defense, which is going to be our strong suit, to where our offense is going to play catch-up a little bit. Once we get rolling and everything gels, hopefully earlier than later, I think we have the potential to be a really good team.”
SCHEDULE
Note: All games are scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. Games are broadcast live online at
NFHSNetwork.com.
8/27: @ Tampa Bay Tech
9/3: vs. Jefferson
9/17: @ Riverview
9/24: vs. Jesuit
10/1: @ Chamberlain
10/8: vs. Bloomingdale
10/15: @ Durant (Redman Cup)
10/22: vs. Plant
10/29: vs. Newsome
11/5: @ Lennard
THE DETAILS
Location: 1 Raider Place, Plant City
Established: 1914
Head Coach: James Booth (fifth season with team)
2020 Record: 5-5 (1-0 district)
ROSTER
(from MaxPreps.com)
1 Romello Jones CB/RB Sr.
2 Jermarian Jackson FS/CB Sr. 3 DJ Haynes OLB Sr.
4 Jae Sawyer WR Sr.
5 Reggie Bush Jr. RB/CB Sr.
6 Clint Danzey QB Jr.
7 Sincere Williams WR Sr.
8 Jaylen Gadson WR Sr.
9 Eden Williams CB Jr.
10 Esteban Navarrete K Jr.
11 Ian Jolly FS Sr.
13 Jaden McCants ILB/RB So.
14 Jaylen Smith WR So.
16 Kareem Wimes DE Sr.
17 Sidney Bennett RB Fr.
18 Xikiya Devoe WR Sr.
19 Zykee Joyce WR So.
20 Chase Dexter CB So.
22 Tahauji Miller OLB Jr.
24 Rayonte Turner CB Sr.
28 Cole Highsmith SS/OLB Jr.
32 Seth Hogan SS Fr.
36 CJ McClain WR So.
36 Jordan Miley-Dingler QB Jr.
38 Judah Bendorf WR So.
40 Oscar Ordonez DE Sr.
42 Deven Cruz-Fernandez ILB/HB So.
44 Donta Jenkins DE Fr.
45 Xavier Bowers DE Sr.
50 Matt Bollinger ILB So.
52 Dorien Lisbon DE Jr.
53 Kaden Mizell DE Sr.
54 Giovanni Alvarez DT/NG So.
55 Rhet Conyers LB So.
56 Judson Smith G/DT Jr.
58 Trevar Bradshaw DE/DT/C Jr.
60 Kaden Palmer G/T/DT Sr.
68 William Belen G So.
69 Josiah Lancaster T/DT Sr.
70 DJ Robinson C/DE Sr.
75 Javan Futch G/DT Jr.
77 Nathan Zipperer G/T Fr.
78 Jovani Torres T Sr.
99 Donte Woodard DT Sr.
56 Judson Smith G/DT Jr.