Friday night was a rivalry game as the Strawberry Crest Chargers traveled a short distance to take on the Plant City Raiders. Coming into this game, both teams had a record of 4-4 so the game had big implications as to which team would have a winning or losing record at this point in the season. In addition, the Chargers were looking to play spoiler as they lost their homecoming game to Alonso on October 13.
The Chargers had the first possession of the ball to start the game and they failed to get it going as they made three rushing plays in a row resulting in a three-and-out.
The Raiders wasted zero time on their first offensive drive. Running back Tony Marshall and wide receiver Haven Pierce had back-to-back first downs and then they scored on a huge 58-yard pass from quarterback Chris Denson to TJ Knighten to cap off a successful first drive.
Crest started their second offensive drive at midfield due to the Raiders running into the returner after he called for a fair catch. A couple of small plays got Crest into Raider territory and they were struggling with a third down, but another Raiders penalty, this time a face mask, put the Chargers near the goal line. They end up tying the game as the team’s workhorse, Devin Blunt, ran it in for the touchdown.
In the final minute of the first quarter, the Chargers surprised the Raiders with an onside kick and recovered the ball. Although the onside kick was successful, the Chargers could not get the ball moving down the field, resulting in a punt.
The Raiders went on to return the kick for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a block in the back penalty. This drive was all running back Tony Marshall and wide receiver CJ McClain as the Raiders smoothly moved down the field. The drive was capped off by a touchdown from wide receiver Josh Gueh, who was wide-open in the middle of the field. The score put the Raiders up 14-7 with 7:15 left in the first half.
The Chargers continued to struggle with another three and out drive. On the punt, the Raiders blocked the punt and the ball rolled out of the endzone, resulting in a Raiders safety, making the score 16-7 with 4:55 left in the half.
Good things continued for the Raiders as Maurian Hugee got a huge kick return, bringing the ball all the way to the Chargers 26-yard line. Although it had looked like the Chargers defense had something going as they sacked the quarterback on first down, the very next play, they allowed a 22-yard rushing touchdown by Tony Marshall. The Raiders missed the extra point but still had a sizable lead being up 22-7 with 3:51 left in the first half.
The bad luck continued for the Chargers as Quarterback Zy Floyd threw an interception to linebacker Michael Bell, who ran it back for a touchdown, now expanding the Raiders lead to 29-7. The Chargers abandoned passing to start the next drive as they ran the ball four times in a row. A big defensive pass interference on the Raiders put the Chargers inside the 20. The Chargers once again relied on running back Devin Blunt and he delivered, this time on an 18-yard screen pass for a touchdown. The first half ended with the Raiders up 29-14.
The Raiders continued to their dominance in the second half. Thefirst drive resulted in a receiving touchdown by CJ McClain.
The Charger’s first possession of the second half was the team’s best offensive drive of the game. Quarterback Zy Floyd hit wide receiver Stevie Parkmond for a huge play of 37 yards and that was followed up by another Devin Blunt touchdown, his third of the game. A missed extra point by the Chargers made it a 36-20 game with 5:04 left in the third quarter.
The Raiders got another nice kick return, this time by Trae’veon Smith, putting the Raiders into Chargers territory inside the 40-yard line. The Raiders got back-to-back first downs from Tony Marshall and Josh Gueh and finished off the drive with a touchdown to Haven Pierce.
The third quarter ended with the Raiders recovering a Chargers fumble and a score of 43-20 and the Raiders started the fourth quarter inside Chargers territory.
The Raiders got back-to-back first downs by Oscar Lozoya and Tony Marshall, but the drive ended as the Raiders missed the field goal.
The very first offensive play of the quarte for the Chargers was a fumble, making it consecutive turnover drives and the Raiders once again started off past midfield. The Raiders very first play was a touchdown to Josh Gueh, his second of the day. The score at this point was 50-20 with 9:44 left in the game.
Crest showed some life with another big pass to wide receiver Stevie Parkmond, which put them at the Raiders 35-yard line, but the very next play resulted in a defensive touchdown by Defensive End Donta Jenkins. The score was 57-20 Raiders and at this point in the game, when there’s a 37+ point lead, the continuous clock is activated. From then on, both teams just ran the clock out and neither team scored. The final score was 57-20 Plant City.
The 57 points was a season high for the Raiders and they are now 5-4 on the year. They travel this upcoming Friday to Jefferson to face the 1-8 Dragons. As for Crest, the Chargers now move to 4-5 and they return home to host the 6-3 Lakeland Christian Vikings.
Across town, the Durant Cougars defeated the Riverview Sharks 36-22.
Final Game Stats:
Plant City Raiders:
Passing:
Chris Denson: 15/18 Completions. 83% Completion Rate, 216 Passing Yards. 5 TD’s
Rushing:
Tony Marshall: 12 Carries, 178 Rushing Yards, Longest Run: 38 Yards, 1 TD
Chris Denson: 2 Carries, 11 Rushing Yards
Receiving:
Tj Knighton: 3 Receptions, 81 Receiving Yards, 1 TD
Josh Gueh: 4 Receptions, 56 Receiving Yards, 2 TD’s
Cj Mcclain: 3 Receptions, 32 Receiving Yards, 1 TD
Haven Price: 2 Receptions, 26 Receiving Yards, 1 TD
Oscar Lazoya: 1 Receptions, 12 Receiving Yards
Zykee Joyce: 1 Reception, 8 Receiving Yards
Tony Marshall: 1 Reception, 1 Receiving Yard
Strawberry Crest Chargers:
Passing:
Zy Floyd: 5/12 Completions. 41% Completion Rate, 104 Passing Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Gage Reibsome: 2/2 Completions, 100% Completion Rate, 27 Passing Yards
Rushing:
Devin Blunt: 16 Carries, 74 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing Touchdowns
Gage Reibsome: 7 Carries, 20 Rushing Yards
Zy Floyd: 10 Carries, 18 Rushing Yards
Stevie Parkmond: 2 Carries, 0 Yards
Receiving:
Stevie Parkmond: 2 Receptions, 66 Receiving Yards
Hunter Hall: 2 Receptions, 36 Receiving Yards
Devin Blunt: 1 Reception, 18 Receiving Yards, 1 Receiving Touchdown
Thimothee Woods: 1 Reception, 11 Receiving Yards
Jean Henry: 1 Reception, 1 Receiving Yard