Plant City’s flag football team is no stranger to success.
New head coach Michael Scott knows this: he’s worked with the team for nine years.
His new group of seniors knows this: some of those girls have just been called up from junior varsity, after waiting years to get this chance.
Now, after many of last year’s players were lost to graduation, the team isn’t looking to settle on a rebuilding year — it wants to stay successful.
“I’m excited to see if we can get them to buy into this year being the year,” Scott says. “Not next year.”
MICHAEL SCOTT
Having spent the last decade working in high schools, Scott has probably had hundreds of kids tell him about the Michael Scott of television’s “The Office.”
But, like Steve Carell’s character, the Plant City coach now finds himself in charge after nine years as an assistant. Previous head coach Greg Meyer, who took over in 2013, stepped down from the flag football position and will focus solely on his duties with the boys football team.
“Nine years goes by fast,” Scott says. “I love PCHS, I’ve taught there for 11 years. I love our community. I’m very excited about this opportunity.”
Scott has plenty of coaching experience, even if this is his first shot as a head coach. Before coaching Lady Raiders flag football for the last nine years, he helped with the baseball team. Before Plant City, he spent two and one half years at East Bay, where he also coached baseball.
Although he’s excited to show what he can do calling the shots, Scott is quick to deflect attention away from himself.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing growth from the girls,” Scott says. “To me, it’s not about me — it’s about the girls. They have a lot of confidence in themselves, and they put high expectations on themselves. Their expectation is as high as you can get it.”
THE SQUAD
There’s a good reason for those lofty expectations.
Last year, Meyer’s Lady Raiders finished the regular season undefeated. The defense was almost able to say that it didn’t allow a single point all year, until Riverview scored in the final minutes of the final game. The offense was also on point, averaging nearly 28 points per contest.
The difference between last year and this year is that it’s not as easy to predict a similar season for Plant City.
Why? Because the 2015 team included 13 seniors, all of whom played key roles. Those 13 graduations left a lot of holes to fill in a lot of important positions. This year, some of those roles will be filled by girls getting the call up from junior varsity.
“They’re excited about finally getting a shot to play varsity,” Scott says. “Some of them got called up last year. They’re ready.”
Arguably the most important departure from the 2015 team is quarterback Avery Brown, whose play netted her a Plant City Times & Observer Athlete of the Week award and plenty of praise from Meyer. She’ll be replaced by Alicia Zarate, who is one of those senior JV call-ups.
“She’s one of those players that just has that ‘it’ factor,” Scott says. “She doesn’t get flustered. When she makes a mistake, she forgets about it and moves on. She understands what the defense is giving her. She’s going to be poised beyond her years, this year.”
Other key players to watch, in Scott’s opinion, include a few returning starters.
Tytiana Carter, who led the team with 33 sacks last year, is back. Drew Knotts, who made second-team all-conference at cornerback last year, will be back after missing the first few games with a broken finger. Bre Ruedeman and Lacey Hargrove are expected to have a great season.
“I feel really confident with the offense we have,” Scott says. “I don’t have a person I’m worried about, whether they’re going catch the ball or not.”
But, like Meyer, Scott is a defensive-minded coach and expects the stop unit to lead the way.
“That’s where we make our money,” Scott says. “We keep the score low, and we put pressure on their QBs, we can stay in games.”
Local fans can catch the varsity Lady Raiders in action at home at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, against Riverview.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.